1 Timothy 3:15

[aball1035]

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Couldn’t one say that this is a physical place and not the Church in general? If not, why does the author use a physical place “behave thyself in the house of God” and then a spiritual sense right after that “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Another question is how Protestants think of this verse with so many of different churches each with their own truth.

 

[Drawmack]

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Couldn’t one say that this is a physical place and not the Church in general? If not, why does the author use a physical place “behave thyself in the house of God” and then a spiritual sense right after that “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Another question is how Protestants think of this verse with so many of different churches each with their own truth.

I interpret this to be equivalent to the following:

If I am not back soon, you know how to behave in the House of God. This is the church of the living God. This God is the pillar and ground of the truth.

Notice that the word church here is not capitalized. That means it is not a proper noun, thus there are more than one such church. If this were referencing the Church, as in the Body of Christ, it would be a proper noun and therefore capitalized.

 

[aball1035]

Are there any Church Fathers who wrote on this verse?

 

[tobinatorstark]

Are there any Church Fathers who wrote on this verse?

try newadvent.org.

 

[Mintaka]

I believe that “house of God” is translated as “household of God” in other versions. But either way, they’re not talking about a physical place.

For example, I’m not always in my mother’s house, under her roof. But wherever I go, I am part of her house – her family and her family line. It also means all the members of the household, even those who aren’t relatives. If I shared an apartment with a college roommate, we would be part of the same household; and our actions would reflect on each other wherever we went.

Think about verses like “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Was Moses talking about his tent serving the Lord? What about “the house of David”? Mary and Joseph were both of the Davidic line and thus of the House of David, even though David’s palace was long gone and neither of them lived there. Queen Elizabeth is in the House of Windsor, even if her body is far away from Windsor Castle; it is the name of the royal line to which she belongs.

By adoption, we Christians are all members of God’s household, members of His royal line. We are in and of His house, the house of God. We are to comport ourselves accordingly, as members of a divinely royal house. We are to know how to behave among ourselves, among and in God’s household.

 

[NHInsider]

Notice that the word church here is not capitalized. That means it is not a proper noun, thus there are more than one such church. If this were referencing the Church, as in the Body of Christ, it would be a proper noun and therefore capitalized.

That’s an English convention that doesn’t exist in the Greek, don’t hang your hat on it!

aball1035:

Couldn’t one say that this is a physical place and not the Church in general? If not, why does the author use a physical place “behave thyself in the house of God” and then a spiritual sense right after that “the pillar and ground of the truth.”

Except that at the time that Paul was writing there were no Christian worship buildings so the church could only refer to the community/ Body of believers. Buildings dedicated to the Christian liturgy don’t come into being until after Constantine.

aball1035:

Another question is how Protestants think of this verse with so many of different churches each with their own truth.

{donning “former Evangelical” hat}

They don’t. For the most part they believe that all who have “saving faith” (meaning believing in Jesus as God) are part of the invisible church. Depending on their particular interpretation they may accept or reject large swaths of Chistianity as having or not having “saving faith” but since it is a one-at-a-time, individual commitment that is the key they are simultaneously prone to the multiplication of denominations and committed to the notion that in the end, denominational labels don’t matter.