All One in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28)
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All One in Christ Jesus Bible Teaching on the Work of Men and Women in Christ’s Service “... as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28) “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:10-11) Averil & Ian McHaffie ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS 2012 ii PREFACE Published by Ian & Averil McHaffie, 176 Granton Road, Edinburgh. EH5 1AH Preface This book is primarily about service. How can we best offer our lives in service to Christ and to our Heavenly Father? We plan to consider in particular whether the Bible prescribes different areas of service in the ecclesia for men compared to women, or brothers compared to sisters (to use the New Testament terminology for those who have been baptised into Christ). In our Christadelphian community the part played by sisters has varied considerably. In almost all ecclesias sisters exercise the same part as brothers when they vote for ecclesial offices. In some ecclesias sisters give Bible Class addresses and have done so from the beginning of last century, but in others they are forbidden to take part in any formal discussion; in most ecclesias sisters are not allowed to contribute vocally at Breaking of Bread meetings except in singing. This book seeks to establish firm Bible principles for the guidance of ourselves and our ecclesias for the future. From time to time those who favour a wider participation by sisters are criticised on the grounds that this is contrary to Scripture. Over the years various articles on the subject have been produced, many arguing that sisters should remain silent in ecclesial meetings. Some of these have been sent to us with the request that we study them carefully. This we have done. In addition we have examined the Bible in detail for ourselves, as well as commentaries, articles in religious journals, and books on the subject. It is sometimes stated that the desire for participation by sisters arises from modern feminist arguments. Feminist writers in the world accuse the Bible and particularly the apostle Paul of being iv PREFACE anti-women. By contrast, writing from a Biblical position, not a feminist one, we consider that a proper analysis of the Bible and of the apostle Paul’s writings presents a very positive approach to the involvement of women. In this book we seek to examine the issues fairly, to be faithful to the Bible as the Word of God, and to explain what we consequently believe to be the correct Biblical application. The conclusion we reach is not based on feminist arguments but on direct Biblical exposition. We have usually included the Bible texts on which our reasoning is based rather than simply quoting the reference. This is to help readers to check whether we have analysed the text correctly. Ancient authors have also been quoted extensively because it is not always easy to obtain access to these writers, whether in the original text or in translation. This book makes information available that is relevant to the context of the New Testament but is generally unknown to many Bible readers. References are given so that the wider contexts of these quotations can be examined. From time to time we have given Greek or Hebrew words, transliterated into English. This is for the sake of comparison and because there are various possibilities of translation and interpretation. We all depend on others for translation of the Bible from Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) into English. Translation is not straightforward; words have different meanings according to context, and translations are influenced by the background and understanding of the translators and commentators. It is important, therefore, never to rely on just one translation or on one commentator. A few sources are given in the footnotes for those who wish to read in further detail. These discuss the text, the background, the meaning and the use of the original words. We have put the footnotes on each page rather than as endnotes, since notes at the end are difficult to look up. Some of the footnotes are very long, but they are a way of including detail where necessary, while allowing readers to choose whether to look at the detail or not. Readers will notice a certain amount of repetition since some of the same quotations and references are relevant in different ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS chapters. We hope the repetition of material will help to make each chapter easier to follow. A few new chapters have been added since the 2007 version of All One , which means that some renumbering of the chapters has had to be done, though the chapter headings are mostly the same as in previous versions. We continue to welcome constructive criticism of anything we write, and will be happy to publish corrections on the internet if anything can be demonstrated to be in error. It is hoped that the analysis produced here will encourage others to discuss the subject in depth, to seek to study anew what the Scriptures have to say, and to be faithful to the Bible by putting into practice the conclusions reached. Averil & Ian McHaffie [email protected] 10 October 2010 A few misprints and three slightly inaccurate references have now been corrected, and we thank those who have drawn items to our attention. None of these affected the meaning of what we are saying in our presentation of the teaching of the Bible. On page 10, we have slightly modified the text to avoid the impression that there was a unified position amongst Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries regarding women. For the same reason, on page 17 we have changed “described by the rabbis” simply to “described”, on page 19 instead of “many rabbis” we have changed the wording to “some rabbis”, and on page 25 rather than “the rabbis” we have likewise put “some rabbis”. On page 26 instead of “the artificial barriers erected by the rabbis” we have said “physical barriers”. 2 September 2012 vi PREFACE Contents Preface iii Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements ix 1 Christ is All, and in All 1 2 Jesus and Judaism 7 3 Attitudes to Women at the Time of Jesus 9 4 How Jesus Treated Women 19 5 What Happened in the Early Ecclesias? 33 6 “Brothers and Sisters” in the New Testament 45 7 Paul’s General Teaching 55 8 1 Corinthians 14:34-36 in Context 69 9 Paul’s Letters to Timothy and Titus 87 10 1 Timothy: Prayer, Quarrelling, Dress 97 11 1 Timothy: Learning, Teaching, Authority 103 12 Translation Issues 117 13 Paul’s Teaching on Bishops, Elders, Deacons 123 14 2 Timothy: Faithful People are to Teach 131 15 The Remaining Books in the New Testament 137 16 Prophesying in the New Testament 145 17 Various Conclusions on the New Testament 149 18 Old Testament Foundations 155 19 Male and Female in Genesis 159 20 Arguments for Subordination in Genesis 163 21 Arguments for Male Leadership in Genesis 3 173 22 Is it Wrong to Listen to a Woman’s Voice? 177 23 The Disruption of God’s Intention 181 24 Old Testament Society 187 25 Why was the Priesthood Exclusively Male? 197 26 Leadership by Women in the Old Testament 205 27 “The Husband is Head of the Wife” 219 28 Attitudes to Women in the Greek/Roman world 231 29 Attitudes to Women in Post-New Testament Times 241 30 Attitudes to Women in Christadelphian Writings 255 31 What Should the Position be Today? 281 32 Is Change Possible? 287 33 Miscellaneous Issues 297 34 What People Say 317 35 Reactions to this Book 327 36 Conclusions 351 viii PREFACE Preface iii Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements ix 1 Christ is All, and in All 1 37 Questions for Discussion 355 Index of Biblical References 359 Abbreviations RSV = Revised Standard Version NRSV = New Revised Standard Version GNB = Good News Bible REB = Revised English Bible KJV = King James Version NIV = New International Version NEB = New English Bible NKJV = New King James Version TNIV = Today’s New International Version Acknowledgements We are indebted to a large number of people who have commented on previous versions of this exposition. We have benefited from helpful suggestions from those who agree with us, and from the critical analysis of those who do not share our viewpoint. This updated version takes account of the comments we have received from 2007 to 2010; we have added considerably more material, and have tried to clarify our exposition where some points have been misunderstood. We are grateful to all the writers we have consulted and from whose works we have quoted and drawn ideas and suggestions. Since we first wrote this material in the early 1990s, the internet has become widely available. This enables everyone to check the current state of debate about the meaning of words, and the interpretations of passages. Many ancient sources are now online, both in the original text and in translation. Many websites also enable the reader to observe the bias from which various people approach the issues. Quotations are generally from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.