In this second blog, the slander is perpetrated by the so-called “neo-conservative” women. (These are women who will teach a very conservative approach to the Bible in virtually all areas, except those which encroach upon what they see as their right to minister and lead.) These women are active within church and para-church ministries, yet are in rebellion against God the Holy Spirit, in terms of their roles in the family and in church. They are joined by like-minded men, who have come under their domination, or who, themselves, have areas of Holy Scripture which they wish to disobey-- so a symbiotic relationship occurs: “I will agree to support you in your rebellion if you will agree to support me.” Added to the Neo-conservatives is a group I call Evangelical Pragmatists. They are neither liberal nor conservative but simply functional pragmatists. For them the highest good is what is working at the time, in terms of people and money. They continually adjust their theology and doctrines accordingly. Thus if it is convenient to sidestep Scriptural commands concerning women in the ministry and home by throwing women of the Bible under the bus, they are more than happy to do so for pragmatic reasons.
The best illustration of the abuse of Biblical women by neo-conservatives and pragmatists is their abuse of the good Christian women of Ephesus. Paul’s letters to these women is entailed in what would become the book of Ephesians, as well as the pastoral books of First and Second Timothy. Timothy, at the time, being the pastor of the church at Ephesus. Neo-conservatives and pragmatists, to justify disobedience to God’s instructions in these passages, have unmercifully slandered the good Christian women of the church at Ephesus, by describing them as wild and unruly.
What follows are the passages which these two groups find so offensive: Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 1 Timothy 2:11-14 11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
How they respond – Neo-Conservatives and Pragmatists in rebellion Neo-Conservatives and Pragmatists both appeal to the same slanderous argument -- that the women of the church of Ephesus were so undedicated, uncultured, wild and unruly that the Apostle Paul had to impose these rules on the church to bring order to the chaos which these wild women inflicted. The would then free themselves from having to submit to these commands – viewing themselves as sophisticated, intelligent and self-controlled.
Shedding light on the lie of this slander The problem is that there exists no proof of this slanderous statement. Nowhere in Holy Scripture are the women of the church of Ephesus singled out as wild and unruly. In fact, the church of Ephesus is one of the model churches of the 1st Century. Nowhere, in the instructions of God the Holy Spirit in Ephesians and Timothy, are the actions of the women in the church described as unruly, rebellious nor uneducated. Instead, the argument that God the Holy Spirit presents to the church is rooted in the Doctrine of Creation. 1 Timothy 2:13-14 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. A woman’s role in the church and in the home is not argued on the basis of immediate circumstances in the church (thus to be set aside when more advantageous circumstances are in play.) It is not argued on the basis of culture (thus to be set aside in new or different cultural situations present themselves.) It is not argued on the basis of the Law (thus to be set aside by the New Covenant”). It is not argued on the basis of the Fall of Man, (thus to be set aside by the New Birth in Christ). Rather the argument is rooted in the sinless creation of man and woman, in their sinless state in the Garden of Eden. Thus to return to God’s original plan these passages are to be enforced in the church. These are doctrinal passages which transcend both time and culture. For one to set aside these teachings on women in the home and church one must be prepared to set aside the first three chapters of Genesis. The argument then that these passages were given because of the behavior of the good Christian women of Ephesus is pure fabrication and slanderous in nature.
I may also point out that there exist no first century primary source documents which speak to the wild and unruly behavior of the good Christian women of Ephesus. All arguments based on this primus are made up and pure fantasy. They have no basis on proven historical fact. When statements are made concerning the wild and unruly nature of these women, simply ask, “In what database on the internet may I go to view the primary source documents of this accusation?” or “In what library do these accusations exist?” or “What was the primary source research document you used to arrive at this accusation concerning the Christian women of Ephesus?” In every case, the speaker will come up blank. Why? Because none exist. Let me say this again. There exists no Biblical nor primary source material which speak to or allude to the uneducated and/or unruly behavior of the Christian women of Ephesus. This argument is one of pure fabrication, with no basis in historical fact. It was invented for and propagated for the sole purpose of freeing the speaker from the constraints of Holy Scripture. These false claims must be exposed for what they are - a slanderous lie against the good Christian women of Ephesus.
It is true that there are records, scant and unreliable, yet records, never-the-less, which would seem to indicate that because Ephesus was such a wild city that women of like character existed. This, however, has no authority of bearing on the women in the church of Ephesus. I live in the city of Houston, Texas. At over six million, it is one of the largest cities in the USA. It is, indeed, a wild and unruly city, which holds women of every kind of sin and degradation – prostitution, drug addiction, thieves, murderers, child molesters and more. They are arrested and prosecuted on a regular basis. Bars and strip joints abound, as do wild parties and heinous sins of infidelity, immorality, fornication, adultery and homo-sexuality. My city is, indeed, a wicked city-- rivaling any city in the world in this area. This does not mean, however, that the women of my church are wild and unruly, or that my wife, my daughters, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughters are wild and unruly. In fact, just the opposite is true. Good Christian women in the churches of Houston are a stark and noble contrast to the pagan women of the city. I would be offended and angered if I heard a Bible teacher saying that, because there were wild and unruly women in the city of Houston, that my church or all churches in the city were filled with the same type of women.
Now let me take it one step further. My mother was a Christian and member of a Baptist church. As a widow in her church, she was active in personal evangelism, Bible teaching and ministering to the poor and sick in their homes. The year the Lord took her home, she was voted “Senior Citizen of the Year” in her church for her loyal, faithful and sacrificial service to the Lord and His church. For a Bible teacher to say that the women of her church, including my mother, were wild and unruly because their exist such women in Houston would not only be slanderous, but cruel. For my mother cannot speak from the grave, in her own defense, any more than can the good Christian women of Ephesus speak. It would be up to me to speak out in my mother’s defense and, should any speaker be so unwise as to slander her good name, I would do so in a public way. How much more when the women of the church of Ephesus, who have gone on before and are in heaven waiting for us, are slandered, should Christians who believe the Bible speak up and stop this slander. In the above illustration, it was I who gave the report on my mother. To slander her name is to call me a liar. So, too, those who slander the good Christian women of Ephesus make God the Holy Spirit to be a liar. All things which they hold against the Apostle Paul in his teachings are really resentments and criticisms of God the Holy Spirit. There can be no middle ground on this, given the statements of The Apostle Paul under the inspiration and direction of God the Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 4:8 “So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”
“How would you respond to your mothers, wives and daughters being slandered in this way?” “Does that mean that all churches who hold to inerrancy of Scripture do so because of the wild and unruly women in their churches?” The truth is that there is no social setting where the liberals, rebellious conservatives and pragmatists will obey these passages. The reality is that, should they find a wild and unruly church, they would rather bring the women into a state of “self-control” thus qualifying them to disobey the Bible. Does anyone besides me see the insanity of such logic?
Application: I. Hold to the standard of the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God, as given to us and preserved for us by God the Holy Spirit and not man. II. Demand evidence (and by this I mean real, primary source documents, not speculations by men who lived hundreds of years later.) Where are the primary source documents which purport to reveal the good Christian women of Ephesus as wild and unruly? III. Speak up, do not sit idly by and listen to the good Christian women of Ephesus being slandered when they cannot speak for themselves from the grave. IV. Speak up, do not sit idly by while God the Holy Spirit and His instructions to the church are set aside by fictitious cultural and historical arguments. V. Defend the Gospel; defend the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word. When you sit silent while the good Christian women of Ephesus are slandered, while God the Holy Spirit is slandered, you became part and parcel to this sin and stand condemned. VI. Do not be deterred or discouraged by the uneducated and manipulative responses which will come from your challenge and defense. “Everyone agrees”; “Scholars are united”; “It is an accepted understanding among Bible teachers” and more will be trotted out – none of which are true. You will be made to feel uneducated and unsophisticated for not agreeing but these are arguments reveal the uneducated nature of the one presenting them. If there were actual verses in the Bible or primary source historical records which proved their point, they would have been presented or be ready at hand. In fact, none exist and you can say so out loud.
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