Concerning 1 Timothy 3:9, What does it mean to “hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience”?
-c.f.
Acts 23:1;
1 Tim 1:5,
1 Tim 3:9;
2 Tim 1:3,
1 Cor 8:7;
2 Cor 4:2;
Acts 24:16;
1 Tim 1:5,
19;
3:9;
2 Tim 1:3;
Heb 9:9,
14;
10:2
1 Timothy 1:5
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1 Timothy 1:19
Paul’s charge to Timothy; “…that you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and
a good conscience”.
1 Timothy 4:1–3
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through
the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
Did Paul understand 'conscience' differently from how it is defined today? The meaning of the Greek word
'syneidesis,' usually translated
"conscience," is a complex linguistic problem.
Interesting Resource:
The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West. Krister Stendahl.
Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul., 1963), pp. 199-215.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1508631
1) What is “the faith”? [differentiated from "faith"]
-The term “the faith” refers to
a body of gospel truth which includes several dimensions:
doctrine (the truths of the faith) , liturgy (the way we worship), and lifestyle (the way we live our faith)
2) What is "the mystery of the faith"? (relate with 1 Timothy 3:16)
A - How God has made us holy before him through Christ.
- "the secret" (NCV)
- 28.77 μυστήριον, ου n: the content of that which has not been known before but which has been revealed to an in-group or restricted constituency—‘secret, mystery.’ ὑμῖν δέδοται γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ‘the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you’ Mt 13:11. There is a serious problem involved in translating μυστήριον by a word which is equivalent to the English expression ‘mystery,’ for this term in English refers to a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand. In many instances μυστήριον is translated by a phrase meaning ‘that which was not known before,’ with the implication of its being revealed at least to some persons. Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. 1996. In Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., 1:344. New York: United Bible Societies.
3) What does it mean to “hold” something? [3:9 holding
the mystery of-the faith with a clear conscience]
LEXICON:
③ to take a hold on someth., have, hold (to), grip
ⓐ of holding someth. in one’s hand ἔ. τι ἐν τῇ χειρί have someth. in one’s hand (since Il. 18, 505)
Rv 1:16;
6:5;
10:2;
17:4. Of holding in the hand without ἐν τῇ χειρί (
Josh 6:8; JosAs 5:7) ἔ. κιθάραν
5:8. λιβανωτὸν χρυσοῦν
8:3, cp. vs.
6;
14:17 and s.
ἀλάβαστρον Mt 26:7 and
Mk 14:3.
ⓑ of keeping someth. safe, a mina (a laborer’s wages for about three months) in a handkerchief keep safe
Lk 19:20.
ⓒ of holding fast to matters of transcendent importance, fig. τὴν μαρτυρίαν
Rv 6:9;
12:17;
19:10; the secret of Christian piety
1 Ti 3:9; an example of sound teaching 2 Ti 1:13; keep (Diod S 17, 93, 1 τὴν βασιλείαν ἔχειν=keep control)
Mk 6:18.
ⓓ of states of being hold, hold in its grip, seize (Hom. et al.; PGiss 65a, 4 παρακαλῶ σε κύριέ μου, εἰδότα τὴν ἔχουσάν με συμφορὰν ἀπολῦσαί μοι;
Job 21:6;
Is 13:8; Jos.,
Ant. 3, 95 δέος εἶχε τοὺς Ἑβρ.; 5, 63; Just., D.
19, 3) εἶχεν αὐτὰς τρόμος καὶ ἔκστασις trembling and amazement had seized them
Mk 16:8. Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. 2000. In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., 420–21. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
4) What is "a clear conscience"? (What would negate "a clear conscience"?)
A - Being responsive to God’s guidance and correction
- συνείδησις (syneidēsis). n. fem. conscience, self-awareness. Refers to a person’s internal witness to their own behavior, the guilt over wrongdoing and the satisfaction of choosing right over wrong.
The noun συνείδησις (syneidēsis) occurs 31 times in the nt (some manuscripts omit the phrase with the word in
John 8:9). The word most frequently refers to the self-consciousness that evaluates one’s own behavior as good or bad and encourages choosing what is good. Various adjectives are often paired with συνείδησις (syneidēsis) to qualify the sense, especially “good” (
Acts 23:1;
1 Tim 1:5), “clean” or “pure” (
1 Tim 3:9;
2 Tim 1:3), or “weak” (
1 Cor 8:7). Conscience can also refer to a person’s moral sense in general, their ability to perceive the behavior of others as right or wrong (
2 Cor 4:2;
5:11). Conscience in the nt is also presented as the witness of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart regarding that person’s relationship to God. In this sense, the term is found in Acts, the Pastoral Letters, and Hebrews (
Acts 23:1;
24:16;
1 Tim 1:5,
19;
3:9;
2 Tim 1:3;
Heb 9:9,
14;
10:2).
Mangum, Douglas. 2014. “Conscience.” In Lexham Theological Wordbook, edited by Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, and Rebekah Hurst. Lexham Bible Reference Series. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Rob
