1 Timothy 2:11-15
Paul was trying to solve a problem, and it is foolish to apply his solutions to churches that do not have the same problem. If rats had infested the church at Ephesus and then Paul wrote that he took his cat to church, would we insist that all Christians still must take their cats to church. God forbid!
At Ephesus, unrighteous men were deceiving the gullible and uneducated with their false teachings. These false teachers found women particularly easy to mislead because coming from the Greek and Jewish culture they were uneducated. Most Greeks did not believe women were as intelligent as men were and did not teach them. The Hebrews did not allow rabbis to train or teach women. Rarely could a Greek or Jewish woman read and write. A man of equal status would be 10 times as likely to be literate. Under these conditions, it is easy to understand why charlatans targeted the women of the church.
To target this problem Paul proposed an unusual and controversial solution. He suggested that women be educated. He made it clear that the women should learn in quietness and submission, (submit: to offer for approval, as one submits a resume). He acknowledged the Jewish tradition taught that Eve was the source of sin because she was deceived. He then pointed out that the same tradition said childbirth saved women and through childbirth, women saved humanity. He also included the gospel truth that women just like men receive their salvation by faith, love and holiness, not childbirth.
While educating women was Paul’s long-term solution, they still had an immediate problem. He provided a quick fix temporary solution until women could be educated enough to hold their own against false teachers. Until they were educated, Paul said not to permit a woman to teach or assume positions of authority. The world has changed; we are not in Ephesus anymore. Failure to place Paul’s letter in full context keeps some churches from having a righteous relationship with Christian women.
Truth from the Word 