SHH_by_cookiemonstah, a photo by 旺小福 on Flickr.

Ah, and now to deal with the text which caused all the controversy in class! 🙂

“A woman must receive instruction silently and under complete control. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet,” (1 Timothy 2:11-12).

I will have to come back to this posting after the end of Holy Week and Easter and the semester to properly do justice to this topic, as I believe that it is an important one (and I have a lot to say!!!).

I’d like to note just a few things about this.

— This in no way means that women are inferior to men, nor should it be taken that way to justify the oppression of women.

— I think this speaks more to the innate differences between men and women and how we react to different situations/projects.

— I think the juxtaposition of this passage, after speaking of the duties of men and before speaking about the qualifications of ministers has significant influence over how we are to interpret this.

— What’s so bad about obedience anyway? Jesus was obedient unto the cross.

— How come every time people speak of women being obedient, someone has to counter with Eve and the apple, blame, and sexual assault? And what does it mean that these topics are continually re-presented?