Reviewed by Peter O'Brien

Women in the Church. A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 edited by A. J. Kostenberger, T. R. Schreiner and H. S. Baldwin (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995).

1 Timothy 2:12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man", is one of the most disputed New Testament texts in the contemporary debates about women's ministry.

Many Christians believe that because there are such difficult issues involved in interpreting and applying this passage to our own context - issues over which evangelical scholars are divided - we ought to leave it out of our calculations when coming to decisions regarding the roles of women in public ministry in the church.

The appearance of another book on the subject, then, might be regarded as irrelevant. But Women in the Church, which is a fine collection of integrated essays on this crucial New Testament passage, is probably the most comprehensive treatment to date, and seeks to wrestle with what the text is saying. It needs to be read by all sides in the current controversy. The case is strongly presented so that the onus of proof now lies with those who advocate the so-called 'progressive' interpretation.

Although the volume interacts with a vast amount of scholarly literature on the subject, the essays are not simply a rehash of old arguments. At significant points they make a fresh contribution to our knowledge. Original research and careful analysis have been based on the wide range of extrabiblical Greek texts that are now available, and these have been investigated by means of high speed computer searches.

This book pushes back the frontiers of our knowledge in several areas:

(1.) The first essay carefully examines the social and religious background of Ephesus (at the time of Paul), and questions whether the Ephesian church, to which 1 Timothy was sent, was threatened by feminism. After an evaluation of the evidence regarding the place of women in Ephesian society, Stephen Baugh concludes that Ephesus was a typical Graeco-Roman city. The feminist Ephesus did not exist. Furthermore, Paul's exhortations throughout 1 Timothy 2 'are not temporary measures in a unique social setting' (p. 52).

(2.) The occasional nature of the New Testament letters, including 1 Timothy, does not mean that particular instructions cannot be normative or that they are irrelevant to other circumstances. If specific exhortations are grounded in some theological or ethical norm, then it is valid to make further applications. This is the case, according to David Gordon, with 1 Timothy where behaviour in the household of God is said to be the purpose for which the letter was sent (3:14-15). 1 Timothy 2 contains normative arguments based on the creation and fall, not simply the context in Ephesus.

(3.) Debate has raged over the meaning of the unusual word authentein in 1 Timothy 2? After a full examination of every instance of this term in ancient Greek literature (note the comprehensive appendix where each reference may be checked against its context), Scott Baldwin concludes that the range of meaning in 1 Timothy 2 can be narrowed to 'have authority over' or 'domineer'.

Further, Andreas Kostenberger has shown, from an investigation of all the syntactical parallels to 1 Timothy 2:12 (over four centuries) that, in the structure of this sentence, both verbs, didaskein ('teach') and authentein, must be positive or negative, but not mixed. Since the verb didaskein ('teach) is used positively, the parallel must also be understood positively, thus meaning to 'have authority over'. The two possible meanings, presented by Baldwin, are now reduced to one because of the syntax of Paul's sentence. In the family context of the congregation, then, the apostle is not saying anything about women domineering (which would be incredibly sexist!); rather, he is exhorting them not to have authority over men.

(4.) Foundational to the volume is the lengthy, detailed and sensitive interpretation of the passage by Tom Schreiner, with its careful handling of the secondary literature.

(5.) Two essays address wider matters of interpretation: How does Galatians 3:28, 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus', fit with our problem text? Are we, with K. Stendahl and F. F. Bruce, to make a choice between the two, relegating 1 Timothy 2 to a subordinate position? Bob Yarbrough thinks not: the texts are addressing slightly different issues. Further, the alleged analogy for interpretation between women's subordination and slavery (advocated by Kevin Giles) is examined at length and rejected.

(6.) Our own generation may be inclined to think that it is the first to address this text in relation to women's ministry. But a fascinating appendix by Daniel Doriani on the history of interpretation of 1 Timothy 2 shows how it was treated in the ancient church, the middle ages, the Reformation (including Luther and Calvin), as well as the Puritans, Wesley and Edwards, along with the 19th Century and beyond. The issues have been addressed in Christian history many times.

The authors of this volume, who have tried to set their work within the context of God's vision for men and women, conclude that 1 Timothy 2 prohibits women from teaching or exercising authority over men in the Christian congregation. They are sensitive to a wide range of opinions surrounding the interpretation of 1 Timothy 2, and have tried to represent fairly positions with which they disagree. The individual differences the authors have with each other are not in the exegesis of the text, but in its application to the contemporary context. They claim that this is where more hard work needs to be done.

- Peter O'Brien

The Rev. Dr. Peter O'Brien was Vice-principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney until September 2000 and was the College's first Senior Research Fellow. Although no longer Vice Principal, he continues to lecture at the College and is active in research.

He is the author of commentaries on Philippians (in the New International Greek Testament Commentary series), Colossians (in the Word Biblical Commentary series) and Ephesians (in the Pillar New Testament Commentary series). Dr. O'Brien is also an Emeritus Vice-President of the ACL.

In July 2000 he was presented with a volume written in his honour - "The Gospel to the Nations" (Apollos and Intervarsity Press) - edited by Peter Bolt and Mark Thompson.

 

(Copyright Peter T. O'Brien. This review first appeared in the September 1996 issue of Southern Cross Newspaper, published by Anglican Media, Sydney, and is reproduced here by permission.)

 

Anglican Church League, www.acl.asn.au