What is Godliness look like?
Peter's conflict with Simon Magus by Avanzino Nucci, 1620. Simon is on the right, dressed in black. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” — 1 Timothy 6:6-8 A few passages in the New Testament imply that the early church dealt with the problem of false teachers aiming to enrich themselves. Peter ’s instructions to the elders warn against using the ministry “for shameful gain” (1 Peter 5:1–2). Acts 8:9–25 records the story of one Simon Magus who sought to buy the power of the Holy Spirit , presumably to get people to pay to see his own wonderworking abilities. The church fathers say that Simon was one of the founders of the Gnosticism that threatened God’s people in the second century AD. In Ephesus, Timothy confronted heretics who sold their falsehoods for the sake of worldly wealth. These men mingled error with the teachings of g...