1 Timothy 2:12 Women be Silent
This is a verse attributed to Paul that states: “I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.”
The overall context doesn’t help the matter at all. In the preceding verses, the author tells women to dress modestly and to study in silence, while the verses that follow say that women will be saved through childbirth. So thoroughly sexist.
Let’s take a quick step back, though. First Timothy, along with Second Timothy and Titus, are often seen together as the Pastoral Epistles. While the three letters do differ a bit, they all focus on the life and rules that govern individual Christian communities.
One more quick step back. To understand Pauline Scholarship, it is worth noting that not all the letters attributed to Paul are believed to be by Paul. This is largely determined by a few factors, including language, content, structure, etc.
This is something done to many ancient works, as it wasn’t uncommon for a later writer to try to use someone else’s authority to put out a message. So we have to critically examine the works, and by looking at the basic markers of an author, we can determine with a good degree of accuracy what is authentic and what is not.
For Paul, we can separate his work into three categories.
First, we have seven letters that are thought to be authentic by virtually all scholars. Those letters include:
First Thessalonians
Galatians
First Corinthians
Philippians
Philemon
Second Corinthians
Romans.
Second, there are two letters that scholars are divided on. Some claim they are forgeries, others say they are authentic, and then some argue that they are partial letters from Paul that have been filled out. The reason there is a split is because there are many things about those letters that seem authentic, but a few points stick out that raise flags. Those letters are:
Colossians
Second Thessalonians
Third, there are four letters that most scholars reject as being forgeries. In this group, we can also include the book of Hebrews, which, while it doesn’t bear Paul’s name, many early Christians attributed to Paul, and that is really how it made it into the Bible. The four letters rejected are:
Ephesians (there is a little debate here)
First Timothy
Second Timothy
Titus.
On this same subject, we also know that Paul wrote some letters that we no longer have. There may be many letters of Paul that we no longer have, but there are a few we know for sure existed.
These include a first letter to the church in Corinth and a third letter, called the Severe Letter, written to the church in Corinth.
Both Ephesians and Colossians mention earlier letters as well, which were most likely authentic, even though our letter to the Ephesians is a possible forgery, and there is some debate about Colossians. Citing authentic letters would have helped solidify some authority there.
So, with all that in mind, when dealing with First Timothy, we are working with a book that isn’t from Paul but from someone writing in Paul’s name.
When looking at First Timothy, we are probably looking at a work that was written sometime after Paul’s death. We are looking at a period when Christianity was beginning to form as a separate religion from Judaism.
While Paul believed that the end was coming very shortly, we begin to see a shift here, where the church will now have to form for the long run. The Pastoral Epistles address different communities to help shape what church leadership will look like in the long run.
Between Paul and First Timothy, we see some major differences. First, Paul opposes marriage and childbearing. He says that if one needs to have sex, get married and do it, but it’s more ideal to live a celibate life as this world would soon be replaced by the Kingdom of God, so we have more pressing matters to attend. First Timothy, on the other hand, promotes marriage and childbearing.
The passage in question here is also quite different from what Paul says. For instance, in Romans 16:1-3 and 7, Paul praises women who are leaders in the church. He’s lifting them up, and telling others to do likewise, that women have the right to have authority.
What we have, then, is a contradiction in the Bible caused by someone later using the name of Paul to prop up their authority. This latter person was trying to direct the church’s growth in the manner they wanted.