The Definitive Book On 1 Timothy 2: Women in the Church

From time to time a book is published that breaks new ground in academic study and sets the course of the discussion for years to come. Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, edited by Andreas Kstenberger, Thomas Schreiner, and H. Scott Baldwin (Baker, 1995) is such a book.

Regarding background: Do you want to know about the roles of men and women in ancient Ephesus? Forget the unsupported speculations made by people with no technical training in the history of Ephesus. Here is a historical analysis by a world expert who is familiar with all the specialized studies and all the hard evidence from archaeology and ancient literature. Stephen Baugh of Westminster Seminary in California, whose Ph.D. thesis was on Greek inscriptions discovered in ancient Ephesus, sets the background for 1 Timothy with a 40-page analysis of "Ephesus in the First Century."

Regarding lexicography: Do you want to know the meaning of the key term authentein, "to have authority over"? The word occurs only once in the New Testament, but H. Scott Baldwin of Singapore Bible College has searched out, recorded, translated, and analyzed 82 other examples of the verb authentein in ancient Greek literature, papyri, ostraca, and inscriptions-more examples than anyone has ever discovered. He has interacted with all previous studies of authentein, and quoted and translated all occurrences in a 37-page appendix.

He points out the mistakes of Wilshire, Kroeger, and others who have confused the meanings of the verb and the noun authente-s, "murderer," which apparently comes from a different root and has a different meaning, as was already noted in a 5th century A.D. lexicon. He decisively excludes meanings such as "usurp authority," "domineer," "instigate violence," or "proclaim oneself author of a man," which some recent articles, especially by evangelical feminists, have claimed for the word. (The meaning "domineer" has even appeared in the BAGD lexicon and the Louw and Nida lexicon.) When Baldwin's study is combined with the grammatical analysis of Kstenberger (see below), the compelling conclusion of the book is that the only suitable sense for authentein in this context is simply, "to have authority over."

Regarding grammar: Andreas Kstenberger (now of Southeastern Baptist Seminary, Wake Forest) has analyzed the syntactical structure of Paul's statement, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man" (1 Tim. 2:12). The grammatical structure in Greek takes the form, "not + [verb 1] + neither + [verb 2]." Kstenberger found 52 examples of this structure in the New Testament, and 48 more examples in Greek literature outside the New Testament (from 3rd century B.C. to 1st century A.D.). His conclusion? Only two patterns are found: (a) verb 1 and verb 2 are activities or concepts that are both viewed positively, such as "neither sow nor reap," or "neither eat nor drink," or (b) verb 1 and verb 2 are activities or concepts that are both viewed negatively, such as "neither break in nor steal" or "neither leave nor forsake."

What does he conclude for 1 Timothy 2:12? That if "teach" is viewed positively in 1 Timothy (which it is), then "have authority" must also be an action that is viewed positively, but prohibited for reasons other than the inherent wrongness of the activity of "having authority" in itself. This is a powerful argument that says the interpretations proposed by evangelical feminists, such as "usurp authority," "domineer," or "instigate violence," simply cannot be what what the word means in this verse.

Taken together, the studies of Baldwin and Kstenberger significantly advance our understanding of 1 Timothy 2:12. Several CBMW members heard them present these studies at a professional society meeting with a number of evangelical feminist scholars in attendance. The result? Their arguments could not be answered at that time-and we doubt if they can ever be answered. We can be more confident than ever that the unusual meanings proposed by evangelical feminists to avoid the force of 1 Timothy 2:12 are incorrect, and we are on firmer ground than ever when we take the verse to mean simply, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man" (NIV).

On exegesis: Thomas Schreiner of Bethel Seminary has a 40-page exegetical study of the whole of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, interacting with all the significant scholarly work on this passage. This now becomes the definitive exegetical study in the definitive exegetical book on this passage.

One conclusion of note: on verse 14, where Paul says, "Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor," Schreiner concludes after long analysis of the various options,

Generally speaking, women are more relational and nurturing and men are more given to rational analysis and objectivity. Women are less prone than men to see the importance of doctrinal formulations, especially when it comes to the issue of identifying heresy and making a stand for the truth. Appointing women to the teaching office is prohibited because they are less likely to draw a line on doctrinal non-negotiables.... This is not to say women are intellectually deficient or inferior to men... their gentler and kinder nature inhibits them from excluding people for doctrinal error.... The different inclinations of women (and men!) do not imply that they are inferior or superior to men. It simply demonstrates that men and women are profoundly different. Women have some strengths that men do not have, and men have some strengths that are generally lacking in women.... Women are prohibited from the teaching office not only because of the order of creation but also because they are less likely to preserve the apostolic tradition in inhabiting the teaching office" (pp. 145-146).

But there is much more in the book. T. David Gordon of Gordon-Conwell Seminary has a study on the literary genre of 1 Timothy, Robert W. Yarbrough (now of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) has a study of "The Hermeneutics of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, " Harold O. J. Brown of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School has a chapter on the ways recent cultural pressures have led to the surprising new "discovery" that Galatians 3:28 is in conflict with 1 Timothy 2:9-15, and Daniel Doriani of Covenant Seminary has a 55-page study of the history of interpretation of 1 Timothy 2. What a feast this book is!