{"id":22139,"date":"2010-03-11T19:43:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T01:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=22139"},"modified":"2020-05-04T19:46:21","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T00:46:21","slug":"was-timothys-father-a-non-believer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-timothys-father-a-non-believer\/","title":{"rendered":"Was Timothy’s father a non-believer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

One passage I’m having a problem with is\u00a0Acts 16:1. In time past I have\u00a0heard a couple of different preachers on different occasions\u00a0say some that Timothy’s father was a “non-believer”.<\/p>\n

I am not confident in teaching\u00a0that Timothy’s\u00a0father was\/was not a believer.\u00a0 While it is true the text does not say that the father was not a believer, I believe that it does give some clues.\u00a0 The emphasis in the New Testament is that Timothy was taught, was a believer, had a Greek father, had a Greek name, was not circumcised.\u00a0 Therefore, Timothy did not worship as a Jew.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. He learned the scriptures from his mother and grandmother – II Timothy 1:5<\/li>\n
  2. His mother was a Jewish woman who believed – but <\/b>his father was a Greek. It is\u00a0implied\u00a0<\/em>that his father was not a believer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Can you shed some light on this for me?\u00a0 If\u00a0there is\u00a0scriptural support\u00a0to prove that his father was a non-believer I would like to know where it is found.<\/p>\n\t

    Answer:<\/h2>\n

    In case I missed something, I checked numerous commentaries. None assume that Timothy’s father was a non-believer. Quite the opposite actually, some wonder if he might have been a believer because Timothy’s name means “dear to God” in Greek. Most reject the idea that he could have been a Jewish proselyte since Timothy had not been circumcised and because all in the local Jewish community knew Timothy had not been circumcised because of his father (Acts 16:3). Some also wonder if Timothy’s mother was a widow since so much is said of her and her mother and nothing is said about Timothy’s father.<\/p>\n

    In the end, I think all you can state is that Timothy’s father was of Greek nationality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Question: One passage I’m having a problem with is\u00a0Acts 16:1. In time past I have\u00a0heard a couple of different preachers on different occasions\u00a0say some that Timothy’s father was a “non-believer”. I am not confident in teaching\u00a0that Timothy’s\u00a0father was\/was not a believer.\u00a0 While it is true the text does not say that the father was not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[331],"class_list":["post-22139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-timothy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54162,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-timothys-father-an-aramean\/","url_meta":{"origin":22139,"position":0},"title":"Was Timothy’s father an Aramean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In\u00a0Was Timothy's father a non-believer? you said, \"In the end, I think all you can state is that Timothy's father was of Greek nationality.\" But Acts 16:1 (translated from Aramaic Peshitta, based on Younan) says, \"And he arrived at the medintha [city] Derbe and at Lostra. Now there was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-timothys-father-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":22139,"position":1},"title":"Was Timothy’s father a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a comment on one online question about whether Timothy's father was a believer or not. Philippians 2:22 seems to indicate that Timothy's father was a believer and co-worker with Paul and Timothy. Answer: \"But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22974,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-have-timothy-circumcised-after-the-council-in-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":22139,"position":2},"title":"Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised after the council in Jerusalem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was scanning the questions and found\u00a0the Jewish lineage one. Timothy was counted as Jewish because of his mother. Paul circumcised him and we know that Timothy's father was a Gentile while his mother and grandmother were Jewish. Why did Paul have Timothy circumcised after the council at Jerusalem?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23081,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/but-he-didnt-have-to-be-circumcised\/","url_meta":{"origin":22139,"position":3},"title":"But He Didn’t Have to be Circumcised!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier Didn\u2019t we just have a whole debate in Jerusalem that discovered Christians didn\u2019t have to be circumcised? In fact, in Paul\u2019s letter to the Galatians, he will brag that no one made Titus get circumcised during that meeting (Galatians 2:1-3). Yet, Paul circumcised Timothy. What\u2019s up with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Acts_of_the_Apostles_Chapter_16-1_Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-word-to-fathers\/","url_meta":{"origin":22139,"position":4},"title":"A Word to Fathers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Men have some very important roles to fulfill in family life. There are quite a few passages in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments that mention their responsibilities. This article is focused on the relationship with their children that God has given fathers. One of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58617,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-sons\/","url_meta":{"origin":22139,"position":5},"title":"Paul’s Sons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Earl Robertson via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 6, June 2008. The relationship of Timothy and Titus to Paul as sons is spiritual, legitimate, and true -- \"legitimately born, not spurious,\" says Thayer, pg. 119. They were true sons. Paul said Timothy was \"a true child in the faith,\" showing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}