HOMILY I.] HOMILIES ON TIMOTHY. 409 rather assaults him, as working greater mischief by a less effort ; and in one soul effecting the ruin of all. For this reason Paul, at the begin ning, elevates and encourages the soul of Timothy, by saying, We have Clod for our Saviour and Christ for our hope. We suffer much, but our hopes are great ; we are exposed to snares and perils, but to save us we have not man but God. Our Saviour is not weak, for He is God, and whatever be our dangers they will not overcome us ; nor is our hope made ashamed, for it is Christ. 1 For in two ways we are enabled to bear up against dangers, when we are either speedily delivered from them, or supported by good hopes under them. But Paul never calls himself the Apostle of the Father, but always of Christ. Because he makes everything common to both. The Gos pel itself he calls " the Gospel of God." - And whatever we suffer here, he implies, things pres ent are as nothing. "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith." This too is encouraging. For if he evinced such faith as to be called peculiarly Paul s " own " son, he might be confident also with respect to the future. For it is the part of faith not to be cast down or disturbed, though cir cumstances occur that seem contrary to the promises. But observe, he says, "my son," and even " mine own son," and yet he is not of the same substance. But what? was he of irrational kind? "Well," says one, "he was not of Paul, so this does not imply being of another." What then ? was he of another substance ? neither was it so, for after saying " mine own son," he adds, " in the faith," to show that he was really " his own son," and truly from him. There was no difference. The likeness he bore to him was in respect to his faith, as in human births there is a likeness in respect of substance. The son is like the father in human beings, but with respect to God the proximity is greater. 3 For here a father and a son, though of the same substance, differ in many particulars, as in color, figure, understanding, age, bent of mind, endow ments of soul and body, and in many other things they may be like or unlike, but there is no such dissimilarity in the divine Essence. 1 Montfaucon adopts Savile s conjecture. MSS. Christ s. Themistake would be easily made by a transcriber who did not follow the sense entirely. doctrine of" like," as opposed to " one substance. See Epistle ol St. Athanasius in def. of Nicene Def. c. v. 8, Oxf. Tr. p. 39, and Disc, i, c. v. p. 203. " By commandment." This is a stronger ex pression than " called," as we learn from other passages. As he here calls Timothy " mine own son," in like manner he says to the Corinthians, " in Christ Jesus I have begotten you," i.e. in faith; but he adds the word "own," 4 to show his particular likeness to himself, as well as his own love and great affection for him. Notice again the " in " applied to the faith. " My own son," he says, " in the faith." See what an honorable distinction, in that he calls him not only his " son," but his " own " son. Ver. 2. " Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord." Why is mercy mentioned here, and not in the other Epistles? This is a further mark of his affection. Upon his son he invokes greater blessings, with the anxious apprehension of a parent. For such was his anxiety, that he gives directions to Timothy, which he has done in no other case, to attend to his bodily health ; where he says, " Use a little wine for thy stomach s sake, and thine often infirmities." (i Tim. v. 23.) Teachers indeed stand more in need of mercy. " From God our Father," he says, " and Jesus Christ our Lord." Here too is consolation. For if God is our Father, He cares for us as sons, as Christ says, " What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone ? " (Matt. vii. 9.) Ver. 3. "As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia." Observe the gentleness of the expression, more like that of a servant than of a master. For he does not say "I commanded," or "bade" or even " exhorted," but " I besought thee." But this tone is not for all : only meek and vir tuous disciples are to be treated thus. The cor rupt and insincere are to be dealt with in a different manner, as Paul himself elsewhere di rects, " Rebuke them with all authority " (Tit. ii. 15) ; and here he says "charge," not "be seech," but "charge some that they teach no other doctrine." What means this? That Paul s Epistle which he sent them was not suffi cient ? Nay, it was sufficient ; but men are apt sometimes to slight Epistles, or perhaps this may have been before the Epistles were written. He had himself passed some time in that city. There was the temple of Diana, and there he had been exposed to those great sufferings. For after the assembly in the Theater had been dis solved, and he had called to him and exhorted the disciples, he found it necessary to sail away, though afterwards he returned to them. It were worth enquiry, whether he stationed Timothy there at that time. 5 For he says, that " thou . He must mean to suggest that this is a reference to former