3 It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of bishop, it is a fine work he desires to do. ² A bishop, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, skilful in teaching, ³ not overindulging in wine, not a bully, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money. ⁴ He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity ⁵ (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), ⁶  not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into condemnation incurred by the devil. ⁷ And he must have a good reputation with those outside, so that he will not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil. ⁸ Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not insincere, not prone to drink much wine, not greedy for money, ⁹ but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. ¹⁰ These men must also first be tested; then have them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. ¹¹ Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. ¹² Deacons must be husbands of one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. ¹³ For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; ¹⁵ but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth  (1Tim3:1-15)

Bishops and deacons

In the context of what this project is about I am not especially interested in what is required of a good bishop or deacon. All I will say is that Paul’s requirements are exactly what one would expect them to be. Indeed all, apart from the ability to teach and provide leadership, are qualities one would expect to be realized by those who are the elect of God. Attributes required for those who would be leaders within the Church is undoubtedly the focal point of the passage, but as is  often the case, it is more peripheral comments that draw themselves to my attention, for they more directly affect the issue at hand, being the breadth of God’s benign providence.

The household of God

That must include Paul’s description of the Church in verse 15 – the “household of God” and the “pillar and foundation of the truth”. It is the former for its inhabitants are intended to become the kith and kin of Jesus Christ: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from One; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb2:11). I say “intended to become” for clearly far from all the current members of the “household” shall attain to such glory, for many have been called into the Church but relatively few shall be chosen (Mt22:14).

Paul regarded all within the Church who have been baptized as having been saved – “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life” (Rom6:3-4).

But not all do walk “in newness of life”, for many, not least in the true Apostolic churches (East and West), were baptized as infants and brought up as children of the Church but have subsequently chosen a different path for their life. As for those that remain: “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver implements, but also implements of wood and of earthenware, and some are for honour while others are for dishonour. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from (wickedness), he will be an implement for honour, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2Tim2:19-21)

Evaluating the cost of discipleship

But then Christian discipleship is not for everyone. Jesus cautioned about even contemplating it without a careful evaluation of the pros and cons: “If anyone comes to Me and does not put Me before his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ (Lk14:26-30).

Note the Lord’s reference to calculating the cost. In all seriousness, how can this possibly be referring to “avoid going to hell when you die”? What evaluation is need for that? As I have been explaining from the rest of Scripture that is not the issue here. It is not that to which the Gospel pertains. However, to become “an heir of God and joint heir with Christ certainly is (Rom8:17). None shall attain to it unless they are prepared to “lose their life so that they might find it” (Mt16:25)  being one of the proportional few who have been “predestined to become conformed to the image of God’s Son” (Rom8:29).

The pillar and foundation of the truth

In terms of this subheading, I used to regard that as the bible. Not so, says Paul – the Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. And any who have studied the writings of the early Church Fathers will know that that was God’s intention. For the first few centuries of the Christian era there was no unified or agreed cannon of scripture. Even thereafter it was never intended that gospel truth be determined by personal interpretations of the bible but  from a faithful and ecclesiological transmission of the deposit of faith, both written and oral tradition (2Thes2:15). The sole sacred depository of that faith was the Holy Catholic Church. Her task was to guard, preserve and teach that deposit which she rightly asserts is immutable.

Faithful to the Deposit?

But here is where a problem arises, for there are aspects concerning that deposit which I have been shown were not protected but rather mutated, not exclusively but primarily through the influence of one Aurelius Augustinus (AD354-430). He shortly after his conversion (from Manichaeism) became Bishop of Hippo, and is formally recognized within Roman Catholicism as a saint of highest esteem – a Doctor of the Church. Truly, my conscience will not permit me to accede, believing as I do that he subverted the earliest Church’s teaching on key issues such as free will, natural law (innate spiritual faculties), human nature after the Fall, the economy of grace, premillennialism and the role of Torah in the Old Testament, combinedly turning the God who is Love’s munificent providence into a cosmic horror show.  A short summary of my convictions expressed in a thesis is to be found HERE.

Yet I have remained a member of his church, knowing her to be the western flank of the true “household of God”, which as Christ promised to Peter would never be entirely prevailed against. She along with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, regardless of doctrinal differences (i.e. errors) and mysteries yet to be unravelled, provide now and have always provided everything that is necessary in terms of sacrament and teaching for faithful followers of Christ to become fitted for a glorious inheritance as the elect of God.

Scripture – Catalyst for error, arbiter for truth

When one has concluded that even the true church has fallen into error, largely through key theologians misinterpreting Scripture during its most formative years in terms of formalizing doctrine for posterity, one perceives how the bible can be a catalyst for error. But, thanks be to God, it is also an arbiter for truth. If any doctrine appears to make God out to be a Monster, inflicting “mild sensual pain” upon unbaptized infants through the ages (a la Augustine) and predetermining that the bulk of humanity should experience an eternity in hell “so that it might be shown what had been due to all” (ditto), yet at the same time (rightly) declaring that our loving Saviour Jesus Christ was the exact and express image of God His Father in nature and predisposition, we have to conclude certain doctrine to be in error. And whilst the outworking of Augustine’s narrow, fatalistic soteriology may have become abhorrent to post-Conciliar Catholic ears, the scriptural interpretations that lay behind it are still evident in the Bible translations utilized by Catholics and in various references within the Catechism, and  of course the man himself is still highly revered.

This is still more called into question when having examined the writings of those who were tutored either by the apostles themselves, or by the likes of Timothy, Philemon and Jude or their immediate appointees, we find they presented a God who was very different in nature and intentions to Augustine’s. Is this an oversimplification? Possibly, given that I am certainly a simpleton in comparison to the indisputably august Doctor of Grace. Nevertheless, a reading of, say all known 2^nd and 3^rd century theologians and Church historians should affirm that I am broadly correct, and these days such study is easily and cheaply achievable thanks to the internet.

So having said the bible is the final arbiter of truth, it is still not scripture alone. Reference to the early Fathers’ writing is also required to understand what had been explained to them as gospel truth, and (certainly in my case) to determine which is the true “household of God” – the Church where alone are dispensed the mysteries of heavenly grace.

Yours truly

As for what I do and am doing in this post, it is most irregular. I would not dare attempt it if I were not clear I had received a prophetic calling to do so. Here I stand… oh but we won’t go there – my aims could hardly be further removed from the one who famously made that utterance, not merely in terms of theology, but regarding what I intend should be the final configuration of the churches (Jn17:11).

The LITTLE BOOK OF PROVIDENCE: a seven-part synopsis of the bible: – available as a paperback from Amazon or FREELY as a PDF file https://richard-777.blog/free-download-of-pdf/

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