the Sixth Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Godliness
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or strictly taken, in right worship or devotion, but in general it imports the whole of practical religion (1 Timothy 4:8; 2 Peter 1:6). It is difficulte, as Saurin observes, to include an adequate idea of it in what is called a definition. "It supposes knowledge, veneration, affection, dependence, submission, gratitude, and obedience; or it may be reduced to these four ideas: knowledge in the mind, by which it is distinguished from the visions of the superstitious; rectitude in the conscience, that distinguishes it from hypocrisy; sacrifice in the life, or renunciation of the world, by which it is distinguished from the unmeaning obedience of him who goes as a happy constitutions leads him; and, lastly, zeal in the heart, which differs from the languishing emotions of the lukewarm." The advantages of this disposition are honor, peace, safety, usefulness, support in death, and prospect of glory; or, as the apostle sums up all in a few words, "It is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). In 1 Timothy 3:16, it means the substance of revealed religion as furnished in the various particulars enumerated. — Barrow, Works, 1:9; Scott, Christ. Life; Scougal, Life of God in the Soul of Man; Saurin, Sermons, Engl. trans. 5, serm. 3.
These files are public domain.
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Godliness'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/g/godliness.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
