σπούδασον σεαυτὸν δόκιμον παραστῆσαι τῷ θεῷ, ἐργάτην ἀνεπαίσχυντον, ὀρθοτομοῦντα τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας. Be diligent to present
yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15, NA28 and NASB)
Not since the dark ages have we witnessed such poor handling
of sacred Scripture. However, even during those dark years, there remained a
high reverence for the sacred stature of the Word of God. They say that
familiarity breeds contempt. One might be tempted to say that this is what has happened
to the modern Christian’s mindset toward the Bible. However, one could hardly
accuse modern Christians of being remotely familiar with Scripture, let alone
familiar enough with it to view it so casually as if it were just any other
book there for my reading pleasure. And when we find it convenient and
we have the luxury of time, perhaps we will open its pages to see what is
there, or better yet, how it can serve me in executing on my life’s personal
agenda.
“Everything must be done in proper sequence, appropriate
proportion, and with the purpose of producing an end product that pleases the
one who commissioned the work. Background information, word meanings, the
context of a given passage, and many other factors must be judiciously assessed
if a valid interpretation is to be attained.” [KÖstenberger, Invitation to Biblical Interpretation,
60]
“The most personal of Paul’s letters is clearly 2 Timothy.”
[KÖstenberger, The
Cradle, The Cross, and The Crown, 647] Paul is in prison and his death is
imminent. He writes what he knows will be his very last piece of communication
to his closest companion and most faithful disciple, Timothy. One would expect
that this great apostle, this ambassador of God would speak of those matters
for which he had the highest regard. One would expect these subjects in this
communication to this all-important leader in the ancient Church would be the
ones that should really land on our radar. That is to say, if we are going to
start with the really big theological rocks in the biblical stream so to speak,
starting in 2 Timothy would not be an unreasonable decision.
“Are the meanings of texts “constructed” by readers, or are
meanings “given” through texts by authors? This is a complex question of
hermeneutical theory, but on this depends how we seek to answer a basic
practical question: Can the Bible mean anything we want it to mean? How can we
agree about norms or criteria for the responsible or valid interpretation of
Scriptures?” [Thiselton, Hermeneutics, An Introduction, 1-2] In a culture where
autonomy and independence reign supreme, modern American Christians seem to
believe that no one has the “right” to question their personal understanding of
Scripture. In addition, most Christians sitting in the seats on Sunday morning
feel that they have some God-given inherent “right” to interpret the Scriptures
as if they were on an island without the slightest sense of obligation to “get
it right” or any sense at all of the impact their views may have on the
Christian community at large. In fact, most Christians have no sense of duty or
obligation to the Christian community whatever. Many could care less how their
views and even their behavior affect the manner in which those inside and
especially outside the community view them and the community as a result of
their foolishness. I honestly do not know how hermeneutics can be rescued so
long as such apathy is allowed to exist within the Christian community. The
world needs to see the community excommunicating people who reject the loving
admonition to repent of certain beliefs and unruly living. The world needs to
see that the Church has a standard that she takes seriously because God is the
source of that standard. Nowhere is it more important for the Church to take
action than in the area of Scripture. Most ungodly behavior in the Church
begins with the problem of how one views and interprets the Sacred text. Taken
seriously, Scripture will produce godly lives growing together in godly
communities where the love and fear of God consumes the group. Taken less than
seriously, one ends up with a diversity of beliefs and behaviors that don’t
even come close to cohering around a unified standard of belief and praxis. This
latter statement reflects where we have lived now for decades and decades.
The initial sentence of our text jumps right off the page at
you. Paul says, σπούδασον σεαυτὸν δόκιμον παραστῆσαι τῷ θεῷ.
Literally, “make every effort to present yourself approved to God.” In the name
of battling against legalism, we have all but eliminated the idea of striving
and fighting to live holy lifestyles in the Church. We give holy living a wink
and a nob and then go on about our sinning because, well, after all, we all sin
every day. Paul’s command to Timothy really is quite foreign to that kind of
thinking. The word σπουδάζω is used 11 times in the NT. Fundamentally it means
to hurry or to hasten. It means to make every effort, to be eager, to be
diligent. Paul uses it in Galatians 2:10 where he says he was eager to
remember the poor. In Eph. 4:3 Paul tells the believers to be diligent
in preserving the unity of the Spirit. Peter uses it to command his audience to
be all the more diligent to make of His calling and choosing you. (II Peter
1:10) Louw-Nida says it means, “to do something with intense effort and
motivation—‘to work hard, to do one’s best, to endeavor.’” In the LXX, it is
translated horror in Job 21:6, terrifies in 22:10, dismayed
in 22:16. In Isaiah 21:3 it is translated terrified. The Hebrew word
that is most often translated σπουδάζω is בהל and it appears some 41 times in the Hebrew Text. The
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Archer/Waltke/Harris) says be
disturbed, disturb, alarm, terrify; to hurry. There is no doubt a great deal of emotional energy bound up in the
etymology of this word and this seems to remain over hundreds of years of
diachronic shifts. When Paul tells Timothy to “be diligent,” after looking at
the usage of this word over hundreds of years, we begin to appreciate the force
of what Paul is saying. Suffice it to say, this is far more forceful than the
modern idiom, “do your best,” even though that may be as close as we can get to
the richness of Paul’s meaning. At the very least, the use of this word should
serve to capture our attention now for what is to follow.
“Do your best” to present yourself to God
approved! What? This imperative intensifies the command expressed by the
infinitive clause that it governs.”[1]
Hence, presenting oneself to God as one who is examined, not by man, but by God and approved by Him is that for which Timothy is to strive. The question in the context of this pericope centers around how young Timothy is supposed to achieve such a lofty goal. What does this look like in the specific context in which Paul is speaking? This question moves us to the subject of hermeneutics, which is the subject of my post, and the subject of Paul’s central concern with Timothy, so to speak.
Hence, presenting oneself to God as one who is examined, not by man, but by God and approved by Him is that for which Timothy is to strive. The question in the context of this pericope centers around how young Timothy is supposed to achieve such a lofty goal. What does this look like in the specific context in which Paul is speaking? This question moves us to the subject of hermeneutics, which is the subject of my post, and the subject of Paul’s central concern with Timothy, so to speak.
Before we get to the point, I would be remiss not
to discuss one more rich theological nugget from this text. Paul follows these
words by contrasting his positive command with the negative connotation of
shame. He uses the phrase, “as a workman who does not need to be ashamed.” This
comes from the root αισχρος. The word simply means to feel shame, to be
ashamed. However, there is more to the idea of shame in the Mediterranean world
of Greco-Roman times than might meet the modern western reader’s eye. “In both the past and present Mediterranean societies, however, honor and shame have
played a dominant role in public life.” [Moxnes, Honor and Shame in The
Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation, 19] Even in America, a few
years ago, the family name meant something. You did not want to do anything the
reflected poorly on the family name, the family’s honor. Today, younger
generations don’t even think about such a concept as they go about conducting
their lives before the public. If you use this tactic as a parent in modern
America, the response you are likely to get is, “all you care about is your
family name, your family honor, what about ME?” The point here is that in order
for us to appreciate the NT Text, we must journey back in time and attempt to
understand the values of the people in that society. “Honor is the value of a
person in his or her own eyes (that is, one’s claim to worth) plus that
person’s value in the eyes of his or her social group. Honor is a claim to
worth along with the social acknowledgement of worth.” [Malina, The New Testament
World, 30] Not only is it important for the private person to live according to
the societal code to maintain honor in their own mind, but they are equally
concerned with maintaining this honor and avoiding public shame that would
result from public failures. This concept served the NT Church very well in her
formation and Jesus and His apostles invoked the honor-shame value system
throughout the NT. Jesus’ teaching on excommunication is a perfect example of
collective shame for those who reject the group’s corrective actions. Paul uses
it in 1 Corinthians 5. Peter deals with it in his commanded to His audience to
be ready to stand up to the antagonists. When Paul uses this language with
Timothy, young Timothy has a much richer understanding of what Paul is saying that
we do, unless that is, we bother to do our homework on such issues and “do our
best” to handle the text appropriately.
What is involved in this “unashamed workman”
status that Paul is speaking about? The phrase ὀρθοτομοῦντα τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας offers a clue. The
material that this worker is to handle correctly is “the word of truth” (τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας). Only when he handles
it correctly will he be unashamed (ἀνεπαίσχυντον). The rendering given in several of the modern translations, using a
combination of the verb “handle” and some adverb such as “accurately” (NASB), “rightly” (RSV), or “correctly” (NIV),
for the compound verb ὀρθοτομοῦντα with the phrase “the word of truth” as the direct
object captures this relationship quite well.[2]
The idea is that the Word of God, the Word of
Truth is a tool in the hands of a workman. The workman can perform quality work
and show himself approved of the one who hired him or he can perform work of inferior
quality and when that work is inspected, he will lose honor and be ashamed for
his work will prove to be poor.
Immediately preceding this statement, Paul
instructs Timothy to instruct those under his charge not to wrangle about
words. In v. 2 of this same chapter, Paul instructs Timothy to entrust these
teachings to faithful men. In 1:13 he tells Timothy to “retain the standard of
sound words.” Obviously, the immediate and expanded context of our text deals
with the matter of hermeneutics. Moreover, that Paul uses words like standard,
entrust, diligence, approved, and ashamed indicate the seriousness with which
we are to handle the text.
In v. 16 Paul commands Timothy to avoid ‘worldly’
and ‘empty chatter.’ Since failure to avoid these things leads to greater
impiety, or greater ungodliness, it is in the best interest of Christians to
understand what these things are. What is it to engage in “worldly and empty
chatter?” The Greek text actually says, τὰς δὲ βεβήλους κενοφωνίας περιΐστασο, which translates, “but avoid the worthless chatter.” Paul uses the
simile of gangrene to describe unrestrained false doctrine. γάγγραινα is disease involving severe inflammation and possibly a cancerous spread
of ulcers which eat away the flesh and bones.[3]
This disease, if left untreated, will spread, which is its nature, to other parts of the body and hence destroy the body. The simile of false doctrine and cancer should arrest the attention of any sober Christian immediately. Moreover, scholars, theologians and pastors are in a most perilous place because it is their occupation to touch the sacred text almost daily for the purpose of interpretation and propagation.
This disease, if left untreated, will spread, which is its nature, to other parts of the body and hence destroy the body. The simile of false doctrine and cancer should arrest the attention of any sober Christian immediately. Moreover, scholars, theologians and pastors are in a most perilous place because it is their occupation to touch the sacred text almost daily for the purpose of interpretation and propagation.
Paul does not leave us hanging. He informs us
that two individuals, Hymenaeus and Philetus, have engaged in teaching a view
that the resurrection has already passed. In I Tim. 1:20 he says he has turned
the former over to Satan. In other words, he has been publicly excommunicated. This
is how we treat spiritual cancer. In fact, this is the Chief Physician’s
prescription for treating spiritual cancer.
Paul tells Timothy that the Word of God is a tool
in his hand like the tool of a workman. He informs Timothy that he must handle
that tool skillfully, accurately, cutting the path straight. In the end, the
Master for whom he works will inspect the manner in which he employed the tool
by reviewing his completed work. With this in mind, Timothy is told to conduct
himself like a workman of whom his Master would approve, skillfully using the
tool of the Word of God which has been
entrusted to him.
“The desire to keep God’s commandments, the
determination to do God’s will – this is the great prerequisite for true
biblical understanding.” [Silva, Who Needs Hermeneutics Anyway? In Introduction
to Biblical Hermeneutics, 26.] When I think about much of the work that is done
in the area of philosophical hermeneutics, linguistics, historical analyses,
textual criticism, and a host of other areas, I wonder what the core motivation
is of many of the men involved in the work. If it is not to know Scripture so that
they may truly know and love God, then one has to wonder just what it is they
are doing and why.
What are the implications for hermeneutics that
we can derive from II Timothy 2:15? First, deconstructionism, if valid, would
make II Timothy 2:15 nonsensical and irrelevant. Therefore, from the very start
deconstructionism would be classed among the βεβήλους κενοφωνίας that Paul commands
Timothy to shun or avoid. Second, a low view of Scripture would make absolutely
no sense in this context since Paul uses the extremely authoritative language and
invokes severe consequences for those who refuse to go along with his
instructions. Third, that there is a meaning in the text rules out meanings
that are not that meaning. In other words, there aren’t multiple accurate
meanings in the text, otherwise Paul would have indicated such to Timothy.
Accuracy of the tool was foremost in Paul’s mind. Accuracy indicates a
normative standard in place for the right handling of the text. That Paul
emphasized the importance of this behavior cannot be reasonably denied. Hence,
those who ignore this principle do so to their own detriment. In fact, Paul
says their teachings will spread like a spiritual cancer which will eventually destroy
the entire body. Paul says not to ignore them, but to intentionally shun and
avoid them. In other words, put them out from among you. Do not allow them to
go unrestrained. The word for shun in the active voice means to stand around
someone or to circle, but here, in the middle voice, it means to “turn oneself
about” to avoid, “shun.” [Mouton & Millian, Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament]
To shun someone in the Christian community is to remove them from the
community. To think that to avoid someone is just simply to avoid them in the
modern sense would be anachronistic. When the Mediterranean mind heard this,
they fully understood Paul's sense to be to cut them off from the community. Walk
around them, if you will. BDAG says it means to go around so as to avoid. The
example is the excommunication of Hymenaeus in I Tim. 1:20. Men who insist on
holding to a low view of Scripture, or preferring science over the text, or
expanding orthodoxy to the point that it is indistinguishable from heterodoxy have
to be examined, corrected, discipled, and brought back from their godless views.
Otherwise, they must be shunned, excommunicated because their teachings will
spread like spiritual cancer and destroy the body of Christ.
Jesus did not command His apostles to merely go out and
preach. He did not command them even to go preach and baptize. No, Jesus
commanded His apostles to go make disciples! Disciples are students, but they
are more than that. Disciples are students whose entire enterprise now is to
learn and understand the teachings of their Master so that they may become just
as He is. Implicit in this command to make disciples is the idea of
hermeneutics. Teaching, understanding, learning, and student all require
communication, interpretation, understanding, and even appropriation and application.
“The Christian interpretation of reality is a function of
its interpretation of Scripture, those books set aside as authoritative
testimony to the gospel – call it a philosophy of “canonical sense.” It is the
sum total of the biblical books, the various parts in their interrelatedness,
that communicates the wisdom of the Christian way, which is to say, the wisdom
of Christ and the wisdom of the cross.” [Vanhoozer, First Theology: God,
Scripture & Hermeneutics, 347]
You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:32) Is it any wonder that so many professing Christians live in bondage
to sin, to darkness, and to biblical ignorance? The cure is not therapy. The
cure is to know the truth, the Son of the Living God! To what shall we turn?
He has the very words of eternal life. All that is required of us is that we
read them with a passion to understand so that we may please Him in all we do.
[1]
George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles:
A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament
Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster
Press, 1992), 411.
[2]
George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles:
A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament
Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster
Press, 1992), 412.
[3] Johannes
P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, vol. 1, Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of
the 2nd edition. (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 271.
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