Mark

Dave,

We are always going to but heads. I recommend you read the scholarly work of comps such as that book i recommended before you continue to argue for Cheryl’s exegesis.
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Kostenberger has conclusively shown that in that syntactical construction both teach and exercise authority must either be positive or negetive. Therefore we need to consider if it can be negetive. The immediate context does not allow for ‘teach falsely’ unless you stretch right back to 1:3. Also Paul twice in this same epistle uses a different verb for ‘teach falsely’ that he does not use here.
All other uses of ‘teach’ in the NT bar one exception like i said where the immediate context (as in the verses surrounding the word) are positive. Therefore teach must be positive in 1 Tim 2.

Also Baldwin has done extensive research on authentein and concludes that there are 5 possible meanings. The common donominator is that they all represent authority of some sort.

Now considering ‘teach’ must be positive to be consistent with the rest of the NT, authentein must also be. This is the only possible syntactical possibility.

Look at Titus 1:6 i think it is…i don’t have a Bible handy. Paul uses ‘bishops’ in the plural. Then in verse 10 or 11 (again check more closely cause i don’t have a bible here) Paul switches to the singular… ‘an overseer…’. Clearly though, Paul has all overseers in view in the qualifications not just one person. Therefore the singular acts as a generic singular as with 1 Tim 2:11ff.

Final point i want to address and then i’m out…you said

“There is no reason in the text to believe that the situation is more than something that was happening at the Church. ”

Are you arguing for an ad hoc situation here similar to Fee? If so, that is a dangerous hermeneutic to apply and is exactly what the Liberals tend to do. For example Galatians was written to a specific context and for a specific reason. Do we therefore say that Paul’s outline of the gospel is only relevant for that Church? Is 1 Corinthians therefore no longer applicable? Where do we draw the line? Almost the whole Bible was written for a particular audience to address a particular context? Your above quote begins the slippery slope to a complete rejection of Biblical authority and that is worrying. This is the whole problem of egalitarianismm, it adopts a liberal hermeneutic…you need to at least address this and be honest about it and try to rectify it.