If you read the submission by dear sister Christina Dozier called Plain Talk About Sarah Palin then you know that she has taken a different view regarding the selection by John McCain of Sarah Palin to be his running mate than what many have.
In a nutshell, sister Dozier is of the opinion that women are never to hold positions of authority over men. I believe I am also correct in that 1 Timothy 2:12 is the basis or foundation for her beliefs.
Here is the entirety of 1 Timothy 2:
1. I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men;
In a nutshell, sister Dozier is of the opinion that women are never to hold positions of authority over men. I believe I am also correct in that 1 Timothy 2:12 is the basis or foundation for her beliefs.
Here is the entirety of 1 Timothy 2:
1. I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men;
2. for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.
3. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4. Who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.
5. For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, Himself man, Christ Jesus,
6. Who gave Himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times;
7. whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8. I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing.
9. In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls or costly raiment;
10. but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works.
11. Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection.
12. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.
13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve;
14. and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression:
15. but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.
I am of the belief that to use verse 12 to teach that women cannot be in positions of authority over men at any time is to take this verse out of context. I am persuaded that Paul wrote to Timothy with the express purpose of addressing issues having to do with the church and when it is assembled together, and husbands and wives.
Now some will key in on verse 9 and ask, "So if this is discussing the church and issues it was facing, then a woman is not supposed to be dressed modestly except when she is in the assembly?" This is not an either/or situation. Just because Paul is discussing issues with the church and specifically says here that a woman must be adorned modestly does not mean that God's eternal moral laws are to be thrown out the window when one is no longer gathered within the assembly. One must study the Bible properly and study it in its historical context. Why should we be surprised to see Paul writing to Timothy about the church and have to state that women should be dressed modestly? Remember, the apostles were having to battle Gnostic thought at this time in the infancy of the church, and that Gnostic thought had permeated much of the church to the point that great immorality had infiltrated the church at Corinth to the degree that the congregation was proud of one of their members who had taken his own father's wife! "Well," you might say, "that is only one isolated case! Corinth was a unique phenomenon! You can't say this was a widespread problem in the church because of what happened at Corinth!" Oh, is that so? Let's see what Jesus had to say about that in the Book of Revelation:
6. Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Revelation 2:6)
12. "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: 'The words of Him Who has the sharp two-edged sword.
13. "'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; you hold fast My name and you did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14. But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. 15. So you also have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. (Revelation 2:12-15)
18. "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, Who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
18. "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: 'The words of the Son of God, Who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
19. "'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
20. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality.
20. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality.
22. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings;
23. and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am He Who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. (Revelation 2:18-23)
So we can see here that even the practice of immorality had entered into the very church. It came from the Gnostics whose beliefs taught that only flesh was evil, and spirit was good, so that which was done in the flesh had no effect on the spirit. This is why they claimed that Jesus did not come in the flesh, and we have many teaching this same heresy to this day, denying the Deity of Christ. The Nicolaitans were a branch of Gnosticism, they practiced immorality and it is very possible they directly led to the creation of the distinction between "clergy" and "laity" that has plagued many denominations for centuries. Paul was reminding Timothy to make sure that he taught the principles of modesty for women, particularly when the church was assembled together, so as to avoid the immorality that was being practiced in much of the church at that time.
Faithful believers who have put on Christ Jesus are all God's "clergy," for as the Apostle Peter writes to all Christians, "you also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:5; 9-10) Additionally, the Apostle John writes, saying, "and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father" (Revelation 1:6).
So we can see here that even the practice of immorality had entered into the very church. It came from the Gnostics whose beliefs taught that only flesh was evil, and spirit was good, so that which was done in the flesh had no effect on the spirit. This is why they claimed that Jesus did not come in the flesh, and we have many teaching this same heresy to this day, denying the Deity of Christ. The Nicolaitans were a branch of Gnosticism, they practiced immorality and it is very possible they directly led to the creation of the distinction between "clergy" and "laity" that has plagued many denominations for centuries. Paul was reminding Timothy to make sure that he taught the principles of modesty for women, particularly when the church was assembled together, so as to avoid the immorality that was being practiced in much of the church at that time.
Faithful believers who have put on Christ Jesus are all God's "clergy," for as the Apostle Peter writes to all Christians, "you also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:5; 9-10) Additionally, the Apostle John writes, saying, "and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father" (Revelation 1:6).
Peter exhorted the elders among us to, "Tend the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory." (1 Peter 5:2-4)
Shepherds serve the sheep but the wolves that clothe themselves with so-called leadership and spiritual authority serve themselves, thinking that they serve God. In essence, this makes them false christs. Early church leaders were established as overseers, not a ruling hierarchy. The Early church father Iranaeus identified the Nicolaitans in his treatise Against Heresies in the Second Century as they who are an "offshoot of the knowledge [Gnosticism, my addition] which is falsely so-called," mentioning that they "lead lives of unrestrained indulgence." The reference to Balaam and Balak should be recognizable for anyone even remotely familiar with the history of the children of Israel to know that they engaged in immorality in their assembly as well.
Some will also turn to verse 15 of 1 Timothy 2 and ask, "But how does child-bearing come into this? That seems like it's not in the church."
This is a good question, but once again, we must remember to study passages and keep them in their proper context. What is the context of 1 Timothy 2:15? What was Paul just saying prior to verse 15? Let's take a look at it again:
12. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.
13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve;
14. and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression:
15. but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.
Paul was talking about how sin entered into the world. He is referring his reader, Timothy, and those he instructed, to Genesis 3. Verse 15 of 1 Timothy 2 has absolutely nothing to do with women having babies today. If it did, then Paul would be teaching salvation by works. Additionally, he would be teaching in contradiction to the Apostle Peter who said that God is not a respecter of persons, meaning that all people are subject to the same Gospel plan of salvation, in Acts 10:34.
Men cannot give birth. Therefore, to understand that this passage is teaching that women giving birth to babies today saves them is completely off base. What Paul is referring to, once again, is Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." Paul was referencing the very first prophecy uttered by God Himself in which He predicted that the Seed of woman, Jesus Christ, would be the defeat of Satan. And that is what is meant by Paul saying in verse 1 Timothy 2:15, "but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety."
Paul points out that Eve (he gune in the Greek) brought herself into transgression by abandoning her role and taking on that of the man in the Garden of Eden. God does not wish for women to do this in His church today. But by fulfilling her role, difficult as it may be as a result of sin ("To the woman He said, `I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you'", Genesis 3:16), she gives birth to the Messiah, and thereby, "she" (he gune, fulfilled, of course, in Mary, the mother of Jesus. Paul elaborates on this further in Galatians 4:4: "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman," (genomenon ek gunaikos in the Greek) brings salvation into the world.
It would be Eve's Seed that would save men, by crushing the head of the deceiving serpent. Paul was showing how Eve had been instrumental in bringing about the fall of mankind into sin, but he did not stop there. He further showed how indispensable she will be in the history of redemption of fallen mankind. For from the fruit of her body will come the Messiah, Who will be able to save both her and all of mankind. In fact, this is how every woman in particular is saved, for Paul switches to the plural in the last half of verse 15 and makes application to women in general. There is then a definite transition from Eve ("The woman": the singular he gune of Galatians 4:4) back to women in general ("women": the plural meinosin, "if they continue"). They will be saved "if they continue in faith and love and sanctification (holiness) with sobriety (submission)." Women in general are not saved through bearing children, they are saved through faith in the fruit of the Childbirth, that being Jesus Christ.
If this redemptive historical interpretation is correct, and I believe it is, then First Timothy chapter two has nothing to do with the essential mothering role of women in general. Neither does it apply to some general prohibition against having women being leaders or "usurping authority" by taking on leadership roles in the "secular" world. Rather, this chapter assures us of the central place of "the woman" in God's redemptive plan and reminds us that women in general are saved from eternal death through faith in the promised Child, His blessed Son, Jesus Christ, if they persevere in holding onto their faith in Him unto death.
So I hope you see why I believe the passage in 1 Timothy 2 is not a universal prohibition against women being in positions of authority, but it is reserved for their role while gathered in the congregation of the Lord's people and with their husbands. 1 Timothy 2 is addressing issues in the church and home, just as the rest of both 1 and 2 Timothy are. There is no break in it where Paul goes from addressing the issue of the church and home to life in general.
Shepherds serve the sheep but the wolves that clothe themselves with so-called leadership and spiritual authority serve themselves, thinking that they serve God. In essence, this makes them false christs. Early church leaders were established as overseers, not a ruling hierarchy. The Early church father Iranaeus identified the Nicolaitans in his treatise Against Heresies in the Second Century as they who are an "offshoot of the knowledge [Gnosticism, my addition] which is falsely so-called," mentioning that they "lead lives of unrestrained indulgence." The reference to Balaam and Balak should be recognizable for anyone even remotely familiar with the history of the children of Israel to know that they engaged in immorality in their assembly as well.
Some will also turn to verse 15 of 1 Timothy 2 and ask, "But how does child-bearing come into this? That seems like it's not in the church."
This is a good question, but once again, we must remember to study passages and keep them in their proper context. What is the context of 1 Timothy 2:15? What was Paul just saying prior to verse 15? Let's take a look at it again:
12. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.
13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve;
14. and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression:
15. but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.
Paul was talking about how sin entered into the world. He is referring his reader, Timothy, and those he instructed, to Genesis 3. Verse 15 of 1 Timothy 2 has absolutely nothing to do with women having babies today. If it did, then Paul would be teaching salvation by works. Additionally, he would be teaching in contradiction to the Apostle Peter who said that God is not a respecter of persons, meaning that all people are subject to the same Gospel plan of salvation, in Acts 10:34.
Men cannot give birth. Therefore, to understand that this passage is teaching that women giving birth to babies today saves them is completely off base. What Paul is referring to, once again, is Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." Paul was referencing the very first prophecy uttered by God Himself in which He predicted that the Seed of woman, Jesus Christ, would be the defeat of Satan. And that is what is meant by Paul saying in verse 1 Timothy 2:15, "but she shall be saved through her child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety."
Paul points out that Eve (he gune in the Greek) brought herself into transgression by abandoning her role and taking on that of the man in the Garden of Eden. God does not wish for women to do this in His church today. But by fulfilling her role, difficult as it may be as a result of sin ("To the woman He said, `I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you'", Genesis 3:16), she gives birth to the Messiah, and thereby, "she" (he gune, fulfilled, of course, in Mary, the mother of Jesus. Paul elaborates on this further in Galatians 4:4: "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman," (genomenon ek gunaikos in the Greek) brings salvation into the world.
It would be Eve's Seed that would save men, by crushing the head of the deceiving serpent. Paul was showing how Eve had been instrumental in bringing about the fall of mankind into sin, but he did not stop there. He further showed how indispensable she will be in the history of redemption of fallen mankind. For from the fruit of her body will come the Messiah, Who will be able to save both her and all of mankind. In fact, this is how every woman in particular is saved, for Paul switches to the plural in the last half of verse 15 and makes application to women in general. There is then a definite transition from Eve ("The woman": the singular he gune of Galatians 4:4) back to women in general ("women": the plural meinosin, "if they continue"). They will be saved "if they continue in faith and love and sanctification (holiness) with sobriety (submission)." Women in general are not saved through bearing children, they are saved through faith in the fruit of the Childbirth, that being Jesus Christ.
If this redemptive historical interpretation is correct, and I believe it is, then First Timothy chapter two has nothing to do with the essential mothering role of women in general. Neither does it apply to some general prohibition against having women being leaders or "usurping authority" by taking on leadership roles in the "secular" world. Rather, this chapter assures us of the central place of "the woman" in God's redemptive plan and reminds us that women in general are saved from eternal death through faith in the promised Child, His blessed Son, Jesus Christ, if they persevere in holding onto their faith in Him unto death.
So I hope you see why I believe the passage in 1 Timothy 2 is not a universal prohibition against women being in positions of authority, but it is reserved for their role while gathered in the congregation of the Lord's people and with their husbands. 1 Timothy 2 is addressing issues in the church and home, just as the rest of both 1 and 2 Timothy are. There is no break in it where Paul goes from addressing the issue of the church and home to life in general.
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