Godliness…
This weekend, I taught on 1 Timothy 4:6-10. The major theme of the passage is “godlinesss” which is the English translation of the Greek word ευσÎβεια. When the Romans or Greeks use this word, it is usually translated “piety.” It was a very common expression in the ancient Roman and Greek literature.
There was one thing I found during my studies that I did not bring out while I was teaching. It seems that in Maccabees, ευσÎβεια is used when translating the phrase “fear of God” from Hebrew to Greek.
This is an interesting thought: is godliness and fear of God the same thing?
Alan,
Last night my Foundations of Youth Ministry professor, Dr. Reynolds, read out of Jeremiah 18 – the potter and the vessel. He was talking about how a lot of people use these verses negatively to instill the fear of God into people. He said he also thought the verses could be used to encourage people – by an understanding that God can mold us into His will (paraphrasing).
When I was listening to Dr. Reynolds I thought to myself, “What is the difference?” It seemed to me that fear of God in some way promotes our desire to be like Him, allowing Him to mold us into a vessel for glory. So to me, godliness and fear of God go hand-in-hand.
Lew