Historian Looks at 1 Timothy 2

Description: In the controversy over the role of women in the church, complementarians/hierarchists routinely claim to be upholding the "traditional" position. Like the little boy who declared that "the emperor has no clothes," J. G. Brown exposes the fallacies in this claim. The authentic traditional interpretation of passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-14 differs substantially from contemporary readings, whether egalitarian or hierarchist. Most prominent Protestant exegetes--from Luther and Calvin through those in the early nineteenth century--understood creation ordinances (male headship/female subordination) as foundational to the temporal world, not the church. An Historian Looks at 1 Timothy 2:11-14 brings history and theology together in a fresh way, with startling implications for the ongoing debate. Endorsements: "For years 1 Timothy 2:11-14 has been at the center of an exegetical firestorm prompted by the ongoing debate over what the Bible says about women's place in church and society. Providing new grist for an old mill, J. G. Brown poses a bold challenge to those who appeal to the 'traditional' argument that complementarianism is embedded in the creational order. This invocation of tradition, Brown provocatively argues, is misguided precisely because it is historically unfounded." --Nicholas Perrin Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical Studies, Wheaton College About the Contributor(s): J. G. Brown resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and has recently retired from a career of teaching history and government on the high school and community college levels.