What Does The Bible Say About Women Pt. 10 - Difficult Passages - 1 Timothy 2

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Intro

Today, we talk about another interesting passage found in 1 Timothy 2. Quick note. Before we dive in, I want to clarify something. If anyone is still asking the question “Who gets to have the power over whom in the Bible/ Kingdom of God,” that person has already missed what the Bible is trying to teach us. Many people take these difficult passages and use them as the lens by which they read scripture instead of letting scripture influence these difficult passages. Let’s dive right in

 

The Context of 1 Timothy

Read 1 Timothy 2:8-15

How has this passage been used within the church? What does this specifically say about women?

What are some of the interpretations/ practices/ results of this passage within the church?

How do these interpretations/ practices/ results of this passage within the church stand in conflict with everything we’ve been talking about over the past 10 weeks?

What are some of the difficulties with this passage? What questions does this passage raise for you?

Here are some of my questions:

• What does “Have authority” mean, especially with the Greek word (αυθεντεω) used here and its broader context of authoritarianism and murder?
• How does “Keep silent” contrast with passages like 1 Cor 11?
• How does the phrase about Adam coming first contrast with 1 Cor 11:8?
• Are all women transgressors for Eve’s disobedience? If so, then what about passages in the OT saying that children will not be punished for their parent's sins or Paul telling us that we are all saved by grace through faith?
• Are women saved by grace through faith AND having to bear children?
• If we hold vv.11-15 as authoritative instructions, why don’t all men lift up holy hands during prayer?

 

Today, we’re going to explore what is happening with this passage and try to understand it in its context rather than just isolating these verses and building whole doctrines out of them. Let’s cover the context of this passage.

Read 1 Timothy 1:1-6

Who is the author, and recipient, and the overall context of this letter? Paul is the author, Timothy is the recipient. The context is that Timothy is in Ephesus where certain people are teaching false doctrines, myths, and endless genealogies. This is resulting in controversies.

• Timothy is in Ephesus which was home to the Temple of Artemis. This temple was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. So it was a big deal!
• The City of Ephesus was very closely linked to the goddess Artemis, so much so that she was known as the “Lord of the city” or the “Founder of the City” or “Artemis of Ephesus.” Acts 19:28 even has a resident of Ephesus saying “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
• This temple of Artemis was mostly run and operated by women priests, who had to compete for the privilege to serve in the temple in order to acquire this great honor and social/political/ religious status.
• With regards to Christianity, the Artemis cult likely served as a rival religion to Christianity where women of the city served as evangelists of Artemis.
• What is very likely for Timothy to be dealing with is that many women used to be priests of the Artemis cult, who are now Christians, but who are a little mixed up with their doctrine and theology.
• So much so that some people who were Christians have turned away from God’s Kingdom because of these false teachings.
• Also, v. 7 tells us that there were teachers who wanted to teach in the church, but they didn’t know what they were talking about because their doctrine was a little messed up, as they read Scripture through the lens of the Artemis cult.

 

Read 1 Tim 4:1-3

What is the problem here? What are your thoughts on if/how this might be related to the problem Timothy might be facing with what we just talked about?

Read 1 Tim 6:3-6

Again, what is the problem here? How does this speak to what Timothy is going through and its relationship to the Artemis cult?

Clearly, the issue Timothy is facing is an issue of false teaching infiltrating the church, and people who are mixed up in their basic understanding of the Gospel want to be teachers in the church

Read 2 Tim 3:6-7

Same question.

Why would women in Ephesus be susceptible to these false teachings? What unique thing in Ephesus is causing these issues? The Artemis cult!

To summarize, it is very likely that women who led and taught in the Artemis cult became Christians and wanted to serve in the church. Since they had experience as teachers and leaders, they wanted to use their abilities for their faith to lead the Kingdom of God. However, because they had to compete with one another to achieve their status in the cult and because their doctrine was messed up, this was causing false teachings to fill the church in Ephesus. Paul is trying to instruct Timothy on his next steps with this specific church and the specific problems Timothy is facing.

 

1 Timothy 2

Let’s start in ch 2: 8 and just take this one verse at a time.

Verse 8

Given the context we just talked about regarding conflicts plus what we read in 1 Tim 1, what is the function of 1 Tim. 2:8?

The point of this verse is to promote unity rather than controversy, peace rather than anger, and disputes between one another. This seemed to be a problem for the men at this church.

To play devil's advocate, why do we enforce the later verses sometimes, but we don’t enforce v. 8?

Verse 9

Given everything we’ve talked about regarding the cult of Artemis, what is your guess as to why Paul included the details about how women dress in the church?

It’s because this is how priests and servants in the cult dressed themselves. You see how there would be confusion and tension if you were part of the church, but still dressing like you did in the cult? A modern example would be like someone dressing up for a date and then going to church

Verse 11

Some people point to this verse, then point to 1 Cor 14:34, which says women must be quiet in the church, and say “See! Paul supporting Paul – women must be quiet in the church.”

What did we learn a few weeks ago about what is going on in 1 Cor 14 when Paul talks about women being quiet in the church? It was because they were being disruptive and causing issues during service.

Also if you want to support this argument, then you need to be consistent and go all the way by saying that women should not be allowed to talk or make noise at all in the church. Period. However, that is not what we see either today or back then. We even see in 1 Cor 11 where women were allowed to prophesy. See the inconsistency? Seems like some people like to pick and choose what scriptures to listen to and what not to listen to

Verse 12

Given everything we’ve said about the context, the purpose of the letter, and the struggles that Timothy is facing, now how do you understand this verse?

What is this verse saying in light of the Artemis cult?

Let’s look at something interesting. What does the word “authority” mean to you?

If you had answered or thought that authority means a top-down power structure where people rule over people, is that the kind of “authority” that we see promoted all throughout the Scriptures, especially within the New Testament and how Jesus understands “authority”?

Let’s look at what this word means. Interestingly, the word used here is NOT the normal word used in the New Testament when you see the word “Authority.” In fact, this word only appears a single time in the entire Bible. The word is αυθεντεω.

• This word is used in lots of instances outside of the Bible. In every instance, this word has a very harsh definition.
• Louw-Nida Lexicon – “To control in a dominating manner,” “to dominate”
• Strongs Concordance + Thayers Lexicon – “One who with their own hands, kills others or themselves” and “One who acts on his own authority, Autocratic”
• HELPS word studies – “Unilaterally take up arms, act as autocrat.”

These are very strong and violent understandings of just this single word. When the Bible translators say “Have authority” are they talking about just a simple, kind of “someone who is just managing or leading you” or is it something else? It’s something else! It’s these harsh definitions!

Think about this too. IF 1 Tim 2:12 says that “women” can’t act this way, doesn’t that imply that men can? It would if you believe the traditional understanding of this passage. But that’s not what Paul is saying! He is saying “NO of course not! No one should be treating each other this way, neither men nor women.” This “ruling over, is not a kingdom mindset.

Read 20:25-29

Jesus even says in Matt 20:25-29 that this kind of ruling over/dominating/lording over is what the Gentiles do. Not what we do in God’s Kingdom. He even denounces this kind of thinking in Matt 20:23.

Servants of the church (elders, Ministers, deacons, etc.) are not to “lord over” anybody. We do not lead with a top-down structure like how the world leads. The church has 1 head. Paul is saying, “Ladies in Ephesus, no teaching for you because you need to get your doctrine set in order first.” The issue here is false and divisive teaching, not whether or not a woman or a man can or cannot teach in the church. It’s speaking directly to these women at Ephesus.

 

Bringing it full circle

Verse 13-14

Some think that these verses are reasons supporting why women cannot and should not teach. However, Paul lays out the argument that it is a cautionary tale to the last time a woman tried to take full control. When Eve tried this, it didn’t end so well and now Paul is saying “And now you’re trying to take full and authoritarian control again?” to these women. He’s also correcting their doctrine here. While in the Artemis cult, women came first, then men from the woman, Paul argues from Genesis 1-3 that men came first, then the woman. However, we see in in 1 Cor 11-14 that Paul reiterates how it's not a top-down power dynamic by showing how men come from women and that no one has power over another. Only Christ has the authority.

Verse 15

What must women do in order to receive salvation and fully enter into the Kingdom of God if you take this verse at face value with no context to anything we’ve just said?

That women are saved by having babies, not by Grace and faith alone.

This is not what Paul is trying to say with this verse. Paul is trying to say, “Hey ladies at Ephesus, if you want to be leaders in the church, then serve faithfully in a household context. Prove you can manage your home first, then build a track record of good leadership with your family. Then once you’ve shown you can do this, then we can see you leading in the church. Learn how to put others before yourself – in contrast with your competitive Artemis cult mindset – then we can take some next steps for you to lead the church. And this isn’t just an instruction only for women! We see the same kind of instructions for men to be elders and deacons in 1 Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-5.

 

Take away

How has this conversation shifted your perspectives of this passage?

How has this overall conversation about women in the Bible changed your views?

 

Next week, we are going to bring it all together and see what this means for us today. We’ll answer un answered questions and take some time to mull all of this over and talk it out.