In this text Paul is being proactive with a specific goal in mind - women seeking to be godly. Yes, he does mention some examples of abuses of clothing and attitudes, but more vivid is his emphasis upon what women CAN do, not on what they should do, or must do, or must not do. Seeing this emphasis today is not enlightening, for we live in the aftermath of Paul's pioneering work. But for the first century woman who lived in a far more hostile and confined world, his instruction was shocking and fully counter-cultural.
Today we will look at three contexts in which Paul wrote: the Jewish context, the Greek context, and the Roman context. You may be surprised by the historical review of the role of women in his day. Perhaps too you will be surprised at just how radical (and how pro-women) Paul's instructions regarding the deportment of women were from the accepted norms of his day (and just perhaps, to ours today also).
Click to play, right-click to download:
February 26, 2012 | John Bayles | A Word to Women: Godliness and Submission to Learning, Part 1 (1 Timothy 2:8)
No comments:
Post a Comment