Tough verses in the Bible
Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by chris in chris ritter
I love the Bible. I haven’t always loved it, but I really do love it now. For much of my growing up years, reading the Bible was a duty-filled process, a guilt laden thing that I “needed” to do. It was not the source of great life and joy for me, nor did I really see it as all that necessary for growing in my Christian faith and knowledge of God. I can even remember a time in college when I was talking with my roommate, who was very committed to the necessity of Scripture for all of life, and asking him if a person could preach a “biblical” sermon (meaning true to God’s Word) without using the Bible. He basically said that it’s hypothetically possible but there’s no reason for anyone to do it. I have come to see that he was right – no one should preach without the Bible being opened, studied, and interpreted accurately with a dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Anyways, while the Bible is absolutely necessary for our knowledge of God, since it is his primary method of revelation, it is also filled with many difficult passages. One such passage is I Timothy 2:8-15, where Paul teaches on women in the church. It’s one of those passages that sort of makes you cringe when you read it. It’s also a big reason Paul is unpopular, among Christians and non-Christians alike. But just because it’s difficult, like other texts, doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. If anything, the resistance we feel towards some of these difficult texts shows our commitment to rebellion and our sinful nature’s continual hold on our mind.
Without going into every detail, Paul makes the case that women are not to “teach or exercise authority” over a man inside of the church. He also talks about the necessity of modest dress, but for this post my main concern is with the roles inside of the church. The first thing that needs to be made clear is that Paul is not saying women never teach – clearly they do, and should, teach their children, teach other women, and so forth. This is very important. Paul’s emphasis is on the authoritative teaching, in a permanent sense, in a church. Simply put, that is not a role God has designed women to have in the church.
But how can Paul say this? What authority does he stand on, besides being an Apostle, to make such a claim? Often times when we make an argument for something we look around us, to the culture, and make our defense from there. Not Paul. He immediately goes back to the creation account, with Adam and Eve. He makes a defense based on the way God created the world to operate. Adam was made first, then Eve, Paul says. This has wrongly been taken to mean Paul believed men were better than women. This is simply a matter of fact, if we take Genesis 2 to be a truthful account of things. Man was created, like the rest of the creatures, from the dust – and woman (Eve) was created “out of” the man, from his rib. We are equal as image bearers of God and yet distinct in the roles we play. God’s order in family and in the church are similar – men and women are equal in importance, yet men have been given the greater responsibility in leading, protecting, and teaching. Women also lead, protect, and teach, but are to do so in different ways than men.
Finally, v. 15 is a very difficult one if we don’t keep it in the context of the creation account. Paul continues with a reflection on creation and says “she will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” WHAT?! Does Paul mean salvation as in forgiveness of sins and eternal life? No, for “saved” isn’t in a spiritual sense here. Think about it… after the fall, a curse was put on all of creation, and on man and woman. Man’s curse was that the ground would war against him as he worked, and woman’s curse was the increased pain in childbearing. I believe a good explanation of this verse is this: Christian women (“continue in faith” indicates Christian women) who go through childbirth will grow in respect to their salvation and Christian maturity, and will find great significance/importance in their God given role as child bearers.
These are difficult verses, and I’m learning a great deal by studying them. Do you have any other thoughts about them? Do you disagree with where I’ve gone in interpreting them? I’m open to disagreement or other views. Remember, I’m just another beggar trying to show other beggars where bread is – so, show me some bread!
Read more of Chris’ writing at his blog, www.wherethebreadis.blogspot.com
Cari B
Sep 3rd, 2009
You are very correct in this being a difficult passage. It brings up so very many issues. I really wish Paul had elucidated his reference to Genesis. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Adam, like the animals, was made from dust, but Eve, unlike the animals was made from man (the highest order of being on earth). Plain 21st century reasoning would lead one to believe that Eve would have the greter role. Of course, Paul wasn’t using 21st century reasoning. The order of creation reasoning also doesn’t make obvious sense. The “lower” creatures were made before mankind, but mankind is explicitly given rule over them. There is obviously something here that we are not grasping.
The statement about women being saved through child birth is likewise nonsensical to the 21st century mind. One interpretation is that Christian women are promised not to physically die in child birth if they continue in faith, and some have adopted this thinking. My personal view is that we are allowed to look at the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us and see the godly women who have died in child birth and reject that interpretation on the basis of that evidence. But the interpretation that women will grow in maturity and godliness through child birth is problematic in view of Paul’s statement in Corinthians that it is best for everyone to be as he was (ie: single). If one chooses singleness for reasons of the Kingdom, it precludes child bearing. Which leaves us with the question of which really is preferable. And while we are referring to 1 Corinthians, there are apparent conflicts throughout with that book of the Bible and 1st Timothy. Again, we are missing something. Then there are practical questions. Why does God give some women passion and abilities for leadership and then restrict their use of these gifts? Why has the church overlooked this teaching when it is convenient to do so? (eg: the mission field) I don’t know the answers, but the questions need to be asked. God did say, “Come, let us reason together.” It is just humbling to realize how very small our reasoning is compared to the infinite mind of God. Thank you for the opportunity to reflect. I have started a blog recently. see http://justabegger.sosblog.com