Acts one

[JLG]

Henry Dana Ward, a Millerite Adventist, claimed that the Epistle of Barnabas, which may have been written in the first century and was certainly earlier than 135,[31][32] said that the object on which Jesus died was cross-shaped, but claimed that the author of the Epistle invented this concept.[33] He likewise defined a stauros as a plain stake.

Stauros means "an upright pale," a strong stake, such as farmers drive into the ground to make their fences or palisades — no more, no less. ... Zulon and stauros are alike the single stick, the pale, or the stake, neither more nor less, on which Jesus was impaled, or crucified. ... Neither stauros nor zulon ever mean two sticks joining each other at an angle, either in the New Testament or in any other book.​

— Henry Dana Ward, History of the Cross: The Pagan Origin, and Idolatrous Adoption and Worship of the Image, 1871​

 

[JLG]

A similar view was put forward by John Denham Parsons in 1896.

The stauros used as an instrument of execution was (1) a small pointed pole or stake used for thrusting through the body, so as to pin the latter to the earth, or otherwise render death inevitable; (2) a similar pole or stake fixed in the ground point upwards, upon which the condemned one was forced down till incapable of escaping; (3) a much longer and stouter pole or stake fixed point upwards, upon which the victim, with his hands tied behind him, was lodged in such a way that the point should enter his breast and the weight of the body cause every movement to hasten the end; and (4) a stout unpointed pole or stake set upright in the earth, from which the victim was suspended by a rope round his wrists, which were first tied behind him so that the position might become an agonising one; or to which the doomed one was bound, or, as in the case of Jesus, nailed. That this last named kind of stauros, which was admittedly that to which Jesus was affixed, had in every case a cross-bar attached, is untrue; that it had in most cases, is unlikely; that it had in the case of Jesus, is unproven. ​

Even as late as the Middle Ages, the word stauros seems to have primarily signified a straight piece of wood without a cross-bar. For the famous Greek lexicographer, Suidas, expressly states, "Stauroi; ortha xula perpegota," and both Eustathius and Hesychius affirm that it meant a straight stake or pole. ​

The side light thrown upon the question by Lucian is also worth noting. This writer, referring to Jesus, alludes to "That sophist of theirs who was fastened to a skolops"; which word signified a single piece of wood, and not two pieces joined together.​

— John Denham Parsons, The Non-Christian Cross, 1896​

In the 20th century, William Edwy Vine also reasoned that the stauros as an item for execution was different to the Christian cross. Vine's Expository Dictionary's definition states that stauros:

denotes, primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, "to fasten to a stake or pale," are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed "cross." The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ.​

— William Edwy Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 1940​

 

[JLG]

In the 21st century, David W. Chapman counters that:

... the "fundamental" references to an upright pole in σταυρός [...] does not rightly imply that such terminology in antiquity, when applied to crucifixion, invariably applied to a single upright beam. This is a common word study fallacy in some populist literature. In fact, such terminology often referred in antiquity to cross-shaped crucifixion devices.​

— David W. Chapman, Ancient Jewish and Christian Perceptions of Crucifixion, 2008​

 

[JLG]

Chapman stresses the comparison with Prometheus chained to the Caucasus Mountains made by the second century AD writer Lucian. Chapman identifies that Lucian uses the verbs άνασκολοπίζω, άνασταυρόω, and σταυρόω interchangeably, and argues that by the time of the Roman expansion into Asia Minor, the shape of the stauros used by the Romans for executions was more complex than a simple stake, and that cross-shaped crucifixions may have been the norm in the Roman era. Presbyterian theologian John Granger Cook interprets writers living when executions by stauros were being carried out as indicating that from the first century AD there is evidence that the execution stauros was normally made of more than one piece of wood and resembled cross-shaped objects such as the letter T. Anglican theologian David Tombs suggests the stauros referred to the upright part of a two-beam cross, with patibulum as the cross-piece. Similar statements are made by Jack Finegan, Robin M. Jensen, Craig Evans, Linda Hogan and Dylan Lee Lehrke.

 

[JLG]

- You said corrupted!

- My question: what is really corrupted?

- Is God’s word corrupted?

- Or is it man’s tradition?

 

[JLG]

https://hermeneutics.stackexchange....reek-word-stauros-does-it-mean-cross-or-stake

The Greek word "Stauros" does it mean Cross or Stake?

Cross or Stake: which is the better translation of the Greek?

Example of the use of "Stake."

NWT Matthew 16:24 "Then Jesus said to his disciples: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and keep following me."​

NWT Mark 15:13-15 "Once more they cried out: “To the stake with him!” 14 But Pilate went on to say to them: “Why? What bad thing did he do?” Still they cried out all the more: “To the stake with him!” 15 At that Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Bar·abʹbas to them; and after having Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be executed on the stake."​

NWT Colossians 2:14 "He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake."​

 

[JLG]

Definitions:-


Cross, Crucify: denotes, primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, "to fasten to a stake or pale," are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed "cross." The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ.”-Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

 

[JLG]

The Imperial Bible-Dictionary acknowledges this, saying: “The Greek word for cross, [stau·rosʹ], properly signified a stake, an upright pole, or piece of paling, on which anything might be hung, or which might be used in impaling [fencing in] a piece of ground. . . . Even amongst the Romans the crux (from which our cross is derived) appears to have been originally an upright pole.”—Edited by P. Fairbairn (London, 1874), Vol. I, p. 376.​

 

[JLG]

clarification:-

In my sub-question I make the point that I would like to see the use of the Greek word "stauros" before "Church traditions." What does this mean? That is to say, how was the word used before any of the New Testament was penned, so on the day before the first word of the Gospels etc. was put to paper, what did the word mean? This then would shed light on my main question. Which in turn will tell us what it meant to the first Christian penmen.

Possible duplicate of Matthew 16:24 & Hebrews 12:2 > What are the possible interpretations of the σταυρός (cross) in Greek in the Bible?

• 
  – James Shewey
  
  Apr 10, 2019 at 16:24
  
• The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. - You sure about that ?
  
  – Lucian
  
  Aug 8, 2019 at 0:52
  
• @Lucian, "sure?" It wasn't the OP expressing an opinion, it was quoted from Vine's Expository Dictionary. The use of a cross symbol dates back to ancient pagan antiquity, as described in this 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article describing the origins of the word "bun", as in "hot cross buns".
  
  – Ray Butterworth
  
  Aug 8, 2019 at 18:04

 

[JLG]

• @RayButterworth: He quoted falsehood as fact; that he didn't author it is of secondary importance. (Prior to the European Enlightenment, most humans everywhere were illiterate; as such, letters were not commonly used as symbols by the masses; ancient Babylonians, and their various deities, being no exception to the rule). The Brittanica link seems equally problematic (Chrysostom's Orthodox liturgy, for instance, does not employ flat, circular wafers, but cubic loafs of bread; I am also unaware of pre-Columbian New World paganism employing cross-shaped sun symbols).
  
  – Lucian
  
  Aug 9, 2019 at 6:31

 

[JLG]

1


I'm of the opinion that the mode of Jesus' execution ultimately was not crucifixion but rather stabbing:

[Jhn 19:34 KJV] 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.​

Nor do we know the details about the equipment used. As with so much it seems to have been lost to time.


The two most promising theses I've been able to identify are:

• beam:

σταυρός is used in the scriptures for the structure upon which Jesus died. In secular usage a σταυρός is a "beam". The word for a cross is διασταύρωση which is a cognate of σταυρός that sort of means "thru beam" or perhaps "across beam". So on the basis of the koine word choice it appears it was a beam. However, it could be that the διασταύρωση referred to the X shaped cross.

• cross:

I'm of the opinion that the mode of Jesus' execution ultimately was not crucifixion but rather stabbing:

[Jhn 19:34 KJV] 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.​

Nor do we know the details about the equipment used. As with so much it seems to have been lost to time.


The two most promising theses I've been able to identify are:

• beam:

σταυρός is used in the scriptures for the structure upon which Jesus died. In secular usage a σταυρός is a "beam". The word for a cross is διασταύρωση which is a cognate of σταυρός that sort of means "thru beam" or perhaps "across beam". So on the basis of the koine word choice it appears it was a beam. However, it could be that the διασταύρωση referred to the X shaped cross.

• cross:

 

[JLG]

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the σταυρός in Latin had two names for two parts:

The crosses used were of different shapes. Some were in the form of a , others in that of a St. Andrew's cross, , while others again were in four parts, . The more common kind consisted of a stake ("palus") firmly embedded in the ground ("crucem figere") before the condemned arrived at the place of execution (Cicero, "Verr." v. 12; Josephus, "B. J." vii. 6, § 4) and a cross-beam ("patibulum"), bearing the "titulus"—the inscription naming the crime (Matt. xxvii. 37; Luke xxiii. 38; Suetonius, "Cal." 38). It was this cross-beam, not the heavy stake, which the condemned was compelled to carry to the scene of execution (Plutarch, "De Sera Num. Vind." 9; Matt. ib.; John xix. 17; See Cross). The cross was not very high, and the sentenced man could without difficulty be drawn up with ropes ("in crucem tollere, agere, dare, ferre"). His hands and feet were fastened with nails to the cross-beam and stake (Tertullian, "Adv. Judæos," 10; Seneca, "Vita Beata," 19); though it has been held that, as in Egypt, the hands and feet were merely bound with ropes (see Winer, "B. R." i. 678). The execution was always preceded by flagellation (Livy, xxxiv. 26; Josephus, "B. J." ii. 14, § 9; v. 11, § 1); and on his way to his doom, led through the most populous streets, the delinquent was exposed to insult and injury. Upon arrival at the stake, his clothes were removed, and the execution took place. Death was probably caused by starvation or exhaustion, the cramped position of the body causing fearful tortures, and ultimately gradual paralysis. Whether a foot-rest was provided is open to doubt; but usually the body was placed astride a board ("sedile"). The agony lasted at least twelve hours, in some cases as long as three days. To hasten death the legs were broken, and this was considered an act of clemency (Cicero, "Phil." xiii. 27). The body remained on the cross, food for birds of prey until it rotted, or was cast before wild beasts. Special permission to remove the body was occasionally granted. Officers (carnifex and triumviri) and soldiers were in charge...​

Greek-English lexicons such as Thayers list the meaning of σταυρός as:

1) an upright stake, esp. a pointed one or
2) a cross​

In most regards however, these can actually be thought of as synonymous for a couple of reasons. First, many believe that crucifixion actually originated with the Assyrian empire. It was a favorite tactic of the Assyrians to impale victims en mass alive on poles outside of a fortified city they wished to conquer as a means of psychological warfare. The victims' screams were used to convince the
target city that it would be better to surrender and avoid the same fate than to face the Assyrian empire.

 

[JLG]

Greek-English lexicons such as Thayers list the meaning of σταυρός as:

1) an upright stake, esp. a pointed one or
2) a cross​

In most regards however, these can actually be thought of as synonymous for a couple of reasons. First, many believe that crucifixion actually originated with the Assyrian empire. It was a favorite tactic of the Assyrians to impale victims en mass alive on poles outside of a fortified city they wished to conquer as a means of psychological warfare. The victims' screams were used to convince the target city that it would be better to surrender and avoid the same fate than to face the Assyrian empire.

Later, crucifixion began being used by the Persians in a manner more similar to the crucifixion of Christ. This persisted among several major cultures until it was picked up and used by Alexander the Great against the Phoenicians The major difference in early usage of this torture method by the Persians and others was that this was often done on a stake or tree without the use of a cross-member (or "patibulum"). This type of cross is known as a crux simplex and is the primary reason σταυρός can be translated as an upright stake.


Another reason this may be referred to as an upright stake has to do with exactly how crucifixions happened in the Roman Empire. There is actually some thought within scholarship that Jesus may have been hung on a Tau Cross.

In the Roman Empire, when a specific place was used for crucifixion, they would typically bury a pole in the ground which was then used repeatedly. Installing a new cross on the hill of Golgotha each time another crucifixion was taking place was simply too troublesome. Instead, after each body was taken down, the patibulum only was removed and the main part of the cross - a stake - would be left behind. When a crucifixion occurred, the prisoner would be forced to carry only their patibulum (the cross-member), not the entire cross. This would then be either nailed to the stake left behind after each crucifixion or set on top of and nailed down into the top of the stake depending on if it was a Tau cross or a cross like that which is depicted in most Christian iconography. For obvious reasons, it was easier to nail a patibulum (with victim already attached) to the stake using a tau cross which accounts for its popularity with the Romans (this was actually the most widely used type of cross by the Roman Empire) It is therefore not wholly inappropriate to think of σταυρὸν as referring to the buried stake left behind after a crucifixion was completed.

As you can see from this brief history, when σταυρὸν is used in the context of torture, there really is no difference between "stake" or "cross". These refer to the same method of torture. While this could be meaningful if σταυρὸν was being used in the context of gardening for example, it is doubtful that that there is any meaningful difference in the context in which you are discussing it. For the sake of clarity to modern readers, it seems then that the most clear meaning would be "cross" as most laypersons probably do not know the history and methods of crucifixion and would be unable to understand that a "buried stake" and a cross are essentially the same thing in the context of torture. This rendering would be unnecessarily confusing to modern readers and over-literal. Drawing a distinction between "Cross" and Steak, is neither particularly meaningful or helpful to hermeneutics.

Here's an excerpt from something I wrote a few years ago:

Roman Efficiency​

The Romans were an incredibly efficient society, concerned about its long-term future.​

Whenever they built anything, the Romans built it to last. Even today, there exist roads, bridges, aquaducts, and buildings that the Romans built over two thousand years ago.​

Whenever they did anything, the Romans did so as efficiently as possible. Designs were functional, not ornate. A comparison of contemporary Roman and Greek architecture shows the Greeks creating fluted columns, elaborately carved capitals, and various decorative features, with the Romans having a very utilitarian style, everything plain and simple, with all shapes being rectangles or circles.​

Crucifixion​

Crucifixion wasn't invented specifically for Jesus; it was a very common method of torture and execution throughout the Roman Empire. There were times when literally thousands of people were crucified at a time, their tortured bodies hanging in one long row along the side of a heavily travelled road.

The crosses typically depicted throughout the modern Christian world would have been far too large, far too heavy, and far too complicated for the Roman army to use. Fitting and binding the two pieces together would have required a significant amount of work. For the Romans, form followed function, and for this purpose there was simply no need for a complicating crossbar.


One simple vertical pole was all that was needed.

Similarly, there is no way that Roman soldiers would have put nails through a prisoner's palms. The weight of the body could have ripped the nails up through the hands, and remounting them would have been too much trouble. The modern concept of using rope to support the weight would also have been an added complication, not to mention that devising something to compensate for a poor basic design would have been seen as inefficient.

A single nail, driven between the wrist bones of the prisoner's crossed hands would have been far more efficient. The nail would never tear out, and the pressure of the nail on the nerves in the end of the wrist (like banging one's funny-bone) would have added to the torture. One could relieve that pressure by supporting one's weight by the legs, but it would be very tiring to do so. Yet relaxing the legs would cause excruciating pain. (The word "excruciating" has the same origin as "crucifixion".) The mental stress of deciding between leg support and wrist pain makes the crucifixion process even more effective in terms of torture.

Yes, there were times when fancy elaborate devices were used to crucify special people or used at special events, but it was only to enhance the entertainment value. One king, for instance, was crucified on a specially constructed "X"-shaped cross. But for the vast majority of people, a simple pole with a single nail through the crossed wrists and one in each ankle got the job done.

 

[JLG]

The Bible


While some translations (e.g. New World Translation) use expressions like "torture stake", most English translations of the Bible refer to Jesus's execution device as a "cross". The original Greek word is "stauros" (σταυρός), which simply means an upright wooden stake, and has no connotation of having a crossbar.


Jesus, or anyone else, couldn't possibly have carried anything like the large and often elaborate cross we see depicted in churches, books, and films. Nor was he forced to carry only the crossbar, as some people now rationalize the event. The same Greek word is used for what he carried as is used for the execution device.


Even if the Romans had thought of Jesus as deserving special treatment because of who he was (which they didn't), they obviously didn't bother. Jesus was crucified alongside two other criminals, with nothing mentioned indicating that his stake was any different from the other two.

The soldiers were asked to break the legs of the three criminals so that they would die much sooner allowing them to be buried before the Sabbath began at sunset. The leg breaking would speed up the death because the entire body weight would then be on the single nail between the crossed wrists. The pain would be intense and continuous, and any false hope provided by leg support would be gone.

Why There is nothing recorded in the first few centuries to indicate a cross-shaped execution device, so where did this iconic shape originate?


In 312CE, when the Roman emperor Constantine won the battle of Milvian Bridge, he saw a cross of light and the message "In this sign you shall conquer".


This might have been the meteorological phenomenon known as a sundog: vertical and horizontal beams of light centered around the sun with four similar but smaller crosses occurring on a ring of light surrounding the sun.


Even today, many Roman symbols of the cross look much like this phenomenon.


From ancient times, cross symbols had been used by many cultures to represent the Sun. Constantine was a sun worshipper, so invoking the power of the Sun god in battle would have been a natural thing for him to do. The Emperor ordered his soldiers to put the cross symbol on their shields in all future battles.

Over the next decade, because his mother had become interested in Christianity, Constantine relaxed the official persecution of Christians, and began to see the potential usefulness of that cult. He gradually incorporated Christian terminology into the Roman religion and convened councils to set doctrine, including making Sunday, the day of the Sun, the official day of rest for Christians. Later he outlawed the Biblical holidays and declared that the Roman celebrations that we now know as Easter and Christmas must be celebrated instead.

It was a simple matter to say that the device of Jesus's execution was a cross, and the Latin cross, the sign of the Sun, became the official emblem of Roman Christianity. This transition is supposedly supported by Malachi 4:2, which, when considered as a messianic prophecy, refers to Christ as the "sun of righteousness".


It wasn't until 25 years after his original Sun vision, and years of redefining Roman religion, that Constantine himself finally converted to what was by then called "Christianity".

 

[JLG]

There is nothing recorded in the first few centuries to indicate a cross-shaped execution device - You sure about that ?


– Lucian


Aug 8, 2019 at 0:54

• Constantine was a sun worshiper. - Doubtful. Egyptians, who lived in the desert, did indeed worship the Sun, Ra, as their supreme deity; Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, worshiped Zeus or Jupiter, whose celestial symbol is, obviously, the classical planet bearing his name until this very day.

– Lucian


Aug 8, 2019 at 0:58

• 1

@Lucian, Sol Invictus - Wikipedia says "Emperors portrayed Sol Invictus on their official coinage … , claiming the Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine." . It was Constantine himself, in AD321, that declared Sunday as the official day of rest: "On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.".


– Ray Butterworth


Aug 8, 2019 at 17:53

• 1

@Lucian says "My point was that the sun did not occupy a central or particularly important role in Greek-Roman paganism", and I'm not disagreeing with that. My point was that it was Constantine that changed things so that from then on the Sun (and the Cross symbol) did play an important role in mainstream Roman religion, which from then on was no longer considered pagan.


– Ray Butterworth


Aug 9, 2019 at 18:01

• 1

@Lucian, the ideas of plate tectonics, the origin of meteorites, and mass extinctions were also considered pseudo-science before they were accepted. (I'm definitely not saying that this means that all pseudo-science is true, only that one shouldn't dismiss something simply because it isn't yet accepted.)


– Ray Butterworth


Aug 9, 2019 at 22:56

0


As I understand it, there is evidence for the cross of Christ looking like a Capital "T" (a "Tao" cross) rather than a lower case "t".


This would explain the discrepancy between a stake or a cross. The vertical member was a stake and Jesus carried the cross piece which was attached to the top of the vertical stake when He was crucified.


If you think about it, it makes no sense to have the top tail above the cross piece. It would be easier to set a mortise in the cross piece on to a tenon in the vertical stake. Perhaps the tenon was extra long and that was the tail piece above the cross piece.

 

[JLG]

When I was little and needed to get dressed, my mom always said reach for the stars,when she would put my shirts and sweaters on(in other words) stretch up so high you can reach the stars with your bare hands above your head,so he died with his hands above his head and don't forget they also nailed his hands above his head and was tied upon the stake, so that why he couldn't pull himself up and free himself,plus when you reach out or stretch, you are expanding your chest cavity out more.. besides all of the facts if you had your mom dress you,when little could she dress you with your arms stretched out opposite directions, no she wouldn't waste time put one arm in at a time. But go out and ask family members or friends how do they dress their children under 5 years of age or ask a stranger how would they get a tee shirt on a toddler or if they themselves were taught by momma or dad,ask them how did you put my shirt on and which way, was easiest...

 

[JLG]

- Coming back to this part:

Looking for Paul
Where does it come?
How does it grow?

Philippians Chapter 2

- More than that, when he came as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, yes, death on a torture stake. For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position and kindly gave him the name that is above every other name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend—of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground - and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

- He came as a man! (And being found in appearance as a man = biblehub interlinear)

- He humbled himself! (he humbled himself = biblehub interlinear)

- He became obedient to the point of death! ((and) became obedient to death = biblehub interlinear)

- Yes, death on a torture stake! (even death on (a) cross = biblehub interlinear)

- For this very reason, God exalted him to a superior position! (therefore God exalted him (to the highest place = biblehub interlinear)

- And kindly gave him the name that is above every other name! (and gave Him the name above all names, = biblehub interlinear)

- So that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend! (that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, = biblrhun interlinear)

- Of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground! (in heaven and on earth and under the earth = biblehub interlinear)

- And every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father! (and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ (is) Lord to (the) glory of God (the) Father. = biblehub interlinear)

- Here Paul tells us about the different phases of Jesus coming down and up before he comes back to God before “every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father!”

- Think about Abraham and Isaac!

- A father and his son!

- And God asked him to offer his only child as a test to prove his faithfulness to God!

- And Jesus also proved his faithfulness to God by suffering a painful death!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Paul
Where does it come?
How does it grow?

Colossians Chapter 2

- Because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily.

- Jesus demonstrated his faithfulness to God before going down to the earth!

- Jesus demonstrated his faithfulness to God when he came down to earth!

- Jesus demonstrated his faithfulness to God when on earth as he spent his life there doing his Father’s will and only his will!

- Jesus demonstrated his faithfulness to God when he died painfully for our sins according to his Father’s will!

- Thus through all his faithfulness he showed all of his divine quality!

- And also his special relationship with God and his union with him!

- And by showing our faith to God we can participate in this union!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Paul
Where does it come?
How does it grow?

Thessalonians Chapter 3

- So when we could bear it no longer, we thought it best to stay on alone in Athens; and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s minister in the good news about the Christ, to make you firm and comfort you regarding your faith, so that no one might be shaken by these tribulations.

- Here again we see a great quality of Paul!

- He cares for his brothers!

- But because he is in Athens, he sends Timothy to help the disciples in Thessalonia!

- It also shows that he has full confidence in him!

- Thus it implies a big responsibility for Timothy!

- Not all men are worthy of such a confidence!

- And those who are not worthy will receive their salary!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Paul
Where does it come?
How does it grow?

1 Timothy Chapter 3

- Moreover, he should also have a fine testimony from outsiders so that he does not fall into reproach and a snare of the Devil.

- Having a good testimony from inside and outside!

- We are all different!

- We can’t satisfy everybody!

- Human beings are too different!

- We belong to so many cultures!

- It seems we are all living on earth but in different worlds which are completely opposed!

- It seems we are living at different times, many in the past, some in the present, others in the future!

- We can’t avoid it!

- But we can all speak about God and encourage all to read and learn about God and check facts, not always repeat what is corrupted, even if it has always been so through history!

- And we can all try to make God’s will if we are interested in the future world to build!