Frank

I was reviewing the comments on this posting, and was reminded how, as my friend and mentor Rober K. Wright told, you must always question your pressupositions in interpretation, or you may wind up at a meaning of a text that is far from what the original author intended. And so it seems to me that some assume a hierarchical “order of creation,” assume that was Paul’s view of the “order of creation,” and then exegete and defend this view from the text, without ever establishing that Paul truly held this view in the first place, let alone warranted by Scripture as a whole. Here is what Sue and Larry Richards say about this:

Some have taken Paul’s observation that “Adam was formed first, then Eve,” to imply that men are to be leaders in the church and women are to be the followers. Similarly the reference to Eve being deceived is taken as support for the notion that women are more susceptible to error than men and should not serve as teachers or leaders.

One problem with this view is that the Genesis 2 creation story to which Paul appealed emphasizes the EQUALITY of Adam and Eve as possessors together of the divine image, with co-dominion over the creation. That Adam was not deceived when he ate the forbidden fruit hardly exonerates him. In fact it makes him more responsible: It was Adam’s Fall, not Eve’s. Whatever reason Paul had for referring to Adam and Eve here, it cannot to be establish a subordiante role for women, or to indicate a weakness of character that would prevent them from teaching.

But what if Paul is developing an analogy between Adam and Eve’s experience and the situation in Ephesus rather than basing teaching on a text? Surely there are points of comparison between what happened in Eden and what is taking place Ephesus. Because Eve was deceived she took the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam. The deception of Eve started the chain of events that led to disaster. In Ephesus, women were also being deceived.

But what does Paul mean by saying Adam was created first, then Eve? Paul is simply reminding the Ephesians that woman was created to complete man. Without Eve, Adam was incomplete. Thus men need women as partners for our race to reach its full potential! If the women in Ephesus are deceived, this can lead the whole church to disaster! (“Paul on Women,” Every Woman of the Bible, p. 230 ).

Then they go on to explain that the solution is for the women to be properly educated and trained, then they can serve as equal partners in teaching and so on. But if you assume a “hierarchical order of creation,” you will be blind to this as alternative interpretation.