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If you’re female and grew up in the church at all, chances are you’ve heard 1 Timothy 2:11. Paul states “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.” Not real surprising he stayed single, huh?
C’mon, Paul. WTF?
If you’ve followed Word for a while, you know that I’m not afraid to take on difficult topics. And you’ll also know that when I say “take on difficult topics” I mean “I will find someone smarter than me who explains it well and link to them.” Greg Boyd is the preaching pastor at my church and is a pretty smart dude. I love his take on this passage and much of what I say here stems from that.
One thing he points out is that this verse is part of a passage that has a list of rules for women. The other rules are no braided hair, no jewelry and no expensive clothes. With the exception of a small number of churches, it’s interesting that none of those rules are enforced in the church today. Most people understand that those rules were specific to that culture and time period and not eternal commandments from God. But when it comes to women submitting, somehow that is an eternal commandment?
Down with women! Up with slavery! For the Bible tells me so!
Can we all just promise that we’ll won’t take one verse and make it an all-time truth without checking how it fits in with the rest of the Bible? Has anyone ever read 1 Peter 2:18? It’s one that a lot of Bible believing slave owners clung to a few hundred years ago.
Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
That verse was used by some to put the Biblical stamp of approval on slavery. ON SLAVERY.
Or how about Isaiah 53:5? This one isn’t necessarily a cultural thing, but I’ve heard about a lot of folks who, when they didn’t see the healing they prayed for, were given this verse and told that they must not have had enough faith.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
It clearly states “by his wounds we are healed” so obviously if you don’t see healing you are doing something wrong, right? Or is it possible that these verses might actually mean something a little different than our 5 second interpretation would lead us to believe?
That’s right, Jim! The Bible is a book of lies! You can’t trust anything in it!
Does it mean these verses and passages are lies? No. It just means that in order to fully understand parts of the Bible, you may need to dig a little deeper. The Bible isn’t something so shallow that you can spend 5 seconds with it and completely grasp its meaning. Or as I like to say, you can’t “Kinkade” the Bible (Oooo, burn on you, Kinkade!). For example, in the 1 Timothy passage, it turns out that for the people Paul was addressing, braided hair, jewelry and expensive clothes were considered seductive and normally associated with a prostitution. Knowing that gives it a completely different meaning. So if we applied that verse for us today, it would probably mean something like “don’t show up to church in a bikini or a speedo.” (Honestly dudes, there’s never a good place to wear a speedo.)
Again, if you want a better explanation for this verse that doesn’t allude to the F word and is written by an actual pastor, check out Greg Boyd’s take.
Tags: naughty word, Paul, women, WTF?
Posted on Friday, August 5.
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I love it. And I love Greg Boyds lesson on the topic, thank you for the link.
It is a topic that won’t seem to go away as I affirm teenage girls of their right to worship and serve and correct grown men who somehow feel threatened by my obedience.
Frankly, it’s exhausting!
This is a great example of how important context is when studying the Scriptures. Without context, you can make the Bible support any sort of extreme position that is completely outside of God’s character. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Jim,
I love and recommend your work and design to lots of people. Thanks for your creativity and provocation. Just so you know I appreciate a hard word and at times crude language if it’s used in an edifying way (eph.4:29), that is to say, a way the builds, brings health, and doesn’t spoil with usage. Also, I’m of the persuasion that not all “cuss words” are created equal. Nevertheless, the “F” allusion doesn’t seem to exude the posture to to Paul, scripture, or the Spirit that Jesus embodied or that it seems that his people should embody. Take it or leave it- it’s up to you. I know i’m not part of you community per se, but from one brother to another- i appreciate your work tons, but just don’t think “WTF 1 Tim. 2:11″ helps our cause.
Sincere Thanks,
Ryan
Hey Ryan – Thanks for the comment. I hear where you’re coming from with the “F” allusion and I honestly appreciate you questioning my use of it. Here’s a little background on why I used it here…
To me, a “WTF” type of reaction carries the anger and intensity that I’d imagine someone might have after hearing a verse used to imply their inferiority with God’s stamp of approval on it. If I try to imagine myself as that person, I’d be pissed and would probably use some strong language in my reaction. Rachel’s comment below sorta hints at that too. Intense feelings produce intense reactions which can lead to intense language. I felt that the “WTF” use here was honest so I had no problem using it.
I realize you still may disagree, but hopefully that helps flesh out my perspective a little more.
When I first saw this, it made my day. As someone who grew up in a very loving, Christian environment but also a very conservative one where women did NOT have any significant role in the church, this resonated deeply with me. This has been a struggle for a lot of my family members and is one of the reasons that I am not actively a part of that specific denomination anymore. The image and saying are abrupt. But I think it’s abruptness is what makes it resonate so much. What defining moment in church history hasn’t come from someone saying (figuratively) “WTF, I don’t think that’s what the Bible is trying to say” or “WTF, I don’t think that’s what Jesus would do.” I’m personally very glad that someone said that about women’s roles in the church. While I don’t think that Jesus would ever utter anything even closely resembling “WTF,” I know that in my experience with the Bible I certainly have. So thanks, Jim, for this post.
[...] Click here to read LePage’s blog on the topic of 1 Timothy 2:11. [...]
Hi, Jim!
First, thank you for your creativity and for channeling it into God’s Word. No doubt this will be a great tool in drawing some people into exploring the Bible who otherwise may not take the time to do so. I particularly like your artistry on Peter’s denial…it combines the subtle with the bold beautifully.
I have to say that it saddened me to see this 1 Timothy 2:11 design, despite the point you were trying to make in explaining your perspective. As Francis Chan said so well recently at Catalyst, [His presence matters...isn't that the understatement of the year?! That's the ONLY thing that matters!] When we clear away all of our own perspectives and take an honest look at who God is, His holy character, and the fruits of the Spirit He is looking for in us who represent Him (not our own positions) — to use such a base expression belonging to this world for the purpose of interpreting His message would contradict His very nature and His Word. I heard some good advice from one of my pastors, “We can be sincere and be sincerely wrong.” No doubt you are sincere in your desire to present God’s Word…it is equally imperative to please God and maintain a level of purity that is acceptable to Him, since His Word is so very pure. Even Jesus had a posture of reverence when He prayed to the Father or spoke His words.
James 3:5-6
“…A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that…”
Psalm 19:14
“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer!”
Philippians 2:15
“that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”
Thank you for using your gifts from God for His service. Please consider how each one of your designs affects the bigger picture.
Thanks for the comment, Linda. I truly appreciate your concern. I’m not sure if I have a lot more to say other than what I said above to Ryan.
I get that you feel that “WTF” is a spark that starts a fire, unacceptable to God or crooked perverse, but to put it simply, I disagree. Sometimes crude language comes out of a place of hatred and judgement and that certainly is wrong. But sometimes it comes out of honesty and in my opinion, I think God appreciates that.
Like my entire blog, that’s just my 2 cents and I may be wrong. Thanks again for the comment!
I love the print, but the verse wasn’t what I thought of when I first saw the picture. When I saw the WtF, the verse I thought of was: “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.” which is Romans 1:26. That counts as WtF, right? :D
thank you so much for this. love your work and your honest thoughts. empowering.
Thanks for the feedback, angelika!
I think your point about taking things in the context of the time period applies here. WTF, although crude, applies to our current society. It is a term currently used to imply extreme emotion. Again yes it is crude but when one uses it everyone else knows exactly what the person using it means.
Being a woman this verse has always bothered me. I do not like how it is thrown it my face and used as a way “to put me in my place”. I would have loved to have this poster in a past church. I know not very Christian like behavior but I was feeling extreme emotion. ;-)
Thank you for being bold. Current culture requires it.
I love the WTF take. I am no fan of Greg or his perspective on the matter, but I thought you might enjoy to hear that someone on a different side of the perspective fence still appreciates this creative work. For many people this is a WTF verse. I appreciate your call for people to dig deeper and pursue truth. To not stop at WTF and walk away. You are a gifted communicator through these images. Just awesome.
Thanks, Craig! I appreciate the kind words!
One thing i think you missed here is that slavery in the Hebrew context was nothing like slavery we have seen in more recent history. Slaves were more respected servants who earned a good wage and also where free to leave work after for filling their debts, or working for a number of years. There’s actually no exact word for slavery in hebrew, so really it’s more along the lines of, helper/servant. The law of the old testament actually was way ahead of it’s time in terms of the treatment of your workers, they were given a lot more respect than other cultures at the time.
Also just to note women on submitting Paul was just has strict on the way husbands should respectfully treat and love their wives. Submission especially in modern english seems to have come to mean oppression, Paul did not mean that it’s more a form of complete trust, respect and openness, not hostility or closeness. Just in the way all Christians submit to Jesus, children submit to their parents, it’s not a form of oppression at all. So it’s not so much that it’s a rule people once followed now don’t have to or a certain church had to follow, it’s more we have missed the point in the first place.