We've come to the place in many circles where we say, well, we shouldn't be engaged in the study of doctrine at all,

because all it does is end up in controversy and divisions and the

the like, but that idea would be utterly foreign to the thinking of the

Apostle Paul because Paul always saw an unbreakable relationship

between a true understanding of the word of God and righteous

relationships.

It would have been a false dichotomy for the apostle to have a wedge driven between doctrine and practice. us. What is your response when you hear someone bring up doctrine or theology?

Does it make you bristle?

Perhaps as R.C. Sproll just said, give you pause because you feel it simply stirs up controversy

and division.

I'm glad you're with us for this Wednesday edition of Renewing Her Mind.

We're beginning this new year looking at the New Testament epistles, New Testament letters.

These letters deal significantly with controversy in the church.

Why was there controversy then and why is there controversy in division in the church today?

Because of false doctrine and false teaching.

So even in these pastoral letters,

two of which we'll look at today,

the Apostle Paul was deeply concerned with doctrine,

and we should be too. Here's R.C. Sprawl to give us an

overview of first and second Timothy.

Today as we continue our study of the New Testament epistles, we're going to look briefly at three

epistles that are known historically as the pastoral epistles of the Apostle Paul.

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