Some notes on 2 Timothy 3:16
This post expands on a recent tweet I made
So you may have noticed self proclaimed "biblical" or other Christians citing this verse in support of the doctrine of Scriptural Inerrancy.
In most translation the word Graphee is translated as scripture.
Whats often NOT pointed out by commentators who just cite the verse without explanation is that the word just means WRITING but also has other meanings.
In the NT it is usually used in the Gospels and Epistles to refer to the Old Testament and particularly to the Prophets.
The idea tbat Paul was claiming his writings were also divinely inspired or that this verse refers to the Bible as a whole is a HUMAN tradition.
Paul was writing to Timothy about the Old Testament and how to use them combined with Faith
Also the modern translations change a list into a paragraph
What Paul wrote in Greek:
All writing (OT implied reference to prior verse )
Godbreathed /inspired
And oophelimos profitable
For teaching didaskalian
For evidence elegmon
Evidence used in a court case that will be proven or disproven after discussion
Elegmov comes from the verb elegkhoo
For correction
As literally a process of setting something set
For education /training /culture the in righteousness
So Paul is talking about using the Old Testament and Prophets and possibly some kind of ProtoGospel or record of Jesus
For its usefulness for instruction for evidence for correction for education
In Righteousness
Nowhere does he state a belief in biblical inerrancy.
He focuses in its use.
Yes you may read that verse differently but consider which characteristic Paul stated first
USEFULNESS
Usefulness towards reaching and maintaining a state of Righteousness
And if you want to cross check what I stated the Bible Hub website has a link for each word in that verse to Strong and Thayer and you can also check Logeion for secular usages or Liddell and Scott
Finally consider this ?
When Paul wrote that letter of advice to Timothy there was NO New Testament.
Should we really cite this verse to support biblical inerrancy?
I may also type up these observations into a pdf and share it via my Patreon
