Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism?

26: STRANGE MEANINGS FOR “AUTHORITY” 201

Extensive recent research into Greek usage of this term suggests that

at the time Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, authentein... “included

a substantially negative element (i.e., ‘dominate, take control by

forceful aggression, instigate trouble’).” Therefore, it seems forced

and unreasonable to view 1 Timothy 2:12 as denying women the

ordinary and appropriate exercise of authority. It appears far more

likely that the prohibition refers to a negative and harmful use of

authority—which... in this case probably referred specifically to the

women who were teaching the heresy against which Paul had writ-

ten 1 and 2 Timothy. Thus, Paul would not have intended this pro-

hibition to exclude women from either the ministry of sound teaching

or the legitimate exercise of ecclesiastical authority.^5

And Leland Wilshire clearly advocates the meaning “instigate violence”:

The preponderant number of citations... have to do with self willed

violence, criminal action, or murder or with the person who does

these actions.... The issue may be... ‘instigating violence.’... It

was a problem not of authority but of violent self-assertion in a

rhetorically defined form of instruction.^6

J. Lee Grady thinks the term has some kind of negative connotation:

Bible scholars have noted that authentein has a forceful and extremely

negative connotation. It implies a more specific meaning than ‘to have

authority over’ and can be translated ‘to dominate,’ ‘to usurp,’ or ‘to

take control.’ Often when this word was used in ancient Greek liter-

ature it was associated with violence or even murder.^7

(^5) Groothuis, Good News for Women, 215. The quotation in the statement by Groothuis is from
an article she refers to by Ronald Pierce, “Evangelicals and Gender Roles in the 1900’s: 1 Tim.
2:8-15: A Test Case,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36:3 (September 1993), 349.
Sumner, Men and Women in the Church, advocates the meaning “domineer over a man” (253).
Linda Belleville recently claimed that 1 Timothy 2:12 means, “I do not, however, permit her
to teach with the intent to dominate a man” (Belleville, “Teaching and Usurping Authority: 1
Timothy 2:11-15,” in Discovering Biblical Equality, ed. Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill
Groothuis [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2004], 223, italics added). But Belleville has mis-
represented her supporting verses and simply misunderstood Greek grammar: see Wayne
Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah, 2004), 318-319.
(^6) 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.
(^7) Grady, Ten Lies the Church Tells Women, 58. See also Andrew Perriman, Speaking of
Women (Leicester, UK: Apollos, 1998), 171.