Bible Diary - 1 Timothy 2:9-15
February 23, 2008
Faced with these words, what’s a man to do? Are Paul’s instructions here regarding women in the church so contaminated by his cultural surroundings that they may be brushed off? I must start with the premise that all Scripture is inspired by God but that some parts of it are more difficult to understand clearly than others. Many within the church today say that men and women should share equally in congregational leadership in subordination to our common Lord.
Conduct of Women
2:9 Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, 2:10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. 2:11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 2:13 For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression. 2:15 But she will be delivered through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with self-control.
In this passage, Paul clearly sees different roles for men and women in the church. This cannot be just a culturally inspired vision, because all through the biblical narrative God consistently regards men and women equal as recipients of his grace but with separate roles and responsibilities. The complimentary roles of fathers and mothers in the covenant family is but one example.
Having said that, I note that in vs. 12 Paul says “I do not allow… ,” and not that God commands. This suggests to me that Paul was also speaking to current cultural conditions. Women in that Greco-Roman culture were reportedly much given to self-adornment, and Paul may have thought that this was inconsistent with putting Christ above self.
One final thought. From the days of the Exodus, the people of God functioned as a patriarchal sub-culture within a society undergoing cultural change. Should it not still so function today?
Dave, family patriarch.
-sdg-
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