Epistle and Type

We finished our discussion of genres last night. It was interesting to talk about epistle, though I didn't feel like it answered any of my questions satisfactorily. How do we know when the writer was writing a timeless truth? As with everything, context is key. Take this passage for example:

Titus 3:12-15 ESV
(12) When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
(13) Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.
(14) And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.
(15) All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

So does this mean that, like Paul, we should winter at Nicopolis? Probably not. The typical example of this idea is:

2 Timothy 4:13 ESV
(13) When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

Clearly Paul is writing personally to Timothy. I don't think that is a timeless truth for us today.

However, that does make us wonder about that Titus passage. When do we take it for ourselves and when can we ignore it? Verses 14 and 15 seem to have the potential to be timeless truths. Verses 12 and 13 seem to be very much just for the current situation he was in.

How do we separate those? I think that if we go from the assumption that everything is a timeless truth unless it is unreasonable then we will be OK. This saves us from doing things like "contextualizing" 1Tim 2:8-15 when we don't like what it teaches. This is the same rule of thumb we use for figurative language as well. We should take the plain meaning of a passage unless there is a good reason to think otherwise.

"Type" isn't really a genre per se, but it was important to discuss. Basically, our professor believes that we should be careful in how we see Jesus all over the OT. There really are not that many types of Christ as some would say. That includes the leadership of my ministry. Personally, I'm not sure which way to lean.

In the end, the course has been very beneficial. It has given me a good framework to wrestle with as well as a consistent way to look at the text. I think that is what it is all about.