The Way of the Woman...(Part 1)

There is no doubt that 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is one of the most debated passages in all of Scripture.  This specific passage is only one in the midst of a theology concerning women and their role in the body of Christ.  I have decided not to address the whole theology of women but mainly just this passage, along with another closely related passage in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35.  Though there are many differing views concerning these two passages, and we definitely should be willing to listen to those views, I hope to lay out at least some teaching that can help us further get our heads around these highly debated Scriptures.

First, we must remember that with any Scriptural text, we need to know the historical situation, cultural background, setting, etc.  Unfortunately, we cannot always say, “What does black ink on white paper say?”  Our life in the twenty-first century is quite different from the Biblical times of two and three thousand years ago.  This 1 Timothy passage is par excellence in needing to understand such background information.

So, what is the background?  Paul is writing to Timothy with instruction on how to teach and instruct the church in the city of Ephesus.  If you notice in his “pastoral” letters (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus), the word doctrine, or teaching, comes up a lot.  As in many early church situations, and unfortunately the need is the same today, Paul is trying to help Timothy in a situation where heresy is somewhat widespread.  Paul wants good, solid doctrinal teaching for God’s people.

One major thing to keep in mind is that Ephesus was a city with many devoted followers to the pagan goddess Artemis, also known as Diana (Acts 19:21-41).  Even more, there was an amazing temple built to this goddess (see Acts 19:27) and it was known as one of the “seven wonders of the ancient world”.  This pagan religion had a major impact on the life of the Ephesian people.

With so many people following the pagan goddess (a woman-god), there was much false teaching concerning women and their role.  Many of these former Artemis worshipers were coming to Christ, but unfortunately some of their former teaching was brought in and mingled with Christian teaching.  In 1 Timothy 2:11-15, I believe that Paul is particularly addressing some wrong teaching about women.  This specific text actually comes in context with verse 8-10 as well.  Paul is addressing both men (v8) and women (v9-15) in this section of his letter to Timothy.  Regardless, Paul is mainly trying to correct some things with the women.

Though some people would highly disagree, I strongly believe that we have to recognize that some of Scripture is addressing cultural situations in which the writer (as Paul in 1 Timothy) is not laying down a “command of God for all time”.  One such example of Paul addressing a cultural circumstance of a particular place and time, though I again recognize that many people would disagree, is the head coverings passage of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.  But another issue we can most all agree on are the slavery passages.  In these particular passages, Paul was not addressing a the matter of slavery as if he wanted it to last until Christ returned (a command for all time), but rather he addresses a situation knowing the society of his time held slavery as an acceptable practice (for a slavery passage, see Ephesians 6:5-9).  Though we cannot quite fathom how slavery could be seen as an acceptable practice, and I am not saying that Paul believed it was the healthiest of practices, we must understand that Paul was working with people in a culture where slavery was a tolerable custom.  Thus, he gave masters and slaves instruction on how to be godly masters and slaves.  Paul was addressing God’s people as faithfully as he could knowing the cultural bounds and societal ways of life in his day.

I have just made this point in the paragraph above to help lay a foundation for 1 Timothy 2:9-10.  Of course, women “adorning themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control” is great counsel, and healthy teaching for all time.  But refusing braided hair, gold, pearls, and costly attire cannot be a “command of God for all time,” can it?  We must bear in mind that the main purpose of the passage is that women wear “respectable apparel” and “what is proper for women who profess godliness, with good works”.  It is hard to always know exactly the situation in which Paul is addressing, but Paul cannot be saying for all time that women cannot have braided hair or wear gold, pearls, and other costly attire.  If so, most women today are in direct disobedience to God and we must make an effort to correct them.  But, no, that cannot be the situation.  I am not saying we just decide to obey whatever passages we want to and the others we can disregard as cultural.  We need wisdom and counsel from God concerning such passages.  But what was possibly taking place in the Ephesian church was that many women were coming out from the pagan worship of Artemis and coming to Christ, but they were still dressing in apparel that showed allegiance to Artemis, attire that was possibly unacceptable in the midst of public Christian meetings.  Thus, Paul is asking them to make a break from the “old” and dress “with modesty and self-control” and “with what is proper for women who profess godliness”.  It is quite okay for a woman to braid her hair or wear pearls.  But in all things, from clothes, to our words, to our actions, we must be willing to say this to ourselves – I know this is permissible in my freedom in Christ, but is it beneficial (see 1 Corinthians 10:23)?

But on to the other part of the passage, which is the main reason for this article.  Back into understanding the culture, these women followers of the goddess, Artemis, were probably not only bringing their clothing in but also the heretical teaching of the followers of this goddess.  One probable false teaching entering the Ephesian church was that woman was created before man, and even more, it was the man who was the one to first be deceived.  Hence, that is just why Paul had to insert in vs13-14, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”  Paul is correcting the unhealthy teaching of certain women who are former, or possibly still, Artemis followers in Ephesus.  He is laying down some foundational teaching concerning Genesis 1-3.

Thus, Paul’s statement in vs12 is in the context and regards the teaching of vs13-14.  For Paul to say, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet,” this has to be in regards to v13-14.  As argued above, the former Artemis followers were tangled in their former teaching believing that woman was the greater over man – she was created first, man was created second, and man was the one first deceived.  Paul is calling for the women to stop teaching that they had first place over man and to stop exercising the authority over man.  This goes along with Paul’s teaching in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  Funnily enough, if you read 1 Timothy 2 carefully, Paul is in no way teaching that man is more important than woman.  You cannot argue “male dominance” from this passage, nor from Galatians 3:28.  Nor can you argue for “women dominance” from these passages.  In Christ, men and women are one just as Jew and Gentile are one, and slave and free are one.  What Paul is trying to do in 1 Timothy 2 is correct false teaching and false understanding, not teach who is more important.  Nor is he trying to silence women forever in their role in the church.  Paul is helping Timothy to address a confused, newly converted group of women still used to the pagan ways of Artemis.  He wants to see them be “transformed by the renewing of the mind” (Romans 12:2).  He wants them to stop believing false teaching and line up with faithful Christian doctrine.

Going on to vs15, this is one of the most difficult verses in all of Scripture.  But we must keep the context of vs13-14 in mind.  If we go back to Genesis, what is one of the judgments pronounced on Eve – “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children” (Genesis 3:16).  The first half of 1 Timothy 2:15 says, “Yet she will be saved through childbearing.”  So what is most probable is that there has come from the former Artemis followers some bad teaching concerning women, childbirth, and God’s judgment concerning such.  There are many possibilities, to be sure, of knowing exactly what specific false teaching Paul is addressing.  The Greek word used for “saved” in this verse is sozo, which is simply the word that regularly speaks of our salvation in Christ.  Thus, the word “saved” does not mean something else outside of the simple understanding of salvation.  Rather, what is most likely taking place is that women who had bore children were having their salvation questioned in some form or manner.  Maybe some were twisting Genesis 3:16 to say that not only is God’s judgment seen through pain in childbearing, but actually there is a greater judgment in that there is no salvation for women who bear children.  Or maybe it was just a simple foundational teaching of the Artemis cult that women who had children were forbidden any kind of eternal salvation rights in this pagan religion.  Or it is possible that many women had died in the midst of giving birth, as there was not the medical availability as today, and therefore some were teaching this was judgment from God on the women.  Again, it is hard to really know exactly all of the heresies Paul is specifically addressing in these verses, and especially verse 15.  I have heard other possibilities, but the main point is that Paul is correcting bad teaching.  And in verse 15, he is trying to teach that salvation is available to women, even those who are in the midst of or have undergone childbearing in the past.  Bearing children does not put one’s salvation in jeopardy.  Matter of fact, it is a God-ordained function for women (Genesis 1:26-28).  Even more, in vs15, Paul exhorts the women, in one sense, to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” when he states, “if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self control” (1 Timothy 2:15b; see also Philippians 2:12).  As we can see, we cannot simply try and read black ink on white paper.  There is a call for us to “dig a little deeper”. 

Thus, my conclusion in regards to the whole passage of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is that Paul is not trying to tell women they can never speak when the body of Christ gathers together.  Rather Paul is combating some very unhealthy teaching that had trickled in from the converted followers of the pagan goddess, Artemis.  This was all in hopes to bring the Ephesian church into a healthy and Biblical understanding.