Man and woman 4

 


Opening question

  • Go to nrich – pattern snake and try and solve the number pattern problem. Once you have an answer check the solution tab on the page.

Study

  1. Why did Paul write 1 Timothy? Consider the following verses to help answer this:
    • 1 Timothy 1:3-7
    • 1 Timothy 3:14-15
    • 1 Timothy 4:6-16
Bible interpretation
Some helpful things to consider when interpreting difficult passages in the Bible from "How to read the Bible for all its worth" by Gordon Fee:
  • What is the purpose of the writing and why was it written? What is the point of a particular section and how does it fit in the overall narrative?
  • Is what you are reading a repeatable pattern in the Bible (repeatable patterns help us see that it is an eternal command rather than a cultural one).
  • What is incidental in the text must not become primary.
Other helpful things:
  • Ask what it meant before you ask what does it mean (author unknown).
  • God doesn't contradict himself so does it meet the "Principle of harmony" (John Stott, The message of 1 Timothy and Titus)
  • Consider what is God's essential "changeless" revelation and what is its cultural "changeable" expression (Stott)
  • "In demonstrating the permanent validity of the command, we would try to show from its context that it has roots in the nature of God, the gospel, or creation as God ordered it...we search for clues in the context, compare other scriptures to see if we are dealing with something limited, and show the cultural specificity of the command is not rooted in the nature of God, the gospel or the created order." (John Piper and Wayne Grudem, 50 Crucial Questions – An overview of central concerns about manhood and womanhood).
Read 1 Timothy 2.
  1. In verses 1-7, what do we learn about God’s heart and his desires for people?
  2. Who are the people you regularly pray, intercede and thank God for? Who could you add to your list? 
  3. In verses 8-15, What instructions are given to men? What instructions are given to women?
  4. Which of these instructions do you think are cultural (intended only for Timothy’s Ephesian church) and which are eternal instructions for us today? Explain why you think this for each one considering some of the Biblical interpretation points above. Some passages that also speak about the relationships between husband and wife include:
    • 1 Corinthians 11:3-10
    • 1 Corinthians 14:33-35
    • Ephesians 5:22-33
    • 1 Peter 3:1-7
    • Genesis 2 and 3
1 Timothy 2:11-14 is a hotly debated passage and many Bible scholars have tried to offer various interpretations. For example:
  • Gordon Fee, A New Testament scholar argues that 1 Timothy 2:11-12 isn’t in a clear space in terms of the historical particulars. Fee regards the historical particulars of 1 Timothy 2 “irrelevant” because of cultural changes and that they were just ad hoc responses to young widows disruption in the church. He believes that Paul makes these comments to Timothy here because of the false teaching women who were going about house to house in 1 Timothy 5:13-16 and therefore should not apply to women today (Fee G (1988) Issues in Evangelical Hermeneutics, Part III: The Great Watershed - Intentionality and Particularity/Eternality: 1 Timothy 2:8-15 as a Test Case).
  • Philip Payne, A New Testament scholar says that Paul’s example of Eve’s deception is an example of what can happen when a woman deceived by false teaching conveys it to others and therefore restricts the use of this verse to only the false teaching women in Ephesus in the first century. Payne also says that Paul did not consider "authority" to be inherent in the teaching in church (Payne P B (1981) Libertarian women in Ephesus: A response to Douglas J. Moo's article, "1 Timothy 2:11-15: Meaning and Significance").
  • Douglas Moo, A New Testament scholar says another potential explanation for 1 TImothy 2 is that disaster happens when the created established order is bypassed and women do activities that they are not suited to.
  • Ray C. Ortland Jnr says at one level Adam sinned by disobeying the commandment. But on a deeper level he sinned by “listening to his wife” and abandoning his headship. According to God’s assessment, this moral failure in Adam led to his ruination (Ortland RC (2021) Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood).
  • John Piper and Wayne Grudem speak about teaching as a leadership and shepherding task, a “forceful pressing of men’s consciences on the basis of divine authority” and therefore it is inappropriate for a woman to teach in a setting or way that dishonours the calling of men to bear the primary responsibility for teaching and leadership (Piper J and Grudem W (2016) 50 Crucial Questions – An overview of central concerns about manhood and womanhood).
  1. Why do you think there is so much debate over this passage in the church? How should we approach these debates as Christians to ensure we are honouring Jesus?
  2. What have you been reminded of by reading 1 Timothy that could help you know how to “behave in the household of God”?
Pray for all people, particularly authorities and also that God would help you live in the household of God with all godliness.

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