Purpose: To compare the methods of responding to internal dissention in the Pastoral and Johannine Letters
Both the Pastoral and Johannine Letters are concerned with combating false teaching, but they do so in different ways.
Post: In this discussion, compare and contrast their strategies for protecting the community from false teaching. How do they organize the communities to resist false teaching? What do they encourage them to do? Cite specific passages from 1 Timothy and 1–3 John as you make the comparison between the writings.
After making the comparison, reflect on how these writings might influence present-day Christian communities. Identify a specific “false teaching” that you think threatens churches today. Is this “false teaching” a belief (about God, humans, the world, etc.) that might result in problematic ways of living, or is it the promotion of a certain way of living that results from misguided beliefs? (Both 1 Timothy and 1–3 John assume a direct connection between beliefs and actions.) What might churches learn from 1 Timothy and 1–3 John about how to face these threats?
Remember that “false teaching” is a value loaded term. What you consider “false teaching” may be something that someone else affirms as true. So, compose your response with humility and empathy for others’ positions, even as you hold strong convictions about your own.
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