2nd Timothy, Chapter 1

In this episode, Shawn and Delaney begin 2 Timothy and dive into Paul’s final letter to his young coworker. They talk about Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to embrace power, love, and self-discipline instead of timidity, and to stand firm in the gospel despite suffering. Delaney highlights how concrete these descriptions of following God are, while Shawn explains how Paul’s words about “predestination” were directed specifically to the early Bride, not to all people in all times. They reflect on the nature of grace, the meaning of Christ’s appearing, and the challenges of reading these passages without falling into Calvinist or institutional interpretations.

The discussion then shifts to the broader question of authority—how apostles appointed leaders like Timothy, how Catholics and Protestants later claimed authority through succession or schools, and how denominationalism grew from men’s interpretations. Together, they explore why religion tends to systematize faith into rigid structures, while a Yeshuan approach embraces subjectivity, ongoing realization, and the humility of admitting we may be wrong. They contrast religion’s linear pursuit of certainty with faith’s cyclical process of not-knowing, learning, and realizing, concluding that real truth is dynamic, rooted in love, and never fully captured by human systems.