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Hi, Randy —
Thank for your question:
Let's look at the text.
4 1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
1 Timothy
4:1-4
The epistles to Timothy and Titus
are known as pastoral epistles. They
are personal letters written directly
to the bishops of particular Churches
who were left to run those Churches
established by Paul.
In the case of Timothy, he was the
pastor at Ephesus. So Paul is addressing
specifics issues which the Ephesian
Church was dealing with. Don't be
confused by the phrase in latter
times.
Remember ever since
Christ's Ascension into Heaven we've
been in the latter
times. That
doesn't mean it doesn't apply to
us and to future generations, but
Paul's concern is what is going on
in Ephesus.
So let's look at the background.
Ephesus was a city in what is modern
day Turkey, but at the time, that
region of the Roman Empire was called
Galatia. We know from Paul's letter
to the Galatians and to the Ephesians
that a certain Christian sect known
as the Judaizers were insisting that
Christians follow the entire Mosaic
law which included circumcision and
the kosher dietary laws. This was
in violation of the Jerusalem Council
(see Acts 15) which only imposed
a modified dietary provision for
pastoral reasons.
So Paul (writing to Timothy, some
time later) is reminding Timothy
to beware of that sort of false teaching.
In addition, another sect or cult
called the Gnostics were becoming fashionable.
They were the ones who forbid
all Christians from marrying.
Interestingly enough, the Gnostics tended
toward other extremes. They all believed
that matter was evil and that we
would be saved by transcending matter
in the after life. Based on this
belief, two opposite extremes developed
within Gnosticism:
- One group said since all matter
is evil, it doesn't matter what
you do in this life.
Eat, drink, be merry, and feed
all your lusts.
- the other group, based on the
same supposition, said do everything
possible to deny yourself any
earthly pleasure, including marriage.
So again Paul is reminding Timothy
of yet another false set of teachings
which he must contend with.
Now it is very important to make
a distinction between a pastoral
discipline which the Church, throughout
the ages, has always had the authority
to impose and change; and doctrinal
teachings which cannot change.
For instance, in the Church to this
day, Catholics must abstain from
meat on Fridays during Lent.
Not because of any doctrinal reason,
rather it is Pastoral discipline
imposed on the faithful,
so that together on Fridays in
Lent we make an act of sacrifice
and indeed an act of worship
to God. We don't just worship with
our minds, we worship with our whole
bodies. Hence, we might sing, pray
aloud, sit, stand, kneel, and yes,
even fast or deny ourselves a particular
food, but that doesn't mean the Church
says it is an intrinsically un-holy
act to eat meat on those Fridays.
It is an un-holy thing to purposely
disobey a given discipline.
As it relates to Marriage, some
would confuse Paul's comments to
Timothy with the Church's current
discipline of a celibate priesthood.
- First of all, the current discipline
is not for the entire Church,
simply the Western or Latin Church.
- Secondly, there are exceptions
to this discipline.
Most importantly, no one is forcing
anyone to become a priest. A man
presents himself to the Church claiming
that God has called him to the Priesthood.
It is the Church's responsibility
to help this man discern if this
call is true.
Holy Orders is not
a Sacrament that any man is entitled
to by right. The Church certainly
has the right to restrict the Priesthood
to celibate men if she is so led
by the Holy Spirit to do so in the
best interest of the faithful.
I hope this helps answer your question.
Feel free to ask follow ups.
John DiMascio
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