Study on 1 Timothy 2

1-8 I don't seem to be doing a good job of praying for Malaysia's political leaders, especially for the BN ones. I can't use the excuse that they're corrupt and unjust. Paul wrote this while being ruled by the Roman Empire's oppression. Paul also said that such prayer for all is good because God wants all people to be saved.

9-15 I have trouble with these verses. Not the modesty part - that's fine - but the part that says women must not teach and must not take authority because Adam was created first and Eve was deceived first, and that the woman would be saved through childbearing.

Several people point out that a common traditional understanding of this passage is that the word “childbearing” refers to the birth of Christ, potentially a link to Genesis 3:15 and the promise of a Seed to come through the woman. But then they point out that it doesn't fit the context of the passage, so they think it's not a reasonable interpretation.

However, this person argues that it is the correct interpretation: https://www.rootedministry.com/blog/context-women-saved-childbearing/

This person interprets "through child bearing" to mean "in spite of having to go though the pain of child bearing": http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-are-women-saved-through-childbearing

This person points out the hurt and pain a wrong theology about this passage can cause for faithful Christian women: http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/may/are-women-really-saved-through-childbearing.html

This writer says that rather than abandoning their intended roles by demanding teaching and authoritative positions in the church, women will find true fulfillment through childbearing. God calls women to be faithful, helpful wives, raising children to love and worship God and managing the household wisely: https://www.gotquestions.org/saved-childbearing.html

This part also makes no sense to me:
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression.
1 Timothy 2:14
If Adam was not deceived, this means he's *even* *more* guilty than Eve. So how can this be a justification for the subordination of women?

This woman believes in a complementarian view -- that women are equal with men, but have different, complementary, roles. https://unlockingfemininity.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/eve-was-deceived-so-now-i%E2%80%99m-paying-with-silence/

She points out that the male domination view is wrong because the Bible clearly points out that all have sinned.

But as a complementarian, she believes that men and women are different. For example, men are more easily tempted by pornography. Women tend to be drawn into sin by a subtle series of little deceptions that seduce her.

So her take on this is that the situation with Adam and Eve was that in this situation, Eve was deceived and left her God-given role to help and support Adam, while Adam wasn’t deceived, but deliberately chose to disobey God because of his own lusts. She wrote, “Eve asserted her independence, stopped being Adam’s helper and became his boss. Adam made no effort to protect, provide for, or lead his wife; he chickened out. Both of their actions were sin. Eve was deceived and Adam was not, yet both sinned. Both abdicated their God-given gender roles in favor of the fleeting promises of sin. Here in 1 Timothy, women are cautioned of the danger of rejecting their God-ordained role as helpmeet. In Romans 5:12-14, God holds Adam alone responsible for the actions of the couple, because Adam was appointed head by God.”

But what about the idea that women are now paying for Eve being deceived by being silenced? She writes, “I am not ‘paying’ for anything; Jesus saved me from everything. Paul’s command in verse 12 is not a disciplinary sentence, but a calling. Jesus is calling women to embrace the way He created them to be and operate within His design… I will willingly not teach or have authority over men, simply because my Jesus asked me to glorify Him in this way.”

Well, that explanation would work for people with a complementarian theology, for it affirms the value of women, but in different roles -- women not allowed to teach or take authority over men, not because they’re inferior, but because God designed them to have a complementary role. This explanation will not satisfy people with an egalitarian theology, like CBC, which allows women to teach.

The Junia project, on the other hand, totally rejects complementarianism. (“Junia”, by the way, was a female apostle, see Romans 16:7, so the Junia Project is affirming the teaching ministry of women.) http://juniaproject.com/5-reasons-stop-using-1-timothy-212-against-women/ It makes these points:

1. “Authority” is a poor translation of the Greek word Paul uses in 1 Timothy 2:12
2. Applying 1 Timothy 2:12 literally but not doing the same for the surrounding verses is shoddy hermeneutics.
3. Paul’s restriction was given in the context of a personal letter to Timothy giving advice about a specific issue in the church at Ephesus.
4. Using this passage to restrict women in leadership requires elevating a handful of verses over the rest of Paul’s writing, not to mention the entire New Testament.
5. Churches find it impossible to put 1 Timothy 2:12 into practice in a consistent or logical way.

(Read the link for more details on what they mean by these points.)