forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
The teaching of the apostates Paul warned Timothy and the Ephesians to watch out for was asceticism (cf. Colossians 2:20-23). Asceticism is the idea that abstinence from physical things is essential for spiritual purity. Specifically these teachers forbade marriage and the eating of some foods. Probably Gnostic teaching that later achieved its most influential strength in the second century A.D. had influenced them. Gnosticism taught that matter was evil and people should try to live with as little attachment to physical things as possible. Judaism appears to have been another root influence on these teachers since it taught that some foods were fit (Heb. kosher) and others unclean (cf. Colossians 2:16-17). There may be physical reasons for not eating certain foods (e.g., allergies, too high fat content, etc.), but there are no spiritual reasons. Likewise there may be physical reasons why in individual cases marrying may not be wise or desirable (e.g., passing on genetic defects, the demands of a particular ministry, etc.). Nevertheless God has approved the institution of marriage.