{"id":26995,"date":"2011-03-30T20:20:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T01:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=26995"},"modified":"2020-11-07T20:28:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T02:28:44","slug":"what-is-idle-talk-and-idle-babblings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-idle-talk-and-idle-babblings\/","title":{"rendered":"What is “idle talk” and “idle babblings?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

Question:<\/h2>\nI read this\u00a0 answer a question: “What does “vain thoughts” mean in Psalm 119:113?<\/a>”\u00a0Could you expand more on the subject for me? I like to have an imagination and to read fiction. I want to be more sure that it is not a sin. Also what about exactly is idle talk? Could telling a fictional story for fun be idle talk? I read that Timothy was told to shun idle babblings.\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm<\/em>” (I Timothy 1:5-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Idle talk” translates the Greek word\u00a0mataiologos<\/em>. It is a compound word of\u00a0mataios<\/em>, which means vain, useless, idle, empty, worthless or foolish, and\u00a0lego<\/em>, which means to speak. What Paul is saying is that some have turned away from the teachings of God’s law, and substituted it with worthless words, which have no real meaning.<\/p>\n

There is a similar word used in Titus 1:10, “For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.<\/em>” Here Paul gives us an example of “idle talk.” There were Judaizing teachers who were teaching senseless things, such as the keeping of the Old Law by Christians.<\/p>\n

“O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen<\/em>” (I Timothy 6:20-21).<\/p>\n

“Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:14-18).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here “idle babbling” translates the Greek word\u00a0kenophonia<\/em>. It too is a compound word of\u00a0kenos<\/em>, which means empty, and\u00a0phone<\/em>, which means sound. In other words, it refers to talk that has a lot of noise, but carries no meaning.<\/p>\n

In I Timothy 6:20-21, Paul says there are some teaching false doctrines while calling it “knowledge.” Most likely he is referring to Gnosticism, which means “knowledge.” Early in the church, there were groups claiming to have special or secret knowledge that was only given to special people. See Who Are the Gnostics?<\/a>\u00a0for more details.<\/p>\n

In II Timothy 2:14-18, Paul gives another example. There were people going around claiming that Jesus’ second coming had already taken place. This teaching had no benefit to those who listened to it.<\/p>\n

So neither of these phrases are referring to works of fiction. They are describing the worthlessness of false teaching, which is “justified” by empty rhetoric.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I read this\u00a0 answer a question: “What does “vain thoughts” mean in Psalm 119:113?”\u00a0Could you expand more on the subject for me? I like to have an imagination and to read fiction. I want to be more sure that it is not a sin. Also what about exactly is idle talk? Could telling a…<\/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":[34,76],"class_list":["post-26995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-false-teaching","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7987,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-passage-similar-to-an-idle-mind-is-the-devils-workplace\/","url_meta":{"origin":26995,"position":0},"title":"Is there a passage similar to “an idle mind is the devil’s workplace?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am looking for a phrase in the Bible that is similar to the saying, \"An idle mind is the devil's workplace.\" Answer: In warning churches not to support young widows, Paul stated, \"And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only\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":5931,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-an-idle-mind-is-the-devils-workshop\/","url_meta":{"origin":26995,"position":1},"title":"What does it mean, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does it mean, \"an idle mind is the devil's workshop?\" Answer: There is a set of English proverbs that are worded similarly: Idle hands are the devil's workshop Idle hands are the devil's tools (\"Collections\" 1808) Idle brains are the devil's workhouses (T. Fuller 1732) An idle brain\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":19803,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-an-idle-word\/","url_meta":{"origin":26995,"position":2},"title":"What is an “idle” word?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew 12:36, what does Christ mean when he says, \"For every idle word ... [man] shall give an account\"?\u00a0 What is an \"idle word\"?\u00a0 Does \"give an account\" mean \"suffer punishment\" or \"be required to explain\"? Answer: \"Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?\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":3168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-get-someone-to-believe-the-truth-about-homosexuality\/","url_meta":{"origin":26995,"position":3},"title":"How do I get someone to believe the truth about homosexuality?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know a guy who says he's bi-sexual but is faithful to his wife. He agrees that the Bible is the word of God, but where the Bible condemns homosexuality, he insists that it is mistranslated. What do I say to that? How do I get him to believe\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":46424,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/those-words-in-italics-are-idle-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":26995,"position":4},"title":"Those words in italics are idle words!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, \"... there will be two in one bed ...\" The Greek does not have 'men' \"Two will be grinding ...\" No 'women' in the Greek text either. \"Two will be in the field ...\" Again, no 'men.' The words 'men' and 'women' have been added by Catholic\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":21999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-married-couple-talk-dirty-during-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":26995,"position":5},"title":"Can a married couple talk dirty during sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have read through a lot of your Answered Questions and wanted to throw one out at you. Do you think it's improper for a married Christian couple to \"talk dirty\" during sex, using words and language they would ordinarily not use in daily conversation? 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