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NASB | 1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 3:2 Now an overseer must be blameless and beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, |
Bible Question (short): More on 1 Tim. 3:2 |
Question (full): Steve, I'm having trouble with a part of your answer to PSP's question, "What does 1 Tim. 3:2 mean?" In the final paragraph of your answer you say, "I believe the pastor or deacon should be married. So if he is single, widowed, or divorced, he is disqualified." In the first place, if you are referring to the passage in the question, i.e., 1 Tim. 3:2, the qualifications of a bishop (or elder) are under consideration, not pastors or deacons. And for the bishop, the qualification is that he be monogamous -- a one-woman man. The passage is assuming rather than stipulating that the bishop would be a married man. Do you have any corroborating Scripture to support your statement that a pastor or a deacon is disqualifed solely on grounds that he happens to be single, widowed, or divorced? What about the writer of this letter, Paul? He certainly was a church leader par excellence. Was he married? When the wife of a pastor of a church dies leaving him a widower, is he then disqualified to serve the church as pastor? If an elder's wife runs away with the postman and a divorce results, does the elder for this reason become disqualifed to serve? Steve, I sincerely feel that your answer needs more authority than what it gets from the assertion "I believe...." -- Hank |