Huiou Theou,
Thank you for your post.
It is the first one that seems (in my opinion) to address my concerns.
You’re welcome.
I think* married only once* means married only once. Is this a presumption?
Do you also think faith is not a work?
Roman 4:5 But to him that
worketh not,** yet believeth** in him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reputed to justice, according to the purpose of the grace of God.
Compare against how Jesus answers the question.
John 6:28 They said therefore unto him:
What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them:
This is the work of God, that y
ou believe in him whom he hath sent.
If you don’t believe faith is a work – you are presuming something. The same is true regarding “married only once” in your translation, as I will comment in a minute.
I believe in absolutes. I do not believe in relativism.
I don’t believe in relativ
ism either.
But do you believe
only in absolutes when it comes to writing style !!??
I reject the replies to what do 2 + 2 equal, for the liberal it depends on circumstances, for the lawyer it is what you want it to equal.
At a conference recently some tried to get away from the harsh reality of the Scriptures by saying the Bible uses metaphors, myths, hyperbole, exaggerations and Hebraisms.
I prefer to take the text as we have it and try to understand what it means.
I would prefer it too – but it doesn’t work. I try to determine the absolute minimum deviation required – but certain sentences in scripture, as I said, may be good Greek – but very bad English.
My explanation might be based on the idea that Paul is giving his own opinion not Church teaching when he wrote:
He is doing something disciplinary, I agree – so the passage you have in mind is not strictly a revealed truth. But that doesn’t affect the argument I am presenting which is noticing the reasoning Paul gives to explain himself and how it doesn’t match with the idea of “only once” as you are taking it.
You’re in a position where the only sure way to resolve it would be to ask St. Paul himself for clarification – or study the original Greek texts for the exact words and the various ways St. Paul uses those particular words, and you would have to show that “married only once” was not contingent on any other condition.
1Timo 5:4 But if any widow have children or nephews,
let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.
Clearly then Paul is speaking of a woman without children; or even nephews/grandchildren or other means of support…
So, clearly unless her children died – She hasn’t gone through matrimony.
Matrimony means the “making of a mother.”; what then did Paul really mean?
1Timo 5:9 Let a widow be chosen of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the
wife of one husband.
The last translation is from the Douay Rheems bible, and it doesn’t have the qualifier “only”. So, which bible are you using?.
Here’s typical Greek for the passage.
1Timo 5:9 χηρα καταλεγεσθω μη ελατ-τον ετ-ων `εξ-ηκ-ο-ντα γεγονυι-α εν-ος ανδρ-ος γυν-η
Literally “widow Let-take-according-to not [less years than] sixty done of-one man, wife”
The word “only” is typically represented by the Greek word “mono” “μον-ος/-ον”, one/unity. In the sentence you are looking at, however, the word “enos” (εν-ος) appears.
Enos means “of one” and seldom means only one.
For example, “the
one pillar was 21 cubits tall, the other was 22” or “the pillar was twenty
one cubits tall” or “the enemy was reduced to one man” – all of these would use “enos” form of “one” because it is a selection of one among many. Only the last example might use monos (μονος) since there is only one left by reduction; but it is still one of the group, “the enemy”, In the other example, one of the cubits is among twenty more (one and twenty is twenty one cubits total). etc.
The sentence, then, uses the word as a “wife of-one husband”, but it does not prove Paul meant married only once for all time. Furthermore, “wife” appears to be the subject of the sentence (Nominative) because the only alternative that ending allows is dative (to-woman) – but it is missing a word to identify it as a dative sub-clause.
The sense appears to be; married not less than sixty years belonging to one man.
Cross checking with the Latin Vulgate:
1Timo 5:9 Vidua eligatur non minus sexaginta annorum, quæ fuerit unius viri uxor,
… not less than sixty years, which have-been one man’s wife.
The latin seems to agree. Though I am only going by comparison of words in other lines of the Latin text, so I am not sure I translated precisely.
But, no obvious contradictions to my eyes – So, I am pretty certain she may be married more than once – but St. Paul requires that she has been married for sixty years to one man, PRESUMABLY, to her last husband but not necessarily. The only thing I can draw for certain from the text, is that St. Paul wants a woman who can be faithful for a very long time.
ers night and day. [6] For she that liveth in pleasures, is dead while she is living. [7] And this give in charge, that they may be blameless. [8] But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. [9] Let a widow be chosen of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband. [10] Having testimony for her good works, * if she have brought up children,
relax, mostly I was just surprised.
