`"And confessedly (i.e. unquestionably) great is the mystery of

godliness" (meaning, the Gospel -scheme, as in Joseph. c. Ap. i. 12)

contained in the long -concealed, but now revealed, truths of the

Gospel' (Greek Testament, 6th. Ed., 1845, vol. 2, p. 419).

Bishop Pearson, on the Creed says of 1 Timothy 3:16:

`St. Paul, unfolding the mystery of godliness, has delivered six

propositions together, and the subject of all and each of them is God;

and this God, Who is the subject of all these propositions, must be

understood of Christ, because of Him each one is true, and all are so

of none but Him'.

Macknight's comment here is:

`The thing asserted in this verse according to the common reading, is

precisely the same with what John hath told us in his gospel, chapter

1:14.  The Word (Who is called God, verse 1) was made flesh and dwelt

among us.  The other reading, not very intelligibly, represents the

gospel as manifested in the flesh, and taken up in glory'.

Conybeare and Howson (The Life and Epistles of St. Paul) say:

`There can be little doubt that this is a quotation from some Christian

hymn or creed.  Such quotations in the Pastoral Epistles (of which

there are five introduced by the same expression, "faithful is the

saying"*) correspond with the hypothesis that these Epistles were among

the last written by St. Paul'.

*

pistos ho logos, "it is a faithful saying".

We make no comment on these varied attempts to interpret this passage;

their variety and their differences will speak for themselves.  Is this

mighty passage the citation of an early Christian hymn?  Is it the synopsis

of Christian doctrine?  Does it focus attention upon the Person of Christ, as

`God manifest in the flesh'?  Or is it but an extraordinarily elaborate

expansion of the devout life?  Before we can hope to attain anything like a

satisfactory answer, the question of true reading of 1 Timothy 3:16 must be

considered, and the passage read in the light that the structure of 1 Timothy

as a whole sheds upon this critical verse.

What is the significance of the term?  Paul writing to Titus, speaks of

the `truth which is after godliness', placing it in correspondence with the

`faith of God's elect', and in our endeavour to understand the full

significance of the word translated `godliness' we have given a r,sum, of

opinions that have been expressed by commentators and translators.  We now

leave this method of investigation for one that has so often put us on the

right track when pursuing other inquiries.  The literary structure of any

book of the Bible focuses the attention of the reader upon the scope and

essential teaching.  This structure is often very complex, so much so, that

when exhibited, the untrained observer may confess that he `cannot see the

wood for the trees'.  Instead therefore of presenting a fairly full structure

of 1 Timothy, we present the barest outline consistent with reality.  Here it