Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | 1 Timothy 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Timothy 2:12 I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet [in the congregation]. |
Subject: Biblical era culture, abd Understanding |
Bible Note: Dear Justme, I do not intend to come across as "the final authority" -- God forbid! Scripture is the final authority. I can only say authoritatively what the Scripture teaches. Sound doctrine rarely feels "kind" -- indeed Scripture reproves, rebukes, and corrects (2 Ti 3:15-16). The kindest thing I know to do is to point people to the Word of God. I do so out of a genuine desire to see Him glorified (2 Th 3:1) and His flock, whom I love, fed (Jn 21:17). You wrote, "...without understanding the culture in the time of the writtings of Scripture, we are left to assume that the culture was inspired..." (sic) On what basis would we make such an assumption? The theocracy of the Hebrews was inspired because it came directly from the hand of God. No where do we find culture being elevated as having authority. On the contrary, as has been affirmed, the instances where culture and the Word of God meet, we find the application of the principles of the Word to be independent of its cultural context. We have explicit examples of that in the Word. I trust that I have not led anyone to make the assumption that culture was inspired -- neither the cultures of the ancients nor our own. You wrote, "I have witnessed the missapplication of Scripture to put a heavy burden on fellow believers, by well meaning teachers. By taking cultural settings in the Bible and applied them to believers today. That was and is my point." (sic) Interesting observation. I've only encountered that in churches that required men to wear suits and women to wear dresses on the Lord's day. However, the desire to turn Scriptural principles into normative rules of behavior is a difficult thing to resist. I had a pastor friend who used to call that the Christian Mishnah. :-) After you make this observation you then critique churches that have women "sit quietly in the church" failing to recognize the "equality in spiritual gifts." I might find your position more persuasive but for the fact that Scripture very explictly states the venues in which women ought to teach and in which they ought not teach. Why use the gift passages to override the explicit passages? Why use the ancient culture to negate the explicit passage? (Frankly, if we have that authority, we could use culture to negate ANY passage.) There is something called the "Harmony of the Scriptures." In theological circles you'll hear the phrase "the Analogy of Faith." This is a necessary tenet of the belief in the plenary verbal inspiration of the Scriptures: i.e., God does not contradict Himself. The old divines put it this way, "The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly. (2 Pt 1:20, 21; Ac 15:15-16)" Making the gift passages your foundation for women teaching and preaching to the congregation, places you on shifting sand. If we want to have a "true and full sense" of what God wants us to understand about women in the congregation, look to the places that speak clearly to that question. When you do that, no one will be able to contend with you, because then -- and only then -- will you have the solid rock of the Word of God on which to stand. You wrote, "You have asked me to get out of the furthest back roe "knowledge seat" and you expect your widsom to take the final word." (sic) I have done no such thing, ma'am. I have merely expounded the Scripture. I love you and I will pray for you, but your response to the Word of God is entirely a matter between you and the One Who will judge you. I make no insistence of how you behave in your local congregation. You wrote, "I think I have been put down." That is unfortunate. You speak of your intentions in posting, therefore I have felt the freedom to do the same. (See above.) If I lacked respect for you, I would not have bothered to respond. There is no more kind, respectful, or loving thing that one human being can do for another than to help them hear the intended message of the Word of God, which affords opportunity for the Holy Spirit to illumine their heart and mind with the Truth. I would posit, therefore, ma'am, that your emotional response is misdirected. The Word of God is God's Truth (Jn 17:17), without respect to how we may feel about it. There are things in my own life that the Scriptures prevent me from doing as I would like to do. That is not the fault of the Scriptures. Indeed, a careful understanding of the Scriptures helps me to understand how to do what I CAN do in the way that the Lord wants me to do it for His glory and the furtherance of His Kingdom. When I do things His way, then I accomplish an infinitely greater amount of good than I might if I do things my way. God is quite particular about doing things His way (Lv 10:1-11). In Him, Doc |