⁸ Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and dispute. ⁹ Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel, ¹⁰ but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. ¹¹ A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. ¹² But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. ¹³ For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman was ^[i]deceived and  has become a wrongdoer. ¹⁵ But she will be saved through childbirth—if they continue in faith, love, and sanctity, with moderation (1Tim2:8-15)

Unlike Paul, I have no pastoral responsibilities in the Church whatsoever, so I will only comment briefly on the apostle’s teaching concerning how women should behave in Church. I keep an open mind as to whether Paul’s teaching should be taken as a timeless injunction or adapted for the world as it is today – the Genesis reference suggests to me it cannot be treated as entirely anachronistic. I am more interested in Paul’s theological reasoning behind his views on women, starting with who ultimately was responsible for the Fall. Humanly speaking it was indeed Eve, but to be fair it was she rather than Adam that Satan targeted for his deception, and she  then went on to persuade her husband. If Adam had been targeted, he might have done likewise, but Satan went for Eve and Paul at least would be clear in his mind why that should be (v13).

Ultimate responsibility

In terms of who was ultimately responsible for the Eden incident I’m also with Paul:

¹⁸“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, ²¹in the expectation (ἑλπίδι^G1680) that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom8:18-21).

The final verse is consistent with the broader benign providence I have been presenting. Verse 20, which must relate to the Fall, does not make God the author of sin. Being sovereign and omniscient He would have foreseen Satan’s deception and our first parents falling for it, but He permitted events to take their course knowing it to be the means by which His purposes for humanity would best be fulfilled. The previous post explains the divine rationale in more detail which I won’t repeat here.

Saved by childbirth

In terms of 1 Tim2:15 and women being “saved by childbirth”, I do not pretend to be certain of the matter, but applying a principle I frequently refer to, including in the previous post, I would make the following suggestions. Firstly, contrary to some bible translations, I believe Paul is referring to gospel salvation – but not getting saved but staying saved. Contrary to what I once believed (once saved / always saved), perseverance is by no means guaranteed – it is not “all of grace” whereas calling and initially responding in faith to the message of the gospel is – “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph2:8-9). The women Paul refers to had been saved and were in the Church, that is why he goes on to write “if they continue in faith, love, and sanctity”, etc. That in itself indicates that Paul did not believe in “the perseverance of the saints”, and he believed that in view of Genesis’ creation order and women’s role in the Fall, they were innately more likely to fail in the Faith than men.

Single is better

This is where the contents of the previous post are brought to bear. But firstly, Paul cannot be inferring that it is preferable or essential for women to have children, for elsewhere he writes that ideally, like men, they should remain single in order best to serve the Lord (1Cor7:34). But whether a woman has children or remains a virgin, they have one thing in common through their child-bearing faculties: pain and discomfort. Whether it be the agony of bringing forth a child, or periods and menopause, the result, albeit to varying degrees, is suffering, which Jesus in particular equates to “salting”. As the previous post explains, suffering is the prerequisite for glory, as indeed does Heb2:9-10 with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ and Rom8:17 regarding His followers. Indeed, Heb2:9 states categorically that the Man Christ Jesus, having been made (like us) a little lower than the angels was crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of His death (Greek interlinear), and that is effectively reaffirmed in the verse that follows (10): “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in BRINGING MANY SONS TO GLORY, to PERFECT the Originator of their salvation THROUGH SUFFERINGS”.

SALVATION and salvation

As I have explained more extensively, the glory that comes with being a joint-heir with Christ is the outcome, purpose and intention of gospel salvation. It results from those who have been predestined to it being enabled to relate to God whilst in mortal flesh and be provided with the spiritual resources and divine teaching to become conformed to the image of His Son (Rom8:29). This is what elsewhere Paul refers to as the “prize of the high calling of God” (Phil3:14) – and far from being all of grace (apart from the calling), he describes it as being like an athlete competing in a race for a prize that few will attain (1Cor9:24).

That is what I mean by “SALVATION”, but it is not the “salvation” referred to in 1Tim that God wishes all to attain, albeit the lower case version is glorious enough and just as gracious and magnanimous on God’s part. All salvation ultimately relates to be delivered from a corruptible body and environment to have a place in God’s eternal kingdom, the salvific distinction pertaining to capacity and timing . Far from detracting from “God’s gospel of grace”, such broader benign providence surely magnifies it – affirming John’s truly Good News that God did not send Christ into the world to condemn the world but that through Him the world might be saved.

The LITTLE BOOK OF PROVIDENCE: a seven-part synopsis of the bible: – available as a paperback from Amazon or FREELY as a PDF HERE