by Karen Pusey

Created on: May 23, 2009   Last Updated: May 26, 2009

The key text is 1 Timothy 2:12 " But I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to keep silence". This sounds final. Done and dusted. Women forever must take a back seat. But wait, there are several questions to be answered here. The text occurs in a little collection of letters generally known as the Pastoral epistles, because they deal with the church of the second generation. There is no immediate apocalyptic expectation. Yes, the expectation of final judgement is there in the formal charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1-2,5 .It is there in the letter to Titus, 2:13, but the sense of urgency has disappeared. It is a good discipline to read the two letters that precede the Pastorals- the letters to Christians in Thessalonica. These letters, undoubtedly written by Paul, certainly early in the church's history, breathe the excitement of the expectation of the nearness of the parousia- the nearness of the Lord's coming. By contrast, the Pastorals paint a picture of a settled church, beginning to form a structure of ministry, with Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons and Deaconesses. The contrast is so great between the Pastorals and Paul's other letters that many have questioned their authorship. Were they written by a disciple of Paul after the great man's martyrdom? The question remains open, but the language and subjects of the Pastorals suggests a church in the process of settling down.

Undoubtedly, women had been teaching, otherwise there would be no need to forbid them.Is it there for all time, or is it meant for the Ephesian women in a time of special crisis?

Much of the argument depends on the meaning of one word- authentein, ususally translated "to exercise authority over". This word is a hapax legomenon- a word which only occurs once in the whole of the New Testament. Of course, it depends on which side of the fence you sit as to how you translate this word. If you are an egalitarian-one who believes women should be allowed to take leadership roles in the church- you'll translate it one way If you are a complementarian- a nice word for those who believe women's roles are confined to Sunday school teaching and flower arranging, then you'll translate it another way.

Because of its rarity, it is difficult to be certain. It is dangerous to look at uses in non-Biblicl sources, for the language of the New Testament is firstly what is known as koine Greek- a common language far from the Classical Greek of scholars and then it is a

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