Frank

I am glad you enjoyed reading my little study on male and female deacons, and that my observations and comments on the various aspects of their ministry were clear and understandable. I wish I could have done a little comparative study of 1 Timothy 4:1-5:2 and Titus 1:5-2:5, using what Kenneth Bailey calls “rhetorical criticism” to show similar “inverted parallelisms” or chiasms, in which Paul gives his directives regarding elders. First, he begins with some general statements regarding the qualifications and duties of the elders. Then he digresses, if that is the right word, into a pointed reminder to Timothy why these rules on choosing and promoting qualified elders must be strictly enforced to maintain the doctrinal soundness and spiritual vitality of the congregation. And lastly, he focuses again on the specific qualifications and duties, first of male elders, and then of female elders. For in these passages, many NT scholars have argued that presbytero and presbyteras are, as determined by the context and the chiasms involved, clear references to church leaders, “male elders” and “female elders.” And since there are several studies on this out already, I don’t think I’m saying something totally new to most readers of this blog.

But this being the case, the coffin for burying Wayne Grudem’s view of 1 Timothy 2:2 is, in my opinion, nailed tight. This is what I mean: If in these passages on deacons and elders include, as a necessary part of their ministry, the requirement that those engaged in this ministry must know, affirm and teach the essential beliefs and practices of the Christian faith to those under their care; and if 1 Timothy 2:11-15 does not apply to a temporary and abnormal situation at Ephesus, but is, as Grudem and other complementarians insist, a timeless, transcultural teaching–then we must conclude that Paul is either a very poor logician, is for some reason trying to deceive and confuse his readers, or that he is just plain insane. For to say, on the one hand that under no circumstances can women teach or exercise leadership in one passage, then say in another that as deacons and elders they must be trained and able to teach those under their care–this is a clear violation of the law of non-contradiction. And anyone who violates this law of logic usually does so for one of three reasons: They are irrational thinkers and don’t understand the canons of logic; they are clever and deceitful sophists who are playing tricks on their audience; or they are crazy and need to be locked up in an insane asylumn. But if you insist on the complementarian view of 1 Timothy 2:11-15, your choices regarding Paul and his ability as a rational thinker are limited.