1 Tim 6:6-8 - Roman Empire Morality Advocated

[NoelFitz]

Thanks to all who helped me in my study of 1 Tim to date

Now I want to focus on the last chapter and 1 Tim 6:6-8 in particular:

Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these (1 Tim 6:6-8).

Is the morality advocated here in agreement with Empire values, a quasi-Stoic/Cynic morality, which does not seem to be based on Gospel values and may have made Christianity attractive to Romans?

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Mt 6:25)

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear (Lk 11:22).

Was the success of Christianity partially due to the attractiveness of its morality, which was not too different from that of the more noble Romans? The belief in a God/man was simple for a Roman, as it corresponded to how emperors were seen and the morality of the PEs corresponded to the ideals of the noble Roman.

The ideal virtues of the Christian and Gentile in the Empire were not only the cardinal ones of justice, fortitude, prudence and temperance, which were hinges on which other virtues depended, but also εὐσέβεια, eusebeia ( reverence, piety, religion, godliness), which was an important virtue in the Hellenistic world, as well as in the Church.

Thus were the PEs helping the Church to be accepted by the Roman world?

Usually one thinks of Gospel values being counter-cultural in the early Church, but was this really so?