Tags

, , , , ,

Some in conservative circles believe that women are more prone to believe lies than men. They often point to Eve’s deception in the garden and Paul’s reference to that deception as proof. Many connect this with Paul’s command for women to remain silent and believe they should be silent because they will cause others to sin with their self deception like Eve did.

Does God teach us women are more easily deceived?

Truth and deception are huge themes in the Bible, and what we believe about women’s deception should fit in with, and not contradict, these bigger themes. What makes a person vulnerable to deception? First I’ll give the big themes of how God speaks about truth and lies and then I’ll go through several verses that seem to say women are more easily deceived.

First, the setting. We know that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). We see this in the garden, but there are many verses warning us against the deception of the devil. The Pharisees were told they were liars because they belonged to their father, the Devil. We are to put on the armor of God, including the sword of truth, to fight against the wiles of the Devil. In 2 Corinthians 11, were told Satan disguised himself as an angel of light so he can deceive. John 8 says Satan wants nothing to do with the truth.

On the other hand Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. John tells us this light, the word, became flesh and dwelt amount us, and that he was filled with grace and truth (John 1). Jesus told pilate he came to bear witness to the truth (John 18).

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. Jesus told the disciples of the Comforter who would lead them into truth. We are told of the Spirit of truth in John 14 and 16 and 1John 4 and 5.

Satan likes to work through deception and God works through truth.

Truth and deception are one big theme in the Bible. Light and darkness is another and they are related. Solomon tells us the wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. In the Bible, walking in darkness is correlated with being deceived and disobedience, while walking in the light is correlated with wisdom and obedience. (Acts 16, Ephesians 2, Colossians 1, 2 Corinthians 4, John 1, John 8, Matthew 4, I Peter 2).

Where do people fit in? Why do people sometimes listen to God and sometimes to Satan? The Bible gives us many examples and explanations to this.

2 Timothy 3 talks about what the church will look like in the last days. There will be “ those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sin and led astray by various passions.” Paul is giving us one reason people listen to false teachers. These ladies are walking in darkness. They are not being led by God, but by their passions. They have not repented of their burden of sin.

Some assume Paul is saying these ladies are deceived because they are ladies. He never says this and in the next chapter he talks about the menfolk who are led astray – also by their passions. The common denominator is being led by passion, not the gender.

He says,” for the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. “ ( 2 Timothy 4:3) This is what the ladies in the last chapter were doing. Suiting their own passion and listening to anyone who catered to that. And according to this passage, both men and women can fall into this trap. It’s called confirmation bias. We believe what we want to believe. Keep in mind, those ladies did not want to let go of those burdens of sin. Paul mentions this for a reason. They needed to find a teacher who would help them excuse this choice to keep hold of sin.

Choosing to believe lies rather than truth is a theme in the Bible. Jeremiah tells us the heart of man is deceitful above all things, who can know it? (Her. 17).

And the Bible tells us over and over why we choose to believe lies. Isaiah says,

“For they are a rebellious people, lying children, unwilling to hear the instructions of the Lord . Who say to the seers ‘Do not see,’ and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy what is right. Speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusion, leave the way, let us hear no more of the Holy One of Isreal. ‘“ (Isaiah 30:9)

And Jeremiah laments,

“The prophets prophesy falsely…and my people love to have it so.” (Jeremiah 5:30)

Because we are sinners, we want sin. And because we want sin, we are easily deceived. Because we don’t want to lay down our “burden of sin” we choose teachers who will allow us to keep them. This is why Paul warns the whole Corinthian church, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. “ (2 Cor. 11).

Paul does not pull the ladies aside to say this. He believes all the Corinthians are susceptible to being deceived by the cunning serpent. Which makes sense. The Bible is filled with passages talking about how sinners are easily deceived. But God doesn’t leave is with that problem. He gives us an answer.

Let God be true and every man a liar. (Romans 3:4) Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit leads us into truth. (John 16:13). We need to trust in God, and lean not on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

John says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not if the Father, but is of the world.” (1John 2:16)

Eve was led away by the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes (the food was good to eat) and the pride of life (be wise like God).

Some say the answer is for women to trust men. I’ve heard thick complementarians and patriarchal folk say the real sin in the garden was that Eve was leading and should have asked her husband before eating the fruit. But the Bible is clear. When Eve was deceived, Adam was with her! And the ladies in the above passage were being led astray by men!

Being deceived by ourselves and others is a very real problem. The answer is not to turn to men who are also prone to being deceived. The answer is to turn to God. We all need to repent of our lust and pride. We need to repent of our burdens of sin and turn to Christ who is the truth. We need to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.”

So, why did Paul say women couldn’t lead in the church because Eve was deceived? Isn’t he saying that all women are easily deceived and therefore should remain silent? Here’s the passage. It is in the middle of a letter where Paul is giving instructions to Timothy on how to properly set up a church.

“Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man; rather she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became the transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. “

The passage gives two reasons why women may not be the teaching authority in the church. One: Adam was formed first. In another passage we are told Eve was made as the ezer (strong helper) and not the other way around. Two: Eve was deceived and became a transgressor.

Before I go on, I want to point out there’s a difference between what a passage actually says and the interpretation we give it. Paul says Eve was deceived and now women may not teach. That is what he actually says. He does not say “women can’t teach because they are all easily deceived.” This is a “reading between the lines” interpretation some put toward the passage. But it is an interpretation that makes no sense when compared with other scriptures.

When we take this verse in context with the rest of scripture we find:

Paul believes everyone is susceptible to being deceived like Eve. The prophets often talked about all of Isreal being self deceived. Being deceived is a method people use to excuse or ignore their sin or sinful desires. Turning to God is the answer.

Before I lay out what I think this verse means I want to show the implications of taking it out if it’s natural context and interpreting it this way. If women are more prone to believe lies, be default, men are more prone to believe truth. Since truth comes from God, men would be more prone to believe and listen to God. Since deception comes from loving sin and listening to the Devil, women would be more prone to love sin and listen to the Devil. I’ve seen this lead to a “priesthood of men” feel in some churches where the ladies must put their trust in men’s minds because they can not trust their female mind. The focus is not on putting their trust in God, which would be the real solution, because they are not trusted to love what God says or to even understand him correctly.

So what does the passage mean? In context, Paul is talking about how we should behave in a worship service. He is not saying women should always be quiet. We know this because in another passage he says women may prophesy and pray in the church. He also tells us Priscilla and Aquila both took a young pastor aside and corrected his doctrine. We know we are all called to witness and to be a part of the Great Commission. The requirement to be silent is at a very particular time and place. If this command were in place to protect others from women’s self deception, one would think women were forbidden from speaking anywhere. But that is certainly not the case.

Paul gives two reasons the ladies are to be silent in this particular time and place. One: Eve was made as an ezer. This means a “strong helper”, a title often reserved for the Holy Spirit. She was made as a helper “corresponding” to him – so an equal, a fellow human, who was there to help in Adam’s mission to take dominion of the plants and animals. The church is our new family. The church is called to the Great Commission. It is lead by qualified men and the women are “strong helpers, corresponding to those men.”

Paul gives a second reason. Eve was deceived and became the transgressor. This reminds me of the time Aaron and Mariam sinned against Moses. Aaron had been the high priest, yet Moses had to intercede between him and God. It reminds me of King Saul. He disobeyed and God removed his whole family from the royal line. Jonathan had done nothing wrong, yet he would never be king because of his father. It reminds me of the Israelites who were given the Promised land, but t were removed because of their sin. This effected their children and grandchildren. We live in an individualistic culture, but God is not setting things up based on individualism. Eve represented women. And now women pay the penalty of her sin. Saul represented his dynasty, and his innocent children suffered for his choices. Some Israelites were innocent, yet they were dragged away by the Babylonians with their fellow citizens. We need to refrain from reading our culture into the scriptures.

When Adam and Eve were in paradise, there was no need for church discipline or excommunication or prison or courtrooms. There was no sin. Once sin entered the world, hierarchy was a natural outcome. Since Eve was made as the helper, it made sense she would now need to be in sub-mission under Adam in their mission to take dominion. Especially since she started the whole problem by tempting him. (Notice I just re-worded Paul’s two reasons.) They still had a job to do, but that job would morph into the Great Commission where the church family points to Christ, the perfect second Adam who took dominion properly.

And when we follow Christ, things begins to look like that pre-sin state. The wife submits and the husband lays down his life for the wife. The elders serve and the congregation submits. Mutuality and esteeming others trumps the hierarchy. But the hierarchy is still there, to keep order, because we do still have sin.

And what about that “saved through childbirth” piece at the end? In the Greek it actually says, saved through *the* childbirth. In Genesis three, God did not leave Adam and Eve with consequences and curses. He promised a Seed who would come from the woman. While Eve believed lies and brought death, Mary was privelaged to bring truth and life through *the Childbirth*. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Light. He saves us from our sin, including our sinful, lying thoughts. He points us to the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth.