August 2012

We left off yesterday with Paul’s introduction of his theological argument against women teaching in the church. He has stated his rule, and now he launches into a rationale: “[Gar] , first Adam was formed, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman . . .”(1 Tim 2:13). How this applies depends on the function of the transitional word gar. If gar means “for” or “because,” then Paul is saying “women are not allowed to teach be­cause Eve was created second; and because Eve was deceived, not Adam.”  That is, Eve’s cre­ation after Adam and her sinning before

Paul left us with one argument against women teaching in the church, based on a theological understanding of Genesis 1-3. We must reckon with this because our default setting is “to take the Bible literally.” And yet, as we have observed in the last few days, the witness about women in leadership in the NT is mixed. 1 Timothy 2:11 is the most serious challenge to women’s ordination, and therefore we must examine what it meant to its original hearers and how it is to be applied today. The passage begins with Paul’s expressed desire for men “in every place

The witness of Scripture regarding the suitability of women for public ministry leadership is a mixed bag. Though there are interesting role models in the Old Testament (Deborah and Esther come to mind), this discussion will focus on New Testament data. We shall go back to the OT when necessary, to track down a reference or rationale given in the NT. We can organize our data into a grid (this would be a good white-board exercise, if you undertake a group study). The columns would be “pro” and “con,” and the rows would be labeled “Jesus and the gospels,” “Early