Cheryl Schatz

Paula,
Well said!! You are taking my arguments and expanding them and doing a great job. I especially liked this:

The problem again is that this “she/they” isn’t in a vacuum.

This reminds me of a good teacher saying “context, context, context”.

The interesting thing is that if a sentence construction of she/they were given to a complementarian in any other setting (outside of 1 Timothy 2), they would be quick to point out that she means “she” and they means “they” and if we tried to noodle with the grammar as the comps have in 1 Timothy 2, they would cry foul so loud our ears would hurt.

Bottom line is that the passage isn’t easy. It isn’t even necessarily clear. But it is meant to be understood if we take it as it is written and work it through piece by piece. Work it through backwards and tie in the pronouns to the original nouns without prejudice. Allow Paul to be consistent within the passage and it will open up like a flower in spring. It is a wonderful aroma – understanding God’s message regarding salvation out of deception. It is also a wonderful plan that God had to bring salvation through the very first one who was deceived by the enemy. Satan looked to destroy all of mankind through the destruction of the woman, but through her God brought the Messiah who came to save us from destruction and to destroy the destroyer. God’s plan shows that all things can be turned around by God to bring good out of what was planned as evil. God is due all glory and honor and praise for his sovereign plan!