1 TIMOTHY 3:9 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.”
They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience — deacons, while not primarily teachers, must grasp (echō) the mysterion (the revealed secret) of Christian faith with syneidēsis hagnē (pure conscience). Doctrinal understanding and moral purity intertwine even for those in secondary office.
Church Fathers on 1 Timothy 3:9
“Likewise the Deacons.” That is, they should have the same qualities as Bishops. And what are these same? To be blameless, sober, hospitable, patient, not brawlers, not covetous. And that he means this when he says “likewise,” is evident from what he says in addition, “grave, not doubletongued”; that is, not hollow or deceitful. For nothing so debases a man as deceit, nothing is so pernicious in the Church as insincerity. “Not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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