A Sunday thought

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (Second Timothy 3:16)

This is one of many biblical texts that gets trotted out all the time and hardly ever gets read. It gets trotted out because it is understood as a proof text. A proof text is a text people see this as an argument killer—whip this one out and the other side has to shut up.

It's interesting, in that regard, to actually read the thing.

All scripture is inspired by God ...

What can Paul mean by "all scripture"? When he wrote this, not one of the Gospels had yet been written. When he wrote this, there was no canon; there was no Christian Bible. On the face of it, this is either a very inclusive claim (there were great piles of holy writings about) or a very narrow one (the Torah, Nevi'im, the Kethuvim often referred to as "TaNaKh" and, maybe, the extra texts in the Septuagint).

There is no reason whatsoever to assume Paul meant anything here but the very narrow interpretation. And nowhere does Paul say his own letters are holy scripture.

... and is useful ...

"Useful" is a fascinating word choice. This is NRSV*. Earlier editions of the KJV I have here say "profitable". This text most emphatically does not use a word that would justify the most common use of this proof text; that is to say, as proof that scripture is authoritative and sufficient. And, notably to the contrary, Paul himself questions and contradicts the understanding of the law found in TaNaKh.

... is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness ...

Training in righteousness? What can that mean? Elsewhere in Paul we are made righteous by God and not by acts of law, which make up a huge section of TaNaKh. And "training"? Is becoming righteous like becoming skilled at a trade? To answer my own question, we would almost certainly have to understand it that way as that was the most common understanding of what it was to attain the state of righteousness at the time in Hellenistic culture. (And we should remember that Paul was writing for an honour-shame culture and not a guilt-redemption culture as we now live in.)

... so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Again, the word choices here are very interesting: "proficient" and "equipped". The whole point of this instruction is to become a virtuous person; and here virtuous means a person who is able to live a certain kind of life. And this is confirmed by the larger context, Paul is here instructing Timothy in what he and others should do in order to lead a righteous life.

A final quick note: I used the indefinite article "a righteous life", instead of "the righteous life" advisedly. If we go back to Second Timothy 2:20-21, it is clear that Paul does not think everyone has been fitted by God to be capable of one and only one kind of righteous living:

In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. All who cleanse themselves of the things that I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work.

So what can we conclude from Second Timothy 3:16? That the Jewish scriptures are useful in our teaching, correction, chastisement and training as Christians and that preparation is to make us better at good works. And that is all it says! Anything else is pure invention.




* Yes, I use the NRSV. Not without reservations. Some of the inclusive "gender" language added (and it is very much added) to the NRSV does work against the original meaning. Aside from that, however, the NRSV represents by far the most scholarly translation available.