II Timothy

St. Paul defends his preaching (Giovanni Ricco)

II Timothy is a book in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul. The letter itself states that Paul the Apostle is its author and the early church accepted that the book was written by Paul.

Along with I Timothy and Titus it is considered one of the Pastoral Epistles (letters written regarding the conduct of church leaders).

One of the more notable passages II Timothy is 3:16-17, which says: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." This verse is used as support for the completeness of the Bible (i.e., to reject other so-called non-canonical books, along with so-called "words from God") and for its sufficiency.

Traditionally it is considered the final book that Paul wrote before his death, based on the verbiage from II Timothy 4:6–8: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Other reasons for the traditional view of II Timothy being the final book are comments made later in the chapter, such as his recount of one time fellow-worker Demas deserting him, "having loved this present world" (4:10), and his comment that Mark was "profitable to the ministry" (4:11, in contrast to his views on Mark in Acts, which resulted in a split between him and Barnabas). It also contains the only Biblical mention of Linus (4:21), which Roman Catholic tradition claims was the immediate successor to Peter as Pope.

External links

• The Book of 2 Timothy, Bible Project
• Book of 2 Timothy, Biblestudytools.com
• Survey of 2 Timothy, Biblerefs.com

Videos:

• 2 Timothy - video playlist, Video playlist
• 1 & 2 TIMOTHY Full Bible Study - video playlist, Video playlist