26

STRANGE MEANINGS FOR

“AUTHORITY”—ARE THEY RIGHT?

Some evangelical feminists claim that the Greek word

authenteø(“exercise authority”) could mean

“murder,” or “commit violence,” or

“proclaim oneself author of a man,” or could even

have a vulgar sexual meaning

This chapter discusses yet another attempt by evangelical feminists to

switch the meaning of an essential verse in the Bible, this time 1 Timothy
2:12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over
a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” Some evangelical feminists give a
different meaning for “exercise authority” (Greek authenteø), but in so
doing they once again chip away at God’s Word, removing what God
actually said from verse after verse of the Bible.
These writers argue that 1 Timothy 2:12 does not mean simply, “I
do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man,”
but rather has some wrongful practice, some abuse of authority, in view.^1

(^1) For various nuances of this “abuse of authority” interpretation see David M. Scholer, “The
Evangelical Debate over Biblical ‘Headship,’” in Women, Abuse, and the Bible, ed. Catherine
Clark Kroeger and James R. Beck (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1996), 50; Rebecca Groothuis,
Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker,
1997), 215; Sarah Sumner, Men and Women in the Church (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity
Press, 2003), 253; Leland Wilshire, “1 Timothy 2:12 Revisited: A Reply to Paul W. Barnett
and Timothy J. Harris,” Evangelical Quarterly 65/1 (1993): 47-48, 52; J. Lee Grady, Ten Lies
the Church Tells Women (Lake Mary, Fla.: Creation House, 2000), 58; Richard Clark Kroeger
and Catherine Clark Kroeger, I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in Light