St. Irenaeus Ministries

On Paul's journey, he is imprisoned, but through an earthquake, he persuades the jailer to convert to Christianity. Paul is released and goes to Thessalonica, where he preaches on the subject of the messiah for three weeks. The Jewish establishment sent troublemakers to cause a riot, and Paul is forced out of the city. The Jews in Beroea receive him well. A large number of the converts coming into...

Paul's epistles to the Thessalonians show a vivid snapshot of the church in mission. Paul was sent from the church in Antioch as a mission to the Gentiles to Cyprus. The Antiochan church was being torn apart by the question of whether Gentiles must be circumcised. The Council of Jerusalem would decide that Gentiles must abstain from idolatry, abstain from sexual immorality and abstain from meat wi...

Paul tells Philemon that he could be bold enough to command him to do what is required, he chooses to appeal out of love. Paul appeals to Philemon to take Onesimus back as he is useful to Philemon and to Paul, with whom he has formed a special bond. Paul also says that he will be arriving to visit Philemon shortly. His unstated intention in doing this may be to pressure Philemon to do what he is c...

The Epistle to Philemon is not strictly speaking a pastoral epistle, as it does not concern the pastoral care of a church. It is, however, a very personal letter written to Philemon, who was a leader in Colossae of some means and influence. Philemon had a slave by the name of Onesimus, who ran away to a major city, most likely Ephesus, where he became a Christian and met Paul. Paul knows that Ones...

Those who would pastor must remind the faithful to obey legitimate authority and engage in God's work. Pastors must also not engage in controversies. A pastor must not drive those who hold erroneous beliefs from the faith, but must encourage all to come to the true faith from wherever they are.

All Apostolic Ministry is supposed to spark the faith, inform the faith with a knowledge of the truth and encourage godly living. Paul has no difficulty with encouraging godly living in this letter, and Paul encourages Titus and all of us to do this. We must make a break with the worldly things and live soberly. Paul also makes one of the strongest statements that Jesus is God in Titus 2:13.

Priests must be able to see and identify heresy, root it but yet not draw attention to it, so as to enable heresy. These priests must be dedicated to their work. Likewise, mothers must be serious about the faith and teach it to their children so that they do not fall into the trap of this sort of heresy.

Titus was close to Paul, chosen as an example of how faithful Gentiles could be to Christ. Paul begins the epistle to Titus by proclaiming himself to be a slave to Christ, showing radical devotion to Christ. Paul knows that as a pastor, he must spark a faith response to God. The Church must impart knowledge of the Truth and the sure hope that those who respond will attain eternal life.

Paul closes the letter with personal notes about many of his fellow Christians, like Timothy and Mark, whom Paul requests visit him, Demas, who is in love with the present world, many missionaries who are going off to carry on the message of Christ, as well as Claudia, one of the women involved in the early Church and Linus, who is probably the same Linus who will one day succeed Peter as Pope.

Christ is returning to judge the living and the dead, and Paul orders Timothy to educate Christians in the faith, but this is not an obligation of Timothy alone. We must all take on the task of holding the people to the faith rather than the other paths of erroneous beliefs.

Some Christians may be easily misled into error, but we must be prepared to defend the faith and avoid being drawn into the sin of others who will proclaim these. Paul notes that the Bible is useful for correction, just as tradition is. We must seek not signs or prophecies but rather the true faith; and we have seen this lust for signs exploited as far back as Pharaoh's priests.

Paul tells us a few characteristics of the last days. While the early Church was expecting an immediate coming of the last days, the prophecy in Daniel leaves the exact time indeterminate. Antichrists will rise to mislead people but for mercy, the time of the final judgment is being delayed.

When we become Christians, we are incorporated into Christ. Some teachers preach a perverted Christianity which is not a part of life in Christ, and we are told to avoid such things and those who traffic in them. These errors may be allowed to persist so that we may be challenged to hold to God's will in purity. We must also correct these people in gentleness and not in anger.

Paul tells us to be strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, but to expect to suffer as Christians. Paul also instructs Timothy to pass on the message that he has taught to trustworthy men. Paul uses several analogies for the Christian life, the farmer who must work hard, the soldier who must detach himself from civilian life, and the athlete who must obey certain rules and discipline.

Paul is in prison and has been abandoned by some of his prior compatriots. We must never be ashamed to testify to our faith in God. This testimony comes from the Holy Spirit, but we must act on this spirit. We do have the ability to reject God's will, but if we choose to testify to the Lord, His truth will come through us.

Paul's Second Letter to Timothy comes later in his life, as he is nearing his death. The content is markedly different, though the language suggests it may have been written by the same scribe. Paul connects the Christian's life to that of God. We are to not be timid but to be prepared to act on our Christian duties, even if we should need to rekindle our faith from time to time.

Those who came to Christ in slavery were asked to continue in the same way. It was not possible for the Church to afford the complete release of slaves at that time. Christians are asked to tame their passions and use them for the Lord. Even a rich man may be generous with money and use that money to do God's work.

The widows who dedicate themselves to the Church should be ones were were dedicated to one man in marriage. Similarly, while the overseers (a position in the church that would later become the position of bishop) of the Church may have work besides preaching, they should receive double honor for their fidelity to work in the Church despite other obligations. For believers who go astray into sin, i...

In the society surrounding the early Christian community, there was no support network for widows. Paul instructs that if an older woman's husband dies, and this woman devotes herself to the work of the Church and vows never to marry again, the community should support that woman if the woman's family is not present. Younger women should not be pressed prematurely into this sort of vow.

Paul returns to the subject of a particular heresy that is threatening the church at that time, but he instructs Timothy not to engage the arguments about it and does not specify the heresy here. We know that they were talking in part about food laws and imposing further restrictions on the Church. These restrictions are not necessarily wrong and may in fact be helpful, but these doctrines are not...

Authority in the Church comes from men, and while it does not preclude the wise counsel of women, this particular kind of authority can come only from men. A priest should not be a drunkard or quarrelsome or greedy and desirous of money. He should not be a recent convert and must be held in esteem. In a marriage, the wife should be submissive to her husband. Similarly, all Christians should be sub...

Paul reminds the men that Christ's death was a ransom for the multitudes, and that there is no limitation on who may be saved by a secret knowledge or ancestry. This does not mean that we may worship God however we please. Those who attend the Mass must do so in a respectful manner. We must not be ostentatious or skimpy in our attire or quarrelsome in demeanor there, of all places. Women are instr...

Paul instructs us to pray for the salvation of all men, including leaders and kings. There had been an error that said that not all could be saved, and perhaps this was the error that Paul was writing the letter to combat. We are to desire the salvation of all and pray for all. We should ask our brethren to do the same for us and likewise the saints to intercede on our behalf.

Even though Paul was familiar with the beliefs of Christians, he says that he had an ignorance of Christianity. The people that are causing trouble in Ephesus are not in a similar situation. They are or were in some sense believers, but have gone astray, and Paul says that they must be separated from the Church by excommunication, hopefully to see the error of their ways and rejoin the Church.

The letters to Timothy begin shortly after the end of Acts, with Paul's release from Rome in 62 AD. Paul writes a personal letter to Timothy, but it is evident from the language that it is an open letter. In Ephesus, where Timothy was, there were people, at least two known to Paul, who were teaching a sort of legalistic Gnosticism. These people suggested reading the Bible through some sort of lens...