For the last 150 years or so, many thoughtful Christ-followers have had trouble with 2 Timothy. I don’t know if you’re one of them. I’ve struggled with it. In fact, people like us have often had questions about all three pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus. The reason is simple. For the last century and a half, nearly 90% of biblical scholars concluded that someone other than Paul wrote these books. These are what are called pseudonymous writings. That’s a fancy way to say that someone else wrote them in Paul’s name. All three begin, “From Paul, to…” yet they were most likely written by one of Paul’s students and after Paul’s death. We just don’t have the same comfort level that people in the first and second centuries did with pseudonymous writings.
Yet… they are part of our Bibles. At the Council of Hippo in 393 CE, 2 Timothy, along with 1 Timothy, Titus, and anything you find problematic in the Bible, were all included in the list of canonical books. The Council of Hippo is where we first got our list of the 66 books in the Bible. 2 Timothy is part of the Bible. So, we must deal with it, and dealing with it doesn’t mean doing interpretive acrobatics. It doesn’t mean making the text agree with our preconceived notions of who God is. We don’t deal with 2 Timothy by projecting into it what we think the Bible should say. Our method of interpretation starts with the words on the page.
2 Timothy is written as a direct and personal set of instructions. The words in the text suggest that it comes from an elder mentor to a younger church leader. This elder figure reflects the early church’s recognition of Paul’s memory and the significance of his message. There are two parts to the letter. First, it encourages the young leader to accept God’s calling. Second, the letter addresses dealing with corrupt teachers. Our reading comes from this second part.
Our reading begins, “As for you, continue in what you have learned…” This instruction depends on 2 things: having learned something about faith and having already started following it. We can’t continue something if we’re just starting. We continue once we’ve already started. For example, continuing a journey means that it has already begun. 2 Timothy says, “Continue in what you have learned…”
No matter where we are on our faith journey, we have already learned so much. We learned little life lessons in Vacation Bible School and Children’s Church. These include things like sharing, playing fair, no talking while someone else is talking, and cleaning up our own messes. Most importantly, in those early lessons, we all learned, “Jesus loves me. This I know…”
“Continue in what you have learned…” connects with our celebration last weekend. Last Sunday, we gave thanks for 125 years of being this church. Along with the anniversary, we considered the people who formed us in our faith journey. These people were formative for us whether we’ve been part of UBC for a long time or are brand new, because we all have people who formed us in faith. They are the ones—preachers, parents or parental figures, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, and countless others—who taught us “Jesus loves me.” They formed an imprint on our faith. When it says, “Continue in what you have learned,” the passage serves as a callback to all the lessons in our tradition. All those things those people taught us about faith—keep doing them.
2 Timothy doesn’t say, “Continue doing whatever you feel like doing.” It doesn’t say, “Continue doing what confirms your world view” or “validates your preconceived notions.” It doesn’t say, “Continue adopting hedonism and doing what makes you feel good.” It’s about lessons we’ve already learned. There’s an implicit suggestion that we’ve heard and know the right thing to do, so do it.
This reading points to scripture. 2 Timothy 3.16 is a frequent memory verse and often used as a proof text for the importance of the Bible. It says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Here, we need to keep in mind what this passage would have thought of as scripture. Since the Council of Hippo didn’t make our canonical list of 66 biblical books until 393, this verse isn’t referring to the 66 books in our Bibles. It’s possible that the author of this letter knew of one or more of the gospels. Perhaps the author had seen some of the letters that would become the New Testament epistles. When it says, “All scripture,” it really means the Hebrew Bible, what we often call the Old Testament.
Placing the Hebrew scriptures alongside the New Testament, we find “the path of a life of faith” and it trains us in righteousness. According to 2 Timonthy, it equips us for “every good work.” Gustavo Gutiérrez writes, “If faith is a task, it involves a fundamental requirement to proclaim the word ‘whether the time is favorable or unfavorable,’ without fears and with the conviction that the word can enlighten people’s lives.”[i] If we find it meaningful, Gutiérrez says that others will too.
Moving through this passage, we come to the place where is says, “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires.” It’s easy to read 2 Timothy 4.3 and think it applies to today. Almost every generation of Christ-followers has read this verse and felt like it has been fulfilled in its own time. This fear can make religious institutions (and even churches) defensive against new ideas. Leaning into fears like that can mean closed ears are more common than open or inquisitive ones.[ii] Biblical commentator James Dunn writes that “itching ears” was a common image for the kind of curiosity that can only be relieved with interesting and spicy bits of information.[iii] “Itchy ears” aren’t about being curious or seeking answers. “Itchy ears” is the Greek equivalent of clickbait. It undermines the message to “continue in what you have learned.”
This is about the journey. It’s about continuing the process. Go to Bible study. Learn more about your faith. Put it into practice. Keep going. Keep doing it. Persevere. Even though this text is referring to the Old Testament when it says, “All scripture is inspired by God,” I find it helpful when struggling with a passage. There are places in the Bible that can be difficult. But taking 2 Timothy 3.16 at face value and applying it widely to the Bible invites us to engage with scripture and ask questions. It means taking the passage seriously.
As we study and grow, we might find something that is novel or unpopular. The Bible is full of confrontational lessons that people might find upsetting. Ron Sider tells about a communist agitator who was speaking to a crowd in the 1930s and said, “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by deception, cry out…” The crowd became unruly and started crying out for the speaker to be deported. However, the speaker was simply reading James 5.[iv] The truth of God’s love and amazing grace will always confront those who want to listen to themselves. Keep proclaiming the truth. Keep studying. Persevere. Be patient, steadfast, and faithful. Remember, no matter what, God is with you.
[i] Gustavo Gutiérrez, Sharing the Word through the Liturgical Year, trans. Colette Joly Dees (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2000), 247-48.
[ii] Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, ed. David N. Freedman, The Anchor Bible Reference Library, (New York: Doubleday, 1997), 679-80.
[iii] James D. G. Dunn, “1 & 2 Timothy and Titus,” in New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. Leander Keck (Nashville: Abingdon, 2000), 855.
[iv] Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1977).