on is really quoted in 1 Tim., how could
Polycarp have quoted 1 Tim., as he does, before Marcion's book was
written? Something of a Gnostic tendency is betokened by the scorn of
material life and the human body shown in 1 Tim. iv. 3, 8 and 2 Tim.
ii. 18. But the error is mainly Jewish. The false {198} teachers
professed to be "teachers of the Law" (1 Tim. i. 7), which was exactly
the title claimed by the Jewish rabbis (see Luke v. 17). The general
character of their teaching was "vain talking" (1 Tim. i. 6; cf. Tit.
i. 10; iii. 9). It consists of "profane babblings" (1 Tim. vi. 20; 2
Tim. ii. 16). It is further characterized as "foolish questionings,
and genealogies, and strifes, and fightings about the law . . .
unprofitable and vain" (Tit. iii. 9). It is summed up in the phrases
"old wives' fables" (1 Tim. iv. 7), "Jewish fables" (Tit. i. 14). All
this shows that the error was not a definite Gnostic heresy with a
fundamentally false view of God. It was something intrinsically
ridiculous. Therefore the "endless genealogies" (1 Tim. i. 4) can
hardly be Gnostic genealogies of the semi-divine beings who took part
in the creation. They are Jewish tales about the heroes of the Old
Testament. The error is, in fact, primitive, and does not belong to
the 2nd century.

3. _Church organization._--It is said that these Epistles lay down the
rules for an organization of the Church which is later than the
apostolic age, and resembles the Episcopal system, such as we find it
in the 2nd century. Titus and Timothy act as delegates of the apostle,
and as the highest officials of the ministry, and they appoint
presbyters and deacons. We thus find a threefold ministry which
derives its sacred authority through the apostolate. The apostle lays
his hands upon his delegate (2 Tim. i. 6), and this delegate lays his
hands upon others (1 Tim. v. 22).

_Answer._--It is perfectly true that there is a threefold ministry
mentioned in these Epistles. But there is no sufficient reason for
denying that such a ministry is of apostolic origin. It seems quite
certain that at Jerusalem the presbyters and deacons were under the
authority of St. James, and after his death under that of Symeon. The
same form of government can also be traced back in other places to
apostolic times. Moreover, the organization which is mentioned in Acts
is fundamentally the same as that in these Epistles. In Acts we {199}
find the apostles first appointin