[Nell]

Originally Posted by Trapped

Great posts, Curious, all of them.

I'm not sure whether to bring it up, but it's highly relevant to the thread title. What on earth do we do with these verses in 1 Timothy 2?

11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

The reason I say I'm not sure whether to bring it up is because I know there have been many many many papers and articles and commentaries out there written about this verse and the meaning of "assume authority" in the original language, with no consensus, and I'm not sure we'll reach an "aha, this is what Paul meant!" conclusion here either.

I personally read the verses and cringe. It makes it sounds like females function on half a brain, and I know enough of them to know they don't. But the verses are there and thus have to be contended with. Any thoughts?

Below is a passage from God's Word to Women by Katherine Bushnell. She was a medical doctor and a Greek and Hebrew scholar and a Christian writer who lived from 1855-1946.

The passage below puts Paul's letter to Timothy (1 Tim. 2) into context. Her book was written in the format of numbered paragraphs. This passage is an edited (by me) version of paragraphs 325 and 326.

325. And, then, there was a peculiar peril to women, of which Paul would know, though Christian women might be ignorant of it. We will describe it in the words of Prof. Ramsay … “The ingenuity of Roman practice had in A.D. 31 perverted a humane scruple . . . into a reason for detestable brutality [criminal outrage] to the young daughter of Sejanus; . . . If such things were done to the innocent daughter of a Roman noble, why not to a Christian criminal?” … We know, then, that the situation which women Christians occupied under Nero was that of extreme peril, not only to life, but, as Church history shows, to virtue also.

326. To be sure, one should not carelessly assume that anything in the Bible is of exceptional and temporary import only. Yet we are now dealing with a personal letter, and advice given to one individual, and given in a time of exceptional peril and these facts ought to count for a great deal….

… We might have suffered a stagger to our faith in Paul’s tenderness and prudence, if not a stagger to our faith in the Bible, if, in a time of such supreme peril to Christian women, Paul could be represented as urging women to the front of the fight, and putting on them equal ecclesiastical responsibilities with men, when he knew that the cost to them would be far heavier than to men.

Rather, we find in Paul’s letter to Timothy precisely that sort of natural advice that a tender over-pastor under such conditions would give to one in charge of a church in his jurisdiction: “I should not allow a woman to teach or control a man. They (the Romans...not the women) are attacking our reputation for common decency, and we must meet it by separating the women from the men, and having them keep very quiet.” All history testifies that women did not shirk martyrdom for Christ’s sake, but Paul says: “However willing they may be, I do not permit it. We men must take the lead: …

Thus might the Apostle, who, ten years before, wrote to the Corinthians about women “praying and prophesying,” and to the Galatians about the same time, to the effect that there could be no distinctions as regards sex in the Christian body, now consistently write after this manner to Timothy, for he must have regard for the situation under Nero, and the relations of Christian to the social order about them. It seems to us far more sensible, then, to ascribe Paul’s precautionary advice to the then existent perilous times, especially for women, than to go back to Eve, or to creation to find a reason.

The context of Paul writing a personal letter of advice to care for the health and safety of women who were in extreme danger and in under Timothy's pastoral care meets the need of the day. It also explains the seeming contradictions in Paul's writings wherein he is supportive of women, yet cares for them in a practical way to keep them from harm.

Hence the verses: 1 Tim. 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

I think it's totally believable. Hope this helps...
Nell