A Fine Tune

How could the Bible get it so wrong, you may ask. Of course, I’m being facetious as it’s not the Bible that gets it wrong, it is the 150+ year, subtle, incrementally and ever advancing feminist movement sown into the foundational fabric of American/western society and culture that gets it wrong. Indeed, the so-called “women’s rights movement” and its current iteration of “feminism”, which contradicts biblical teaching, is not just a passing fad in America, it is a societal bulwark.

When the apostle Paul cited Eve’s garden of Eden transgression, which she committed thousands of years before his time, as reason for restricting a woman’s activity in the New Testament church (ITim. 2: 11-14), he pulled on a loose thread that when fully unraveled reveals a latent truth in need of rediscovery today. Some have referred to Paul’s admonitions concerning women in the church as being a phenomenon unique to his time and culture, however his referencing of Eve’s ancient and original sin as his rationale for said restrictions implies a condition not limited to Eden, Paul’s day, or any other specific time or place.

THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD

So often by the church, “worldliness” is identified (and repudiated) as simply a collection of filthy “pollutions of the flesh” and outward appearances. However, the apostle Paul said “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world…” (Col. 2:8), this indicating that the world presents a full spectrum challenge to the Christian life. It’s not just bad habits and licentious living that godly people must avoid, but ruinous, antichrist ideologies that run counter to Bible truth must be exposed and rejected as well.

Over time, these inferior and corrupt ideologies, social values and cultural codes (e.g. “political correctness”, “wokeness”, “Diversity-Equity-Inclusion”, etc.) employed to create what is considered to be an order of fairness and civility in a fallen and evil world can seep into the mindset of the church. The effects of this are ruinous as that church so afflicted can begin to accord with and assimilate to its worldly surroundings, thus diminishing its power and value as a church. The apostle Paul addressed this with the church in Rome…“And be not conformed to this world:” he straightly charged, and then continued “but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom. 12:2. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the world’s system runs contrary to God’s order.

One of these worldly, western-driven “orthodoxies” that today’s church must ever be on-guard against and strictly avoid is the pernicious ideology of feminism. Contrary to the scripture (ITim. 5:14), feminism teaches and encourages women to devalue and even avoid motherhood and a home-centered lifestyle, opting instead for an independent, career-pursuing, male-emulating lifestyle. No doubt contributing to the abortion crisis, feminist women claiming rights and exploiting opportunities inordinately pursue independence and “equality” with men across all sectors of society.

THE SCRIPTURES

As a unique group, women are not overlooked in the letters of the apostle Paul as he admonished the church concerning Christian lifestyle and behavior. In fact, there are several Bible passages that deal exclusively with the female experience of faith and devotion to God. Of these scriptures there are two notable (and today, especially controversial) segments that similarly speak directly concerning a women’s behavior in the church assembly, these are…

ICor. 14: 34-35 “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. (35) And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

and…

ITim 2:11-14 “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. (12) But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. (13) For Adam was first formed, then Eve. (14) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

I recall some years ago a minister mentioning that, when something is addressed more than once in the scripture it is to emphasize the point. This is a sensible take, as there are things mentioned in the Bible only once that are given the highest priority, as they should be. Two citations however would certainly indicate that our subject matter is indeed Pauline apostolic doctrine and deserves our full focus.

Unique to the Corinthians among the Bible’s epistles is Paul’s detailed admonitions concerning sensitive subjects not found in other epistles. However, the instruction to Corinth concerning a woman’s behavior in the church was also conveyed to Timothy, Paul’s surrogate at the time in Ephesus. In chapter 3 of Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he advises on the qualifications of a bishop (whom we errantly call a “pastor” today btw— another study for another time) as a guide for Timothy when qualifying leadership for the churches in the region. This indicates that Timothy’s authority, as ordained by Paul, was widespread. As such Paul/Timothy’s teaching concerning a woman’s role in the church would’ve expanded with their spreading of the gospel.

It is irrefutable that Paul (the apostle of the gentiles Rom. 11:13, to include you and me.) practiced and prescribed a subdued role for women in relation to men “…in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” (ITim. 3:15). However, it is here in ITimothy where Paul discloses the vital reasoning behind this position. For many, these Bible passages seem outdated and fully disjointed from today’s church experience, even to the point of being ignored, foolishly. However, it’s not the timeless truths of the Bible that are in error, but ever-active “principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places”, always ready to exploit any “weakness”, have not forgotten the serpent’s successful strategy in Eden – the lie… and that to the female. “…but we are not ignorant of his devices”.

As mentioned, one of the failed arguments against Paul’s admonitions (aka the Bible) concerning a women’s role in the church as it applies today revolves around the different era, culture, and localized custom’s of the apostle Paul’s ministerial environment compared with today’s world. Demonstrating their compromised spirituality, today’s “Christian” feminists, serving their own interests, indicate that Christianity and more specifically God’s “settled in heaven” biblical truth, should be malleable and adapt to its contemporary setting, thereby accommodating more authoritative and engaged women, even in ministerial roles. This reasoning, of course, sounds exactly like something Eve’s serpent would’ve cooked up…and has.

I’ve highlighted verses 13 and 14 of ITimothy chapter 2 (above) as they provide the substance of our assertion for this article which is, Eve’s failure in the Garden, committing the “mother” of all sins, and Paul’s referencing that failure as cause for a woman’s restraint in the New Testament assembly, is due to a condition that I believe was present in the garden, present in Paul’s day, is present today, and will continue until Jesus’ return.

REVISITING EDEN

Within the scope of our subject matter, the fact that “Adam was first formed , then Eve” doesn’t appear to carry much significance, that is until the actual events, as recorded in Genesis ch.’s 1-3, are reviewed. Within the creation story, on the sixth day, “God…”, having already created all things which comprise the natural universe with the planet earth and its contents receiving exclusive significance, “…formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…”; He did not create Eve at this time.

The Genesis 2 story continues… “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” Still no Eve. “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it“–by himself, without the woman who had yet to be created. Next, God provided food for Adam, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat“. Not yet in existence, Eve was not there to hear that, neither was she there to hear this… “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Receiving the command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before Eve was created (Gen. 2:17), some have opined that Adam then failed to properly communicate God’s command to Eve. However, in her response to the serpent’s query (“Hath God said…”), Eve quotes God’s command almost verbatim (Gen. 3:3), in other words, she knew (This is why God held her responsible for it). It wasn’t Eve’s ignorance that caused her to sin, it was belief in the serpent’s lie, and the exploitation of her “…lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…” (Gen. 3:6, Ja. 1: 13-15, IJn. 2:16) that caused the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to become seemingly irresistible, she then disregarding God/Adam’s command. However, Paul’s referencing of this event approximately 4000 years later in his letter to Timothy, as reason for the restraining of women in the church, indicates that there is something more going on here than meets the eye.

Whether it was the burden of a second job (naming the animals) that prompted God to observe “It is not good that the man should be alone” or not, only God knows, but instead of making Adam an independent, self-sufficient being, he said “I will make him an help meet for him”. Eve was not created in the same manner that the man Adam was– he from “the dust of the ground”, her from Adam’s rib. Neither was she independently commissioned by God as was Adam. And though she would be called Eve (the mother of all living) as named by Adam, and she would be the first female, all of these facts would count secondarily to the one, true, biblical fact which is, Eve was created by God to be Adam’s suitable helper. This, above all else is her essential identity. God did not say he would create a “woman” or a “female”, he said he would create a “suitable helper” for the man, all else comes after. The woman’s core identity and purpose is not to be “her own woman”, but to be the man’s helper; this is her work, her calling, her nature, her existential purpose.

“Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” ICorinthian 11:9

IT WASN’T EVE’S SIN, IT WAS EVE

Hearkening back to Eve’s garden of Eden failure to substantiate his reasoning for restricting women from in-church participation, Paul states, “…Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression“. Why, you could fairly ask does Eve being deceived in Eden have anything to do with a woman’s role in the New Testament church. Yes, the woman (Eve) was the vehicle through which the original sin entered into the human condition, but wasn’t this, like all sin, forgivable? Or is there something else, something in (or rather, “not in”) the nature of the female creature, the “helper”, the “weaker vessel”, that caused Paul to make his sweeping prohibition?

I’m not inclined to think that after many centuries since the original offending event, Paul cited Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden simply to engage in an otherwise unreasonable effort to penalize the whole female membership of the New Testament church. Indeed, though a long-term spiritual judgement for all humanity, men and women, was sin’s eternal sentence (death), Adam’s temporal punishment for his sin in Eden was remedied by Noah’s flood millennia ago (Gen. 3: 17-19 / Gen. 5: 28-29 / Gen. 8:21). Yet, it is Eve’s failure in the garden that Paul curiously references to support his prohibition of audible and authoritative women in the New Testament’s church assembly, insisting on their quietness and deference. Why is this?

Genesis chapter 3 records the calamitous events of that fateful day as it all came crashing down on the soon-to-be-evicted garden dwellers. As Adam’s female helper, perhaps it was an instinctual inclination towards meal preparation that brought Eve to the trees (food). Whatever the case, did the ever opportunistic serpent sense a vulnerability to be exploited? By God’s direct command, an obedient Adam was fortified against an attack from the serpent regarding the forbidden tree, however Adam was not so inured against his helper/wife. Not to read too much into the Eden Story, but it appears the serpent may have targeted Eve as a strategy, exploiting her inherent weakness as a way to get to Adam.

The apostle Paul’s reference to Eve’s failure in the Garden as cause for his prohibition suggests that her sin wasn’t simply a one-off confined to the early history of Genesis, but it indicates something more—a defining characteristic, an archetypical disposition inherent in the female. In citing Eve’s sin, is Paul saying that women, as a gender and in their nature and comparable weakness, possess a unique spiritual vulnerability, a susceptibility that, when the conditions are right, can be exploited by devilish forces, especially targeting her if she’s in a vital, primary and central position (over men) to potentially effect ruination in the church? Absolutely YES, that is exactly what he is saying.

It is the apostle Peter who, in admonishing husbands on how to treat their wives, characterizes the woman as “the weaker vessel” (IPet. 3:7). This observation is not repeated often throughout the Bible, as the scriptures speak sparingly of what nature already declares overtly. This “weaker” (in relation to men) condition is not a defect in God’s creation, but it is how He created it to be. In fact, any departure from this arrangement is itself defective.

Expanding on the apostle Peter’s statement, it’s obvious that across all metrics, women, as created, are generally (there are always exceptions) weaker than men (physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually). Even ambitious women today who abandon biblical direction to instead “celebrate” their independence with full-time careers and the like, operate within the framework of a society that men have envisioned, built, lead, maintain, and continue to advance. Though women are not a numerical or racial minority in the United States, legal and social constructs treating them as such are designed with the intent to then “empower” them, thereby boosting their role in society, giving them independence, making them their “own man” so-to-speak—feminism on the march.

Proponents of “equality” who advocate for women in ministerial roles and leadership in the church will often cite Galatians 3: 27-28 as a Bible reference to substantiate their claim…“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” However, a rightly dividing of the Word will show that Paul is emphasizing the “one in Christ Jesus” singularity of the church, that is, there is not a Jewish church and a Greek church, there is not a bondman church and a freeman church, likewise there is not a male church and a female church. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph. 4: 4-6. It is true that there is to “be no schism in the body”, however God does maintain his hierarchy, “…the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” ICor: 11:3.

The overall assertion in this article is not meant to cast a pall over a women’s God-inspired ministerial aspirations, nor is it to ignore or otherwise deny a woman’s authentic spiritual gifting in the church at-large. Certainly the biblical narrative (both Old/New Testaments) would not have been possible without the contributions of many great women of God, even as the scripture says “…your sons and your daughters shall prophesy”, Phillip the evangelist’s daughters proving just that (Acts 21: 8-9). Even Paul, the God-inspired author of these directives celebrates the Christianity and work of many women in his epistles. However, this only serves to prove that much of the early church’s performance and function occurred outside of the gathered assembly where the prohibition does apply. Recall that Solomon’s Temple was comprised of wood, stone and metals. Likewise the body of Christ is a temple made of substantial spiritual building materials constructed to withstand the enemy’s attacks, which would require but a short work if it were made of spiritual ribbons, bows, and soft pastels.

MALE FAIL

Referenced earlier, the setting of “…the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” is the nerve center of the local church membership, feeding grounds of the sheep, the domain of bishops and deacons, also it is here where the corporate church fellowships with their God. In referencing Eve’s garden-of-Eden error as his reason for silencing women in the church, it appears that Paul’s concern is the protection and integrity of the ministerial product—the Word, both at its source and in its administration. Does Eve offering Adam the forbidden fruit (consequent to being deceived) indicate a behavior pattern that, but for the man’s diligence and adherence to the apostle’s admonition, can repeat itself in today’s church, metaphorically?

It wasn’t just the foreign and idolatrous “many strange women” (700 wives, 300 concubines) that Solomon “clave unto” that caused him to fail God and Israel, but it was his own apparent disregard of the law of Moses concerning the nature and behavior of their future king (Deut. 17: 14-20, in this case, himself). The specific admonition is in verse 17: “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away…”. The sad report then coming out of Solomon’s Jerusalem hundreds of years later, “…and his (Solomon’s) wives turned away his heart” (IKgs. 11:3) just like Moses said they would. In other words, “wise” Solomon disregarded the scriptural warning bringing failure and disrepute to himself and division to the kingdom.

The foreign transplant and idolatrous queen Jezebel was allowed to wreak havoc in Israel as the result of a compromised and corrupted king (Ahab). Also, reminiscent of Ahab’s Israel, another evil and unrestrained Jezebel found conducive conditions hundreds of years later in the church in Thyatira (Rev. 2: 18-29) to “teach” and work her destructive schemes. Though a spectacular and violent death (trampled by horses, blood licked up by dogs, IIKings 9: 30-37) brought an end to the original Jezebel’s reckless and evil scourge in Israel, controlling, power hungry, self-serving “Jezebels”—another female archetypal manifestation, can take up residence wherever a weak, compromised leader will let her, with destructive consequences to follow. It is a result of male failure and weakness that women emerge into an influential, or even an authoritative “command and control” position in the church.

GOD IS A HE

As our Father (not mother), God’s pronouns are He/Him🙄, manifest in the flesh (Jesus), He is the Father’s only begotten Son (not daughter). These facts, though they are biblically documented, historically validated and are obvious to most, bear repeating in today’s world, as the effects of a strong delusion (IIThess. 2: 11-12) undermine the cognitive reasoning of a wide swath of the population. As such, it is not the praying, Jesus-name, Spirit-filled church that finds itself questioning God’s, or their own gender identity, or are confused about gender roles in the wider society, but it is sinners, the unbelieving and the ungodly, those “who are taken captive by him (devil) at his will.” who find themselves ensnared in a murky world of spiritual darkness and confusion. Though referred to by the world as a psychological disorder (gender dysphoria), transgenderism and other forms of sexual confusion are ultimately spiritual conditions—specifically demonic oppression targeting its victims as a consequence of their unbelief and sin.

One of the more extreme and grotesque examples of this incremental deterioration and “adapting” of biblical Christianity into the worldly culture today is found in the practice of open homosexuality and transgenderism in so-called Christian churches, and in their so-called “ministry”. This phenomena requires an excessive level of both depravity and spiritual blindness. Also, as with feminism in the church, it requires a forthright rejection of God and his truth (Rom. 1: 24-28, Jude 1:7).

In the world but not of it, yet admonished to be good citizens of secular society, God’s church is to remain free from the world’s “spiritual system”, carefully (and that rhymes with “prayerfully”) rejecting “…the course of this world, …the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” (Eph. 2:2). Having been severed from the world, God’s church is its own spiritual kingdom. With Jesus on the throne, the church is a spiritual society created, developed, and guided by his Spirit and Word.

CONCLUSION

As with Adam, God created Eve with a specific purpose in mind, one for which she has been properly equipped, as Paul writes “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house…”, notably in the same epistle (I Timothy) in which he insists on their silence in the church. Paul’s prohibition would imply that the female was not created for, and therefore is not properly enabled to be in authority, teach, or even talk “in the church” assembly. Also, Paul’s referencing Eve’s garden of Eden episode as an archetypal event demonstrating the woman’s spiritual vulnerability, shows that her lack of restraint in the church is wrong because it is both dangerous and destructive.

However, Paul’s command is not a punishment of women in the church because of Eve’s transgression in the garden (that was covered in Gen. 3:16). Paul’s admonition is an alert to church leadership that, created as the “help meet” and “weaker vessel”, the characteristic psychology and spiritual vulnerability of the female precludes her from wielding any prevalent influence in the church assembly, and specifically insisting on her silence. The fact that Paul’s scriptural admonition may seem extreme and even a shock to today’s western Christian “libertine” mindset, reveals the extent to which the contemporary feminist and permissive culture has seeped into the church. Any effort to dismiss Paul’s admonition should be recognized as the seductive influence of the same one who said to Eve… “Yea, hath God said…”.

GS

-Bonus paragraph-

The civilized western world looks on in horror as the oppressed women of Islam are forced to wear the morbid and ridiculous burqa –that death-black, head-to-toe, body covering which apparently serves to relieve Islamic men of their uncontrollable lusts. I’ve noted how the little rectangular screen positioned to allow for eyesight, actually called a “face grille”, ironically looks identical to the small slot in a prison cell door, a perfect metaphor. However, much of the wardrobe and style choices of women of the western world can be just as excessive, as it appears to be the opposite side of the same extreme coin. Both are corrupt in their own unique way; one reflects oppression, the other licentiousness.