finally attended service at pasir panjang christ church again! it's so nice to meet all these familiar faces, esp all my friends like val and tainam, yash and meishi, tracy and daniel, vanessa, and faith! etc etc. also val's mom and auntie molly, who still looks as fiesty as ever! so weird though to be back in church without my baobei. this was probably the first time i came to church by myself, as kenneth instead of char's boyfriend. ok it's not as bad as that but it definitely felt a little like that to me today. wish you were here :( but somehow i'm also glad for this chance to interact with people by myself.
pastor chose to talk about a difficult topic today, and i do applaud him for that, even though it raised many doubts in my mind. 1 timothy 2:8-15 focused on conduct and gender roles, and it just seemed weird that pastor would choose this controversial passage to teach us about prayer and conduct. i am definitely not an authority on this, but i'm sure there are other passages that would serve the purpose just as well, while this passage could have been discussed on its own, with the preacher specifically addressing the controversy and the various opinions surrounding this.
so 1 tim 2:8-11 goes like this:
8 It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.
9 Similarly, (too,) women should adorn themselves with proper conduct, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hairstyles and gold ornaments, or pearls, or expensive clothes,
10 but rather, as befits women who profess reverence for God, with good deeds.
11 A woman must receive instruction silently and under complete control.
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.
4 She must be quiet.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
14 Further, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.
15 But she will be saved through motherhood, provided women persevere in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
So first of all, I've read that modern scholarship has come to a general consensus that 1 Tim was not written by Paul, but in fact probably by one of his followers. Of course, that should not matter too much, but placed in the backdrop of the anti-Gnostic sentiments at that the time, it makes sense that this was a reaction to the Gnostic teachings that gave women lots of authority, causing division in the early Christian church.
The phrase "I do not permit" in 1 Tim 2:12 is addressing a specific situation, otherwise the author would have written "A woman must not teach...". The original text language is also more accurately translated to "I am not presently allowing", which again makes sense when we look at the passage as one that addresses the specific problems at that time.
I also have a problem with verses 13 and 14, because first, I do not understand why the fact that Adam was formed first means that men should have authority. Furthermore, Paul himself said that men and women are equal in God's eyes, and one in Christ. Verse 14 is even more perplexing, for Adam also knew that he was not to eat the forbidden fruit, and yet he let Eve convince him to. He is far from blameless. What we can infer from this is that 13 and 14 are rationalizations in response to the problem of women at that time being out of control, and not something that should be used to establish any moral high ground for men or anything of that sort.
Of course, I agree that men and women should have different roles in church, but why couldn't Pastor have used 1 Cor 12:12 to illustrate that? We are all different and equally important parts in the body of Christ, and trying to fight for the same roles will only cause enmity and division in the church. Personally, I have no problem with churches reserving pulpit roles to men, because well, it has worked for centuries and it is in the Bible. But using Adam and Eve to to justify this just seems really awkward and narrow, and especially when Pastor said himself that he went through a lot of commentaries, it really strikes me as odd that he doesn't even bring up other arguments and at least rebuke them.
But oh well, that's just my view, and it is not very scholarly anyway so I don't think I should be judgmental at all. But anyhow, I did feel revived in church today, and I hope that these 3 months in singapore will be fruitful for my spiritual growth!
