ACC ~ 1 Timothy 1 v15a

WHAT THE APOSTLES RECEIVED. ATHANASIUS: What the apostles received, they passed on without change, so that the doctrine of the mysteries (the sacraments) and Christ would remain correct. The divine Word—the Son of God—wants us to be their (the apostles’) disciples. It is appropriate for them to be our teachers, and it is necessary for us to submit to their teaching alone. Only from them and those who have faithfully taught their doctrine do we get, as Paul writes, “faithful words, worthy of full acceptance.” FESTAL LETTERS 2.7.

THE HUMAN WORD. AUGUSTINE: We heard the blessed apostle Paul saying, “The word is human and worthy of total acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” So it’s a human word, and worthy of total acceptance. Why human, and not divine? Without the slightest doubt, unless this word were also divine, it would not be worthy of total acceptance. But this word is both human and divine in the same sort of way that Christ himself is both man and God. So if we are right in understanding this word to be not only human but also divine, why did the apostle prefer to call it human rather than divine? … So the aspect he chose was the one by which Christ came into the world. He came, after all, insofar as he was man. Because insofar as he was God, he was always there. SERMONS 174.1.

THE CRITIC TAKES ON THE CRITICS. JEROME: They may choose to read, “It is a man’s saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” We are content to err with the Greeks, that is to say, with the apostle himself, who spoke Greek. Our version, therefore, is, “it is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” LETTERS 27.3.

1 Tim