“Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.”
I remember a worksheet that I had to do in third grade science class. It had 8 different circles, and in each circle there was a photo of something with a pattern. One had a pattern of blue and teal. Another had a cross-hatched pattern of tan and yellow. The assignment was to figure out what was in each circle. What the worksheet did not explain is that each image was zoomed in very close so it looked different than expected. Zoomed out, the blue and teal picture was easily recognized as a fish. Zoomed out, the tan and yellow picture was easily recognized as a giraffe.
This current passage is somewhat like that worksheet. It can only be understood if we zoom out and look at the broader context of the Bible. If we were to read the Bible from cover to cover, we would find a long line of women who lead and teach: Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14-20), Philip’s daughters (Acts 21:8,9), Priscilla (Philippians 4:2,3), as well as many others like the handful of women mentioned in Romans 16. Several of these examples are of Paul commending women as leaders and teachers. What, then, is going on in this passage? Is Paul contradicting himself? That seems unlikely. Some experts suggest that Paul is addressing a specific situation in which the women of the church needed to be removed from leading because they were abusing the leadership role. Is that correct? Perhaps. It is more important, however, to always let the big-picture view of the Bible set the limits for how we understand specific passages like this one.
Here’s your freedom for today: you CAN understand the Bible. Sometimes the Bible seems overwhelming. Who can possibly understand it? The exciting answer is: anyone. It doesn’t take a special level of education. It doesn’t take special training. It just takes time, which is a resource everyone has. Regular, daily reading will eventually help you build up an understanding of what the Bible is saying – of it’s larger themes and storyline. The goal is not to understand the Bible perfectly today. The goal is to understand the Bible a little bit better every, single day.