Women, Salvation, and Childbearing: The Mystery of 1 Timothy 2:11–15
Ebook
Overview
This book offers a completely original, groundbreaking interpretation of one of the most difficult passages in the Bible. For too long, a closed circle of voices has dominated the discussion about the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:11-15. Ministry leaders have continued to struggle with inadequate solutions to the problems posed by the text, and women, especially those called to ministerial service, have suffered from missteps in its interpretation. Kenneth Waters uncovers what he argues is a long-hidden key to understanding the comments about women, salvation, and childbearing in this controversial passage. He maintains that although it was a truth known to the original hearers of this letter, it has been hidden from later generations of readers.
“Kenneth Waters offers a fresh reading of a difficult text that
opens new possibilities for understandings of it, the author of the
Pastoral Epistles, and even the workings of the churches 1 Timothy
addresses. The arguments Waters provides demand the attention of
all serious interpreters of this letter. Waters further calls
interpreters of biblical texts, and of this one in particular, to
take responsibility for the effects their interpretations have on
people’s lives.”
—Jerry L. Sumney, Lexington Theological Seminary
“This work is clearly written, has thoroughly researched both the
primary and secondary sources, and reaches persuasive, nuanced
answers to difficult questions. It is just the type of erudition
one might expect from Waters. Therefore, I recommend Waters’s book
highly to those persons interested in the social history of Pauline
Christianity in general and women within the Pauline tradition in
particular.”
—Thomas B. Slater, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University,
emeritus
Kenneth L. Waters Sr. is professor of New Testament and associate dean of personnel, contracts, and undergraduate studies at Azusa Pacific University. He has published extensively on the Gospels and Paul.