Craig

Cheryl,
Thanks for your reply, but I’m still struggling a bit to follow Paul’s mind working like that.
I can see my conversation going something like this.
Craig: Paul told Timothy “anyone” in 3:1. This is the same word used in the gospels in the salvation verses, so it is quite reasonable to assume he has both men and women in mind.
Friend: But he seems to clearly have just men in mind because he says that he must be “the husband of one wife”.
Craig: Let me give you an illustration. If I go to a home bible study group and the husband of the house gets everyone together and says “The toilet is just down the corridor on the right. Anyone may use it, but please leave everything tidy. Take careful aim and leave the seat down when you have finished. Are the women then to assume that they cannot use the toilet because he “obviously had men in mind”?
Also, if the phrase “husband of one wife” meant that only men could be elders, then it must also mean that only men can be deacons, and you don’t believe that do you.
Friend: I can understand your point. That makes sense. So therefore Paul is clearly referring to men and women in verses 1-7
Craig: Also, Timothy would have understood this because he knew Paul and how favorable he was toward women in ministry. So he would never have assumed Paul was excluding women.
Friend: Paul would therefore naturally have had both men and women in mind in v 8-10 and Timothy would understand this. There would be no reason for him to think otherwise, knowing Paul like he does and following on from v1-7 which is about men and women.
Craig: yes, that sounds reasonable.
Friend: But doesn’t the word “likewise” mean that he is now talking about women when he wasn’t before? Does the word “likewise” ever mean “As you know, I was talking about women in v1-8, and I just want to be sure that you know that”? Wouldn’t he have said “women especially are to be…” or “women particularly need to be…”?
Craig: Good question Friend. I need to get back to Cheryl and the others on the blog about that one.