Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 180:719 (Jul 2023)
Article: Periodical Reviews
Author: John A. Adair

BSac 180:719 (July-September 2023) p. 353

Periodical Reviews

By The Faculty And Staff Of Dallas Theological Seminary

John A. Adair

Editor

“Eve as Savior of Humanity? From the Genesis Narrative to Paul’s Comments on Childbearing in 1 Timothy 2:15,” R. Gregory Jenks, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 66.1 (2023): 133–61.

First Timothy 2:15 has spawned a robust literature of its own—a spirited debate over what Paul meant when he said, “She will be saved through childbearing.” Jenks takes a broad, canonical approach to answering this question, beginning with an assessment of Genesis 1–2, where he believes Eve plays a salvific role for humanity, before moving to Paul’s letter.

In the examination of Genesis 1–2, Jenks highlights four key elements regarding Eve, first noting that “she was the same stuff as Adam and corresponded to him perfectly” (136). Second, he identifies Eve as “the first sinner” who “led Adam to eat the forbidden fruit” (137). Next, he points out that “Eve’s curses relate to her procreative role as mother and to her role as helper to her husband” (140). Finally, he notes of the naming of Eve that the first (2:23) “is more of an identifier than a name” (140), whereas the second (3:20) “offers hope against the death curse . . . and offers an affirmation of life in view of their banishment that immediately follows” (141). Thus, when Eve bears Cain early in chapter 4, she declares she has created a man just like God did (v. 1).

Turning to 1 Timothy 2:15, Jenks makes explicit his interest in the canonical context—particularly that of Genesis—as a fundamental basis for his interpretation. Notable about Jenks’s reading is that he takes the “will be saved” of verse 15, following the other passive verbs in verses 13–14, as pointing to Adam, not Eve. In other words, Adam will be saved “through the childbearing role of Eve. . . . Humankind is saved from extinction due to the curse through the woman’s capacity to procreate” (161). Jenks sees an important statement about the place of women in the community of faith—that both men and women are called to the life of faith (maintaining faith, love, and purity) even as all humanity will be saved from extinction through chi...