The authenticity of these epistles is proved by the testimony of the earliest ecclesiastical writers, Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Ignatius, and many others; and though modern German critics have attempted to set aside this weighty mass of external evidence by minute and carping critical objections, they have completely failed. With regard to the time when they were composed, it is clear that the first epistle was written not long after Paul had left Ephesus for Macedonia (), and in all probability after the departure from Ephesus mentioned . With respect to the second epistle, it is certain that it was written at Rome, and while Paul was a prisoner there (;;; ). Whether this was during his first or second imprisonment has been matter of dispute, and, though not without difficulties, the opinion that this epistle was written during his second imprisonment seems upon the whole the preferable.
The design of the first epistle is partly to instruct Timothy in the duties of that office with which he had been entrusted, partly to supply him with credentials to the churches which he might visit, and partly to furnish through him guidance to the churches themselves. It may be divided into three parts, exclusive of the introduction (), and the conclusion (). In the first of these parts () the apostle reminds Timothy generally of his functions, and especially of the duties he had to discharge in reference to certain false teachers, who were anxious to bring the believers under the yoke of the law. In the second ( to ) he gives Timothy particular instructions concerning the orderly conducting of divine worship, the qualifications of bishops and deacons, and the proper mode of behaving himself in a church. In the third () the apostle discourses against some vices to which the Christians at Ephesus seem to have been prone.
The design of the second epistle is partly to inform Timothy of the apostle's trying circumstances at Rome, and partly to utter a last warning voice against the errors and delusions which were corrupting and disturbing the churches. It consists of an inscription (); of a series of exhortations to Timothy, to be faithful in his zeal for sound doctrine, patient under affliction and persecution, careful to maintain a deportment becoming his office, and diligent in his endeavors to counteract the unhallowed efforts of the false teachers (; ); and a conclusion in which Paul requests Timothy to visit him, and sends the salutations of certain Christians at Rome to Timothy, and those of the apostle himself to some believers in Asia Minor.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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