"As I urged you when I went into Macedonia - remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith."
1 Timothy 1:3-4 (NKJV)
When we have questions, we want answers, and when we don't understand something, we normally want to have that thing explained to us. It would be very strange for us to ask someone a question, and instead of them answering our question, they only ask us a different question. It would be very unusual for us to talk to someone about something we do not understand, or even take a class to learn about something, and at the end of the conversation or class we are more confused about that thing than we were before.
No one really wants to be completely ignorant and not know things. There may be some things we are not interested in, but generally speaking, in life, and especially as Christians, we want to learn about things that are relevant to us and things that will help us be successful. It would be sad to attend a church, some special meeting, or even a Bible school, and when the service, meeting, or school is over, we understand even less about what we are taught than we did before, and we actually have more questions than answers.
In 1 Timothy 1:3-4, Paul encouraged Timothy to teach correct doctrine and to avoid getting involved in "fables and endless genealogies" because those things cause disputes. The Greek word that is translated as "disputes" here means "a searching or seeking" of something. Paul told Timothy to teach the things that bring godly edification rather than things that just bring up more questions. We should teach things that build people up and not confuse them, we should teach things that edify and help people rather than just leaving people with more questions than answers.
nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith."
1 Timothy 1:3-4 (NKJV)
When we have questions, we want answers, and when we don't understand something, we normally want to have that thing explained to us. It would be very strange for us to ask someone a question, and instead of them answering our question, they only ask us a different question. It would be very unusual for us to talk to someone about something we do not understand, or even take a class to learn about something, and at the end of the conversation or class we are more confused about that thing than we were before.
No one really wants to be completely ignorant and not know things. There may be some things we are not interested in, but generally speaking, in life, and especially as Christians, we want to learn about things that are relevant to us and things that will help us be successful. It would be sad to attend a church, some special meeting, or even a Bible school, and when the service, meeting, or school is over, we understand even less about what we are taught than we did before, and we actually have more questions than answers.
In 1 Timothy 1:3-4, Paul encouraged Timothy to teach correct doctrine and to avoid getting involved in "fables and endless genealogies" because those things cause disputes. The Greek word that is translated as "disputes" here means "a searching or seeking" of something. Paul told Timothy to teach the things that bring godly edification rather than things that just bring up more questions. We should teach things that build people up and not confuse them, we should teach things that edify and help people rather than just leaving people with more questions than answers.
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