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Apostle Timothy of the Seventy


I Century
The spiritual son of St. Paul, St. Timothy was a mamzer: his mother was a Jew, and his father was a pagan. Born in Lystra, Timothy converted to Christianity and joined Paul on his second missionary journey. Timothy is said to have helped found the churches at Corinth, Thessalonike, and Philippi. Some scholars believe that he co-wrote II Corinthians, I and II Thessalonians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, and since the XIX Century, some scholars have considered the letters to Timothy pseudo-Pauline. Timothy was with Paul at the time of his imprisonment in Caesaria and at the time of his later imprisonment in Rome. Timothy was also briefly jailed in Rome. Paul sent or accompanied Timothy to Ephesus, where he, according to legend and Eusebius, became the first bishop. St. John of Damascus reports that Timothy was present at the Dormition of the Theotokos. Timothy opposed the Katagogia, orgiastic festivals in honor of Diana, and is said, for that reason, to have been clubbed to death c. 97 near Nerva. Constantine translated his relics in 356 to Constantinople.

Karen Rae Keck

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