It caimot be successfully maintained that already a 'clerical' morality beyond that required of the laity is being required of the bishop. The virtues are ordinary Christian virtues. The expression ' husband of one wife,' for example, if it means pro- hibition against having a mistress as well as a wife, sets forth the Christian rule, though the mention of it here would indicate how slowly those who
TIMOTHY AND TITUS, EPISTLES TIMOTHY AND TITUS, EITSTLES 589
emerged from iiaganism in these liistiicts adjusted tlieiiiselvos to tlie lii^lier slimdard. If the words imiily that the liishoii was not to contract u second marriage after the death of liis lirst wife, as is prohahly what is inleiuled, tliey indicate that the Lisho]! must he a uuiu whose uuinner of life woiihl win for him the liighest respect in tlie Christian community (1 Co 7*- " ; cf. Lk 2^' "). On inscri^)- tions of tlie Augustine age the word virginius is applied to a man who had married hut once. By the 2nd cent, the standards became much more rigid.
The second rank, the diaconate, which was prohahly a stepping-stone to the higher otlice (1 Ti 3'^), is mentioned only in 1 Timothy. The deacon seems to have been a younger man, though many of his qualifications are tlie same as those of the bishop — control over his family, a blameless character, freedom from drunkenness and avarice. No reference is made to the exercise of liospitality or teaching power, but the ileacoii is warned against being double-tongued, a danger to which he may have been exposed by gossip in his house- tc)-h<nise visitation.
Ojiinion is divided as to the meaning of ' women ' in 1 Ti 3". If the integrity of the text be assumed, the more probable view is that it means the wives of bishops and deacons, this being supported by the possibility that in order to counteract a false asceticism (oi /cwXeyoires yaixeh, 1 Ti 4^) Paul may have intended that bishops and deacons should be chosen from among married men. If, however, as is not improbable, the verse be an interpolation, it is a later reference to the order of deaconesses, which was in existence early in some churches (Ro 16'). More is to be said for the view that there was an order of 'widows,' who were assigned a special ministry (1 TiS^'-'").
The ' young men' (1 Ti 5', Tit 2') seem to have had some official standing, though it is probable that the line that divided between any class and the brethren was not sharply drawn.
Prominent though the idea of the Church and its organization is, the sacramental element does not appear in the Pastorals except in Titus. If it was regarded as an essential condition for the welfare of Christian life, it is strange that the ' mj'stery ' of godliness should be expressed in doctrine (1 Ti 3'''). Stress is everywhere laid on teaching, healthy instruction as to the gospel, right conduct ; and to do the work of an 'evangelist' is to fulHl the ministry. The sacrament of baptism is, according to Tit 3°'', the outward act whereby the Divine salvation is consummated. In this bath of re- generation the world beheld the Church cleansed from its old life of heathenism, and thereafter endued with the quickening Holy Spirit. No mention is made of any name or word as of mys- tical power : nothing is said of the la3'ing on of hands as conveying any supernatural endowment. Whether baptism was a necessary channel of grace, and, if so, in what measure, is left undetermined. As in Ro 6'"^* 8''''", baptism with its concomitants is at least (1) a proof of the efl'ectiveness of Divine grace, (2) a pleilge of eternal life. A remarkably similar view of ba)itism to that of Tit 3"- ' is found in Kph 5-'' -', with the addition of ' in a word.'
The jmblic worship of the Church is well developed. Under the direction of presbyters, teaching takes the place held by prophecy in the Corinthian Church (1 Ti 4'3-'i', 2 Ti 2'-''- '»). There was public reading of the Scriptures accompanied by an exposition of the Word of God, of which perhaps the quotations in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Kjiistle to the Hebrews are good ex- ani|)lcs. 2 Ti 3'°-" refers to UT Scriptures. In tJiem is Divine wisdom, which, when accompanied by faith, begets salvation ; and all Scripture, or
every passage of Scripture which is inspired (the false teachers used Jewish fables, etc.), is useful for equipping the man of God for his work. In these Kpistles no trace of the canoiii/atioii of the NT books is discoverable. Prayer also, rich and
varied (1 Ti 2'-
was regulated, and again re-
Iraiiit ap])ears in place of the freedom c>f the earlier charismatic days. It seems tliat, as in 1 Corinth, ians, only men took part in public prayer (I Ti 2*"'-). Hymns, germs of a creed, liturgical snatches, doxologies — all for public use — are emlieclded in tliese letters (1 Ti l'-'- " 3'" 6"-'«, 2 Ti 2"-'^"),* eveiything combining to show that a regulated form of public worship was rapidly displacing the individual charismata of the more primitive days. In private also, prayer was employed to sanctify the daily meal (I Ti l^- 1>).