Don Johnson

Yes, a debate is NOT a teaching. In a teaching you can build up slowly to your main point, like a math proof. It is simply not possible to do a math proof type of argument in a debate, so do not even try. My take is your limited goal should be to get as many listeners as possible to STUDY BOTH SIDES ala Proverbs 18:17.

The way to do that is to make claims that do not seem totally crazy and so will be rejected by a listener WITHOUT STUDY.

Get as much agreement as possible, like the Bible is the inspired word of God, including word choice and grammar (as you did). This will mean that the listeners will not reject you out of hand. Get agreement as to the purpose of 1 Tim, this purpose should color every other verse in the book and provide the overall literary context. This is why Paul could say for the woman in 1 Tim 2:12 that she is not now permitted to teach, because (in literary context) she was teaching false doctrine, which is the whole purpose of the letter, to stop false doctrine. When he says authenteo means authority, agree that this might have been true in 400 AD, but what did it mean in 65AD when in 300BC it meant murder? This gets people thinking.

So it is important to state your CONCLUSIONS from your DVD in a way that people cannot simply dismiss. For example, claim that 1 Tim 2:15 is critical to understanding 1 Tim 2:12. Listeners cannot just reject this claim out of hand, they will need to dig and see whether it is true or not, regardless of what Matt says.

Ask him whether the Bible should be understood as the original readers would have understood it. Then point out the tombstones in Ephesus that use “mias gunaikos andra” to refer to both a woman and a man, in other words, it was generic, not specific to males and means being a faithful spouse.