Cooling Twilight

Tag: paul

  • Putting Words in Paul’s Mouth: “Women: Shut Up!”

    Putting Words in Paul’s Mouth: “Women: Shut Up!”

    shhh

    1 Corinthians 14.34−35 reads:

    Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

    Here Paul writes in unambiguous terms a dictum applicable not just to a single church, but to “the churches,” repeating his injunction twice: women should remain silent, they aren’t allowed to speak, and then, in case you’re still looking for a way around this rule, he reminds us that “it is disgraceful” for women to speak in church.

    I can’t imagine how Paul could be any more clear. Reading the text at face value, there’s simply no room for interpreting away his command. But despite this clarity, few Christians actually follow Paul’s command. We try to explain it away as a cultural artifact, perhaps addressing a specific situation such as the problems caused by a group of unruly wives in Corinth. An across-the-board prohibition against women speaking in the church? Surely not! (more…)

  • Pauline Authorship Survey Chart

    Pauline Authorship Survey Chart

    James McGrath posted a chart of the results of survey regarding the authorship of the Pauline epistles. He points out that “seeing the numbers” can provide a quick summation of scholarly opinion. But for me, visualizing those numbers is even better, so I put together this quick chart based on the data:

    pauline-authorship-1

    Be sure to read McGrath’s thoughts on the survey, as well as Rick Sumner’s.

  • Who Wrote 2 Timothy?

    Who Wrote 2 Timothy?

    P46: You won't find 2 Timothy here!

    In his post Secrets and lies and the deeper scandal of the evangelical mind, Fred Clark poses this hypothetical exchange:

    Question: Who wrote the second epistle to Timothy in the New Testament?
    Fundamentalist preacher: Paul.
    Biblical scholar: We don’t know, but Paul was long dead by the time it was probably written, so not him.
    Evangelical pastor: (glances over both shoulders warily, leans in, whispering) Who’s asking?

    The point he’s making here (and in the rest of his post) is important, and one that I generally agree with. However, in his eagerness to draw distinctions between varying approaches to the Bible, Clark oversimplifies the issue of the authorship of 2 Timothy. (more…)

  • I Do Not Permit A Woman

    I Do Not Permit A Woman

    In 1 Timothy 2.12 Paul says “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” (NIV2011)

    What’s up with that? Is Paul really issuing a definitive command regarding women’s roles that’s binding upon all Christians today? Is this a clear directive that severely limits women’s ministry in the Church? That’s certainly how most complementarians understand this verse. But is that where the discussion ends? Paul said it, I believe it, that settles it? (more…)