The Concept of Didaskalia of Church Leaders in the Pastoral Letters: a Semantic Domain Approach
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1 The Concept of Didaskalia of Church Leaders in the Pastoral Letters: A Semantic Domain Approach HENDI Abstract A semantic domain approach to word sense is an analysis of semantic relations. Semantic relations are a set of related meanings of different words. The explanation of Young and TDNT are weak in the semantic relations of didaskalia. According to Young, didaskalia only has six related words. TDNT is a word study that deals exclusively with didaskalia. The contribution of this article is the concept of didaskalia. Using the semantic domain approach, the concept is constructed by didaskalia and all its semantic relations in the Pastoral letters. Didaskalia is every act of church leaders in striving against the false doctrine and teaching the sound doctrine to the believers. Therefore, the concept is more comprehensive than Young’s and TDNT’s. Key words: concept, didaskalia, teaching, semantic relations, sound doctrine, false teaching, church leader. The important topic of the Pastoral Letters1 would appear to be didaskalia.2 Didaskalia has 12 related words, which appear more than 33 times in the Pastoral Letters (1 Tim 1:3,7,10,20, 2:7,12, 3:2, 4:1,6,11,13,16, 5:17, 6:1,2b,3; 2 Tim 1:11, 2:2,15,24,25; 3:10,16; 4:2,3; Tit 1:9,11, 2:1,3,4,7,10,12).3 The purpose of the letters reflects on didaskalia. Frances Margaret Young suggests that the Pastoral Letters are written to provide guidance or ethical advice and exhortation for Timothy and Titus about the appropriate Christian lifestyle and church organization.4 Timothy and Titus represent Paul in teaching and instructing the 1 The name “Pastoral Letters” refers to 1& 2 Timothy and Titus and has been used since 1753 – 55 by P. Anton in his commentary Exegetische Abhandlung der Pastoralbriefe S. Pauli. 2 The term could mean either the act of teaching or the content of teaching. Other terms, such as “teacher,” “able to teach,” “to teach correctly,” “to train,” “to instruct for forming good behavior,” and so on are also found in the Pastoral Letters and related to didaskalia. 3 See also Semantic Domain Approach section below. Out of 21 occurrences in NT of the word didaskalia (either in the sense of the activity of teaching or that which is taught), 15 are found in the Pastorals. In addition to the frequent use of the vocabulary of “teaching,” many expressions are related to the doctrine. The phrase pistos ho logos (“it is a trustworthy statement”) is found five times in the pastorals (1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11; Titus 3:8) but nowhere else in the NT. The apostle also frequently speaks of “sound words,” “the faith,” and “that which has been entrusted.” 4 See Frances M. Young, The Theology of Pastoral Letters (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 22, 78. See also I Howard Marshall and Philip H. Towner, A Critical and Exegetical 2 believers of Ephesus and Crete. Timothy and Titus are church leaders and ministers who teach the teaching of Paul to the believers. The writer will consider the content of teaching and how they teach. According to Young, the Pastoral Letters have often been marginalized in modern New Testament studies. They have been regarded as not authentically Pauline, not very theological. Yet it was these letters which mediated Paul and the Patristic church, and then provided scriptural material for debate about church order and ministry from the Reformation to the present.5 Francis M. Young According to Young, didaskalia in the Pastoral Letters is “leaning by example,” instruction, and paraenesis. In this light, the teaching or doctrine of these letters cannot be simply equated with orthodoxy. The teaching of the Pastoral Letters has to do with lifestyle, such as the faithfulness or fidelity of an obedient servant.6 The critical point of Young’s suggestion is the semantic relations of didaskalia in the Pastoral Letters: didaskalia, “teaching”; didaktikoi, “apt for teaching”; didaskalos, “teacher”; didasko, “to teach”; didache, “teaching”; and heterodidaskalein, “teaching otherwise.” There are some key passages: 1 Tim 4:6,12-13,16, 5:7, 6:1,2b-3; 2 Tim 3:10-16, 4:3; Tit 1:7-9, 2:1,7,10.7 Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (London: T&T Clark International, 2004), 93-95. 5 Young, The Theology of Pastoral Letters, i. 6 See Young, The Theology of Pastoral Letters, 95. 7 Young explains that, “Paul is presented as an instructor, a didaskalos (1 Tim 2:7), and the content of the letters rehearses his instruction. Timothy and Titus are mean to be instructors like Paul. They are charged with the task of teaching proper conduct to the household of God. Their own conduct is to be exemplary (1 Tim 4:12; Tit 2:7), but they are also to engage in critical admonition for the good of the community, like the ideal philosopher, and unlike the false teachers who do not have love, or truth, as their principal objective…. The context of the teaching and admonition is the household of God. The metaphor suggests that God is the head of the household, the episkopos is the head steward or administrator, and Timothy or Titus are the “[philosopher-chaplains]” who represent Paul, passing on his teaching and moral advice…. Inherent in all this is a perception that proper relations reflect a hierarchy …. The hierarchy in the Pastorals would appear to be God, Christ, Paul, Timothy, head-steward (bishop), seniors (presbyters), servants (deacons), women, children, slaves. The point here that the hierarchy of service reflected the way in which the master of the household (God) entrusted his business and his authority to his underlings. Instruction came from God via ambassador, the sophist-teacher, Paul, then via Paul’s delegates, to be invested in the ordered structure of the church. So we find that the very essence of the teaching is conveyed by the relationships and ethical values passed on in these epistles…. What is important is exemplary conduct and appropriate admonition to a God-ordained lifestyle.” Young, The Theology of Pastoral Letters, 89-90. 3 The teaching and learning in the ancient world as a cultural context of the Pastoral Letters such as classical Greek paideia and the Greco-Roman world has been reflected in the Pastoral Letters. Literature formed the basis of education, and was the principal medium whereby “Hellenization” was effectively disseminated. the dominant ethos was shaping urban societies. High value was placed on books, and on the ancient wisdom of the classical literature. Young writes that, The traditions of biblical wisdom encouraged respects for seniors, discipline of children, continuity, honest dealing, and the basic values of a recognizably universal social ethic. So it is hardly surprising that the communities of the Pastorals saw scriptural teaching about the Christian way in ethical terms, and the primary function of the church as teaching. The universal God had revealed “sound teaching” about the proper way of life.8 Young states that the importance of imitation for the development of moral character in the perception of the ancient world can hardly be overestimated. Young writes that, The importance of exemplary behavior and imitation of a moral hero was recognized, and Paul’s references to himself as an example his converts followed, or should follow, are comparatively frequent. In the Pastorals, Paul continues to play that role, but it is also clear that exemplary behaviorist built into the sound teaching, which Christians are expected to follow at every level. The household of God is a teaching and learning community.9 The conclusion is the teacher should be the instructor as well as the example of his teaching to the household of God, which is a learning community. The teacher is like the ideal philosopher who engages in critical admonition for the good of the community. Exemplary conduct and instruction are envisaged as proceeding from the top down, and those who learn are subject to authority. Young’s suggestion is vivid. He develops the issue from the view of cultural context of the Pastoral Letters and semantic relations of didaskalia. However, his reading is weak in the semantic relations of didaskalia. Theological Dictionary of New Testament (TDNT) According to TDNT, didaskalia in the Pastoral Letters emphasizes the binding character of the historical proclamation and to denote the essential difference between 8 Young, The Theology of Pastoral Letters, 84. 9 Young, The Theology of Pastoral Letters, 89. 4 Christian proclamation and the various movements that threaten the community. The concern of didaskalia is not with the teaching of the individual Christian, nor with his particular manner or emphasis in presenting the Gospel, but with the great line of Christian proclamation represented by Paul (1 Tim 1:10; Tit 1:3).10 The explanation above is a word study approach that equates discourse concept with lexical concept.11 In this article, the writer will use the semantic domain approach. The concept is constructed by didaskalia and all its semantic relations in the Pastoral letters. Before analyzing the semantic domain of didaskalia, the explanation of the theory of the semantic domain approach will be essential. The Foundation Theory: Semantic Domain Approach There are two approaches in explaining the sense or meaning of a word is. First, the traditional approach (concept-orientated approach) to word sense (lexical sense). Peter Cotterell and Max Turner explains that, Concept-orientated approaches to defining senses are clearly able to build on the fact that lexical senses are a special type of concept. Concept is a cognitive construct, a discrete bundle of meanings composing an independent unit of meaning with a central or prominent element, further defined by other delimiting elements.12 For example, a lexical sense of a bicycle (a lexical concept) will be determined by composing a central or prominent element and further defined by other delimiting elements.