So I've been mulling over a few things since my last post and thought I'd share some ideas before I go back to discussing what much smarter people have said about this issue.
I'm becoming less convinced that Paul is arguing that women are more easily deceived than men in 1 Timothy 2:14. It seems that Eve's deception did not stem from a lack of intellectual understanding, but rather from a lack of trust in God's good plan. The fact that Satan's promise that, "Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good from evil" (Genesis 3:5) appealed to Eve indicates that she was not content with her current situation. Instead of trusting that God's plan would bring her happiness, Eve was deceived into believing that eating the fruit would bring her more joy and make her life better.
I think that we allow ourselves to be deceived every time we sin. We willfully go against God's commands because we don't believe that following them will result in our good. We are deceived into believing that we must go outside of God's commands to find happiness or fulfillment. If I choose to gossip, it's because I've deceived myself into believing that gossiping will somehow make me happier than if I decided to abstain. Although I might not be thinking this at the time, my actions demonstrate that I don't really trust God's plan.
I think that all sin involves a certain amount of self-deception and refusal to trust that God's plan is good. Thus, Eve's deception seems like something that is common to everyone when they sin. If this is the case, arguing that women are more easily deceived than men from the example of Eve would appear to say that women are more prone to sin than men. Although this would be an awesome argument against women teaching and exercising authority over men, I don't think we have the biblical evidence to back this up. And it brings up a whole load of issues including: Was Jesus' work on the cross less powerful in women than in men? Is the Holy Spirit less active in women than in men? Are women as culpable for sin as men? Plus, if women were more prone to sin than men, why would they still be allowed to teach other women and children? It would make more sense for men to do all the teaching.
I think that Paul definitely uses Eve's sin in the garden to argue that women should not teach or exercise authority over men in the context of the church. I just don't think he's arguing that women shouldn't do these things because they are more easily deceived.
But, I could be wrong. Stay tuned to hear what some people with a few more degrees hanging on their walls have to say.
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6 comments:
Good insights Jenny. Have you thought anymore about how Paul's employment of the Genesis narrative serves as a reason for the prohibition in verse 12? Also, I'm interested to see how you think verse 14 relates to verse 15 (which of course wouldn't complicate this discussion at all).
Have you looked at Andreas Kostenberger's blog?http://www.biblicalfoundations.org/blog.html
lots of questions...
Great questions as always, oh learned one. I actually have done some thinking about the connection between verse 12 and verse 14. Paul usually doesn't give a command without providing some sort of reasoning behind it and I think he uses 13 and 14 to give two reasons for his prohibition in 12.
Verse 13 uses a pre-fall argument: God instituted male headship before the fall and so it's part of God's design and should be respected. Verse 14 uses a post-fall argument. Some say that Paul's point is that women are more easily deceived so they shouldn't lead, but I'm beginning to think that Paul's point is that Eve took leadership instead of Adam and that had tragic consequences. So, Paul bolsters his prohibition by explaining that male headship has always been part of God's design and really bad things can happen when male headship is ignored.
As far as 15 goes, yikes. It could refer to women embracing their God-given roles as evidence of their salvation (thanks, Thomas R. Schreiner), which would make sense in contrast to Eve taking on Adam's role in 14. But I haven't done enough study to have a solid opinion at all.
Do you have any thoughts?
Thanks for the info on Kostenberger's blog. I'll check it out.
Hi Jenny!
What a great blog you have! I've been enjoying reading your posts.
Just wanted to say hello, and welcome to the blogosphere :-)
Love,
Sandi
I think I agree with you Jenny. I think your next blog entry should be,
"Pregnant?...saved?...?" or something like that.
Hey Jenny,
post some new fun stuff on the blog! YAY!
Great post and good questions. What eludes me in this discussion in general is why it is commonly thought to be a good thing that Eve was deceived but that Adam wasn't. How is it to his benefit that he walked right into this sin with his eyes wide open, yet the serpent needed to deceive Eve in order to entice her to sin?
There is a much ignored phrase in Genesis 3:6 that puts a whole new perspective on the subject if we can abort all the preconceived notions that have been planted in our heads from past teaching. Our bibles confirm for us that Adam was "with her" at the time of her deception. (Get your bible and read it for yourself)
My question is: "What exactly was Adam doing 'with her' while she was being drawn deeper and deeper into deception by the serpent?" He certainly was not acting in any capacity as a protector and provider to his wife at that point. I believe the story of the fall into sin brings to light the weaknesses that are in us all as human beings. Is it possible that the serpent knew that Adam was not going to be hard to convince so he went after Eve?
This whole thing could have come down through history completely different. We could be sitting here discussing whether or not men are more willing to sin than women. Somehow I think the reason it has been women throughout the ages that have been oppressed, restrained, and put down by men is due to the fall not because God made women deficient in any way.
May God restore the balance that He created in the beginning...that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave (attach himself) to his wife that the two should become one flesh.
I look forward to reading more
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