The Commentariat Speaks (37)

A passage in 1 Timothy sets a Reddit commenter’s teeth on edge:

“This verse has frankly been getting under my skin for the last two weeks. Why would Timothy put such an emphasis on the subordination of women at that point in early Christianity, especially if the spread of the gospel was paramount? Wouldn’t forcing women into submissiveness during church turn women (and possibly men) away from the new religion?”

These instructions in Timothy concern Christian sex roles, both in church meetings and at home. The commenter is not the first Bible reader to whom a question along these lines has occurred, and will definitely not be the last. Let’s see if we can help.

Not-so-Minor Clarifications

First point: the writer is not Timothy but the apostle Paul, as can be seen from the first couple lines in the letter. Paul served as Timothy’s spiritual mentor in his youth. Timothy became a trusted co-worker who traveled with the apostle as he planted churches and built up the early believers in Europe, Asia and throughout the Near East. At the time Paul wrote this letter, Timothy was operating solo in the city of Ephesus, working at establishing the church there in the faith. He was a relatively young man and needed instruction about how to do his job, which Paul provided.

Here’s what the apostle wrote to Timothy:

“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”

Second point, and it’s not minor: there is no such thing as “forced” submission in the NT church. Forced submission is oppression. Biblical submission is voluntary. Paul was telling Timothy the way things should be in Ephesus if the believers there wanted to honor the Lord. Had they refused to do so, they were welcome to give an account to the Head of the Church. Even today, we don’t duct tape a woman’s lips if she refuses to be silent in church meetings. We may invite her to find a church better suited to her understanding of scripture (and there are plenty), but nobody “forces” anyone to do anything they don’t want to do.

Numerous believers over the centuries have blithely ignored apostolic instruction without being struck by lightning. That said, submitting is wiser.

Okay then. Why would Paul put such an emphasis on the subordination and silence of women at that point in early Christianity? Would it not impede the spread of the gospel? It’s a good question, and one increasingly relevant to a feminized culture that can’t get its head around any perceived inequality between the sexes.

Stumbling Block or Selling Point?

Let’s start with this: The Roman Empire of Paul’s day was no monoculture. It comprised a great variety of ethnicities, religions and social conventions. Despite that, Paul taught the same things in every city he went to throughout the entire empire, including the submission of a wife to her husband and the silence of women in church meetings. He did this not because he came from a patriarchal background himself (though he did), but because he was an apostle and prophet. The faith and practice he preached were not his invention. He received his gospel through revelation from Jesus Christ, as he tells the Galatians.

In Jewish culture, female silence at public religious events and a wife’s submission to her husband were not only acceptable but also a matter of obedience to the Law of Moses, as Paul elsewhere notes. Thus, when Paul preached the gospel to Jews, the subject likely offended few, if any. Jews were already practicing it. In Ephesus, however, where Timothy was at work, Judaism was only one of many religions from many nations, some of which included female priests and goddesses. For many in Ephesus, Paul’s teaching was probably quite countercultural.

So then, with regard to impeding the spread of the gospel, teaching the subordination of women was probably a saw-off in the world of the first century. Submission and silence may have been potential stumbling blocks to Corinthian and Ephesian women, or they may have come as a blessed relief after the chaos of pagan worship. Equally, they would have been selling points in synagogues and other patriarchal institutions of the day. Rebellious women would have sent orthodox Jews running in the opposite direction. (To address the Reddit commenter’s concern about this teaching turning away men, I am in my mid-sixties and have yet to hear any Christian husband complain that his wife’s submissive spirit was a stumbling block to his faith. I don’t anticipate I ever will.)

The Consistent Teaching of the Early Church

More importantly, what these verses teach is not the private opinion of a young servant of God but the instruction of an apostle personally appointed by Jesus Christ. Paul taught the same things in every church concerning the roles of Christian men and women. We find instructions about a woman’s silence and/or submission in Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians. The apostle Peter teaches the same principles in his first letter; moreover, he confirms the spiritual authority of what Paul wrote. These things were the consistent teaching of the early church, and a logical corollary to the faith. Whether or not they pleased his audience, Paul preached these things. It was not his gospel to play with and adjust as he saw fit. Likewise, New Testament scripture is not ours to tweak to make it more presentable in today’s culture. The church belongs to Christ, not you and me.

With regard to the first question, I’m not sure Paul puts any special emphasis on the subordination or silence of women. His letter to Timothy is five chapters long, and his instructions about the sex roles take about eight verses to communicate. It’s only one of many subjects he touches on. The fact that they stick out to some readers says more about us than about Paul.

A Non-Negotiable Hurdle

The doctrine of submission is a fundamental aspect of Christian living. We tend to single out the submission of wives to husbands and their silence in the churches as offensive because of our own cultural preferences, but the concept of Christian submission is much broader than that. The New Testament writers command all Christians to submit to the various authorities God has placed over them. As I wrote in a recent post, submission is normal Christian living. Walking with Christ invariably involves accepting the authority structures he put in place for our good. If we cannot get our heads around the idea of letting others — the apostles, civil authorities, elders, husbands and parents — have the final word when we disagree with them, then we are bound to have major problems following Christ, and bound to find ourselves repeatedly falling under his discipline.

Can the submission and silence of women become an impediment to spreading the gospel today? It’s certainly possible. Some potential hurdles to faith we are free to remove. Others, we are not. Submission was modeled for believers by Christ himself and is commanded numerous places in the New Testament. If it becomes a hurdle for some, the church is better off for it.