How Does a Catholic Read: 1Timothy 2:12-15

Today I wanted to cover a passage which is so controversial that it doesn't even appear in the lectionary.  That passage is 1Timothy 2:11-15.  This passage has implications both for who can enter into the ordained pastorate and for how Christianity views the equality of women.

So let's get into it.  

Background and Context:

First some context.  In chapter 1 of Paul's letter to Timothy, Paul is giving Timothy some advice on how to do his pastoral work in Ephesus.  He notes that Timothy is to refute those who wish to say that Christians must keep the Mosaic Law.  (1Timothy 1:3-7).

Then Paul answers a person who may ask, "What good is the Law then?"

He replies that the Mosaic Law is to be used for people who are acting lawlessly.  Paul cites some of the moral commands of the Law and says, "Use it to refute this kind of stuff."  (1Timothy 1:8-11)

Paul begins a new focus at the beginning of chapter 2.  He is talking about what Timothy's congregation should be doing when they are gathered together.  He doesn't seem to be talking about the Mass (as he does in 1Corinthians 11), but some kind of gathering for prayer and instruction.

First he says he wants everyone praying for everyone - and especially for our civil leaders.  Then he turns his attention to the men and says he wants them raising their hands for prayer, and not for fighting.  He likewise says the women should be adorning themselves in virtue and good deeds, and not in fineries.  

That brings us to the passage in question.

The Passage:

"Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.  For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.  Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control." - 1Timothy 2:11-15

Alrighty.  Let's break this down bit by bit.  

A Question of  "Authority":

First Paul says:  "Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man." (11-12)

He begins by saying that women should be learning quietly.  He doesn't allow women into situations where they would have teaching authority over men.  In other words, Paul does not allow women to be ordained, authoritative teachers of the Church.

This falls in line with the Catholic Church's practice of only ordaining men to the ministerial priesthood.  The Catechism states:

"Only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible." - CCC 1577

There are some who make the case that the word "authority" means a tyrannical or malicious authority.  And for that reason, they conclude that Paul is only banning women obtaining abusive teaching authority.

Fair enough, that translation may be right.  Saint Jerome rendered the word as "dominari" in Latin, which does mean something like "dominate" in English.  

However, the fact that Paul uses a negatively-connotated word for women's teaching authority could just mean that Paul viewed a woman's teaching authority as a negative thing.  After all, consider the preceding sentence.  He doesn't contrast this authority with a good use of authority.  He doesn't say:

"Women should exercise their teaching authority with humility, I do not permit a woman to teach or have tyrannical authority over a man."

Rather, he contrasts that "authority" with what he thinks women should be doing:  Learning quietly and receptively.  By putting those two sentences together we see that Paul does indeed mean that women should not be official, authoritative teachers to the body of the Church.

Universal Appeal:

Next Paul uses the word: "For"

That means he is now going to start giving a rationale for the teaching he just gave about there being no women pastors.

First he says, "Adam was formed first, then Eve"

Now, there are some people who try to say that this passage of 1st Timothy is addressing a local problem.  That way, even if Paul was indeed teaching something we'd find uncomfortable today, we can at least say it doesn't apply to us.  

Paul appealing to a reflection on Genesis 1-3 really rules that out.  When the inspired authors refer to the Genesis account, they do so to make fundamental points which they see as true of all humanity.   

So, Paul begins by noting that Adam was formed first, then Eve.  According to [John Chyrsostem], this is to highlight a paradigm of male leadership.  Adam was supposed to be the primordial leader of the first human family.  

This paradigm is something we still see play out in families today - whether we like it or not.  In 1994, the Swiss carried out a survey to determine how effectively different families pass on the Christian faith.  The results are summarized here in Touchstone magazine:

• If both father and mother attend regularly, 33 percent of their children will end up as regular churchgoers, and 41 percent will end up attending irregularly. 25 percent of their children will end up not practicing at all. 

• If the father is non-practicing and mother regular, only 2 percent of children will become regular worshippers, and 37 percent will attend irregularly. Over 60 percent of their children will be lost completely to the church.

• If the father is regular but the mother is non-practicing?  The percentage of children becoming regular is 44 percent with the non-practicing mother.

In total, the religious influence of a father is the indispensable factor for passing on the faith.  For good or ill, children follow their fathers.  Thus, Paul is likewise saying that men are supposed to be the authoritative leaders in the Church.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Then he says: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman was and became a transgressor."

Now Paul sheds some important light on Genesis 3.  Eve was deceived by the serpent, but Adam was not.  In that way, Adam did the worse thing.  That would go a long way to explaining why the New Testament places the guilt of bringing sin into the world primarily on him.  (See 1Cor 15:21 and Romans 5:12)

But Paul brings this up to explain why there are to be no female authoritative teachers.  He is suggesting that the deception of Eve is somehow paradigmatic of women.  So is he simply proposing that women are too gullible to be pastors?  

That's not how I prefer to go about it.  I prefer to ask the question:  

"What are the typical strengths of women?"

With that question in mind, let's turn to a study from Spain which found the following regarding empathy in men and women:  

"The results confirm a greater empathic response in females than in males of the same age, differences growing with age. The sizes of the effect estimated in the second evaluation (average age 14 years) are large for emotional empathy and medium for cognitive empathy."

NBC news summarized a study from 2018 which revealed the same thing:

"Given the biological differences between men and women — for example hormones and hormone levels - it could be possible that some of these hormones that are present in greater levels in women can drive some of the higher empathetic scores," said Varun Warrior, lead study author of the above 2018 research. “Oxytocin, which is found in higher levels in women, can make people more empathic, while testosterone, present in higher concentrations in men, could do the opposite.”

And MIT found the following regarding collaboration skills between men and women: 

"But MIT’s most provocative finding so far is that the higher the proportion of women on a team, the more likely its collective intelligence and the better the performance. But before creating any gender controversy, it’s fair to say researchers explain this third factor, at least statistically, by the first factor mentioned. It’s the ability to discern what someone is thinking, either by looking at their facial expression or through some other means of human observation, what makes members of a group more collectively intelligent regardless of whether they are men or women. But, as it is known and demonstrated in other studies, women on average score higher than men on the test of social perceptiveness, therefore women are, on average, more perceptive than men about their colleagues."  

All told women have greater strengths than men in listening, empathizing, collaborating, and compromising.  These skills are often argued to make women more better in certain leadership positions.  And perhaps they do!

However, these strengths are not without their drawbacks.  While these strengths may serve in avoiding conflict and seeking goals as a community through compromise ... they do not serve if the goal is to maintain unchangeable dogmas in the face of people who find them offensive, even hurtful.  

This plays out on the world stage:  Every major denomination which has accepted women in the pastorate (the ELCA Lutherans, the PCUSA Presbyterians, UMC Methodists, the TEC Episcopalians)  have gone sideways on the more offensive teachings of Christianity.

Saved by What?

Lastly, we get to the part about being saved by childbearing.

Now, if one were to approach this from a non-Catholic point of view, this passage would be incomprehensible.  In those communities, the word "saved" is used exclusively to refer to moving from a state of enmity with God to friendship with God.  

The idea that women would enter into friendship with God by bearing children is irreconcilable with the notion of being saved by grace through faith.  Plus, this is the same Paul who recommended celibacy to people in 1Corinthians 7.  

This passage is far easier for Catholics.  

First, the word translated as “child-bearing” can refer to the act of giving birth, but can also refer more broadly to the task of raising children.  

Second, as Catholics we don't use the word "saved" exclusively to refer to entering into a state of grace.  We recognize that the Bible also uses the term "saved" and "salvation" to refer to a present tense and ongoing process.  For instance, in 1Corinthians 15:2 he says:

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain." - 1Corinthians 15:1-2

In other words, we can view salvation more broadly as the whole process of God conforming you to the image of pure love.  Thus, your journey of becoming more holy (also called “sanctification”) can be understood as an ongoing process of being “saved”.  

It is that sense in which Paul uses the word “saved” in 1Timothy 2:15.   He’s saying motherhood is a source of sanctification for women.

And with that, we reach the end of the passage.