(And Why Young Men
Should Listen Attentively)
In his letter to Titus, the apostle
Paul lays out his qualifications for elders within the newly founded Christian
group. Apparently Paul had left Titus in Crete for the specific task of
appointing elders in every community. Hence, the idea of a plurality of elders
is present in the Church from its inception. It follows that the need for the
role of an elder would naturally lead to the need for some criteria around the
qualifications for the person entering that office. In Titus 1:6-9, Paul lays
out these criteria. In addition, he lays out the reason for the role of elders
in the community in vv. 10-11.
In this post, I want to focus your
attention on those responsibilities of the elder that are apologetic in nature
and point you to Paul’s philosophy on how and why a godly elder must be a good
apologist. What is the one skill, according to Paul, and hence, to the Holy
Spirit, in which godly elders must demonstrate proficiency in order to carry
out the two basic duties of 1) exhorting in sound doctrine, and 2) refuting
those that contradict Christian truth? If you listen to some academicians,
especially from the growing field of Christian apologetics, even in
conservative circles, you may be tempted to begin with something like,
“training in philosophy.” While I am not opposed to the elder having some
training in philosophy that would not be the answer that Paul provides young
Titus in this pericope. It is the field of theology, not human philosophy, to
which we must turn in order to find the answer to the question I posed above.
And it is precisely this question that Paul was concerned to treat in Titus
1:9-11.
The final qualification of an elder
as far as Paul was concerned was his that he be entirely given over to and
devoted to the faithful word which is in accord with “the teaching.” This phrase
appears in Romans 16:17 where Paul warns the Roman Christians to keep on eye on
those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to “the teaching.” It
appears again in 2 John 10 where John warns the Christians that they are not to
receive anyone into their home if they do not bring “this teaching” with them.
This teaching is a reference to “the teaching of Christ” in the previous verse.
It seems clear that Paul was referring to the teaching, or the faith that has
come to us through the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is to this teaching that
the elder must demonstrate an uncompromising and unwavering devotion. So much
for the empty and foolish notions propagated by many that doctrine is no
important or worse, irrelevant in the life of the Christian. Paul would have
taken such men to the metaphorical woodshed.
The reason the elder must be
devoted to, immersed in, and absorbed with the faithful word which is according
to the teaching is given in vv.
10-11. Paul says “For there are 1) many rebellious men, 2) empty talkers, and
3) deceivers present in the Church.” Because there are contradictory views and
opposing teachers to which the Christian community will undoubtedly gain
exposure, they must be equipped to see these false teachings and teachers for
what they really are: ministers of Satan. You see, it isn’t just atheism,
agnosticism, and skepticism that the Christian must engage in his/her defense
of Christian theism. It is the religious heretic, the Muslim, the moralist, the
deist, and others that are much greater in number that Christians must learn to
skillfully refute. For Paul, this was especially true of the contradicting Jews
of his day. This is because they were the most likely, of all religions, to be
the ones the Church would have to refute.
Now, in order to preserve and
protect the flock, the Church needed elders who were entirely devoted to the
faithful word, which is according to the teaching. This skill, according to Paul
was sufficient to the task of doing two things: exhorting the Christian in
sound or healthy doctrine and refuting false teachers that contradicted the
teaching. Regrettably for many young men, philosophy is well on its way to
displacing theology as the discipline to be studied. Skilled philosophers are
replacing theologians and exegetes at an alarming rate among pastors, elders,
and especially in the academy.
The results so far have been
disastrous. One prominent Christian philosopher writes, “If the Christian
worldview can be restored to a place of prominence and respect at the
university, it will have a leavening effect throughout society. If we change
the university, we change our culture through those who shape the culture.”[1]
Clearly, Craig has elevated philosophy to a place far beyond any NT writer.
Jesus informed His followers and closest disciples that the world would hate
them, slander them, and manufacture lies against them, all for His name’s sake.
Craig’s idea appears to be a complete reversal of Jesus’ own words. Paul is
oblivious to the need for sophisticated training in philosophy and Greek
rhetoric. He has a completely different idea in mind. Paul places Scripture,
the teaching of Christ at the center of the skillset necessary for the elder to
engage in the refutation of those who contradict the truths of Christian theism.
And this by no means indicates that Paul has an anti-philosophical bias. It
simply means that Paul understands the relationship between theology and
philosophy far better than Plato, Aquinas, or Craig. The biblical elder would
do well to follow recognize Paul’s emphasis on sound theology and its place in
developing the necessary skills to be an effective and biblically sound
defender of Christian dogma.
According to Paul, elders are in
fact obligated not only to exhort the Christian community in sound doctrine,
but they also have a responsibility to refute men who contradict the teachings
of Christian theism. The Greek word ἐλέγχω,
which means to state that someone has done wrong, with the
implication that there is adequate proof of such wrongdoing—‘to rebuke, to
reproach, rebuke, reproach.’[2]
BDAG defines the word “to
bring a person to the point of recognizing wrongdoing, convict, convince someone of something, point something out to someone.”[3] The sense is that the elder
must possess the skills to be able to clearly demonstrate that a particular
teaching is in fact wrong. The key question we are concerned with is how the
elder in question should go about acquiring this skill. Is this skill in
rhetoric, philosophy, reason, theology, or what?
Paul
could not be more vivid in his direction. The hina clause in v. 9 provides a clear indication that the purpose
for which the elder should be devoted to the faithful word, which is in
accordance with “the teaching” is so that he can exhort believers and refute
the opponents. The Scripture is sufficient not only for refuting the atheist,
the agnostic, and the skeptic, but it is sufficient for refuting any and all opponents
of Christian theism. Hence, before he is anything else, the elder must be an
able devotee of the faithful word.
Regrettably,
young men, entering the ministry, are being duped by modern philosophers that
seem to be more familiar with Aristotle, than with Paul, and hold Socrates in
higher regard than they do Solomon. Men like William Lane Craig elevate the
role of philosophy in Christian ministry and leave misleading impressions on
the minds of young men entering ministry with statements like this: “One of the
awesome tasks of Christian philosophers is to help turn the contemporary
intellectual tide in such a way as to foster a sociocultural milieu in which
Christian faith can be regarded as an intellectually credible option for
thinking men and women.”[4]
In stark contrast to this, young men entering the ministry would do well to
read Paul:
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the
debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For
since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For
indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach aChrist
crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
but to those who are
the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God.[5]
Contrary
to Craig and others, Christian theology is still the foundation upon which any
philosophy must rest. Without the magisterial role of biblical theology, modern
philosophy will only find a way, in its contumacious and haughty ways, to
squeeze out sound theology, replacing it with humanistic philosophy, autonomous
reason, and unrestrained conjecture of all stripes. The place of the elder is
to refute the opponents of Christ, to be sure. But he does so as an exegete, as
a theologian, as a lover of biblical theology first and foremost. Paul often
exhorted believers to be absorbed in Scripture, to be devoted to truth, to pursue
the true knowledge that only comes through faith in Christ. Nowhere did he ever
exhort us to be absorbed with Aristotle’s Metaphysics,
or the works of Plato. Philosophy has its place, mostly because it is
unavoidable. But that place is in service to a sound biblical theology and only
to a sound biblical theology.
Young
men, keep your philosophy on the tight leash of Greek, Hebrew, Exegesis, and
the Systematics. If you do not have the time or the appreciation and respect
for God’s word to acquire skill in the languages and in the systematics, you
have no business pouring yourself into philosophy, that is, if full time
ministry is your aspiration. If you are going to stand before God’s people and
speak in God’s name, you must get your priorities straight. Socrates, Plato,
and Aristotle were not servants of our Lord. Know Paul in the original
language. Know Moses in the original language. And if you have time, perhaps a
critical reading of Aristotle and Plato might be beneficial.
[1] William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations For A Christian Worldview, (Downers
Grove, Ill Intervarsity Press, 2003), 2.
[2] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament:
Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 435.
[3] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2000), 315.
[4] William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations For A Christian Worldview (Downers Grove,
Ill Intervarsity Press, 2003) 2.
[5] New American
Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1
Co 1:20–24.
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