Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 02:2 (Fall 2020)
Article: Good And Proper: Paul’s Use Of Nature, Custom, And Decorum In Pastoral Theology
Author: Steven Wedgeworth

Eikon 2.2 (Fall 2020) p. 88

Good And Proper:
Paul’s Use Of Nature, Custom, And Decorum In Pastoral Theology

Steven Wedgeworth

Steven Wedgeworth is the Associate Pastor at Faith Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the founder of calvinistinternational.com and is a director for The Davenant Institute.

For much of the twentieth century, Protestants, especially Reformed Evangelical ones, viewed natural law with suspicion at best. It was frequently alleged to be the product of Roman Catholic theology, Enlightenment philosophy, or some combination of both.1 But recent scholarly attitudes, driven in part by a desire to recover elements of the larger Reformed tradition, are beginning to change.2 Natural law is even beginning to appear in more popular and pastoral writings.3 It makes good sense, then, for complementarian Christians to consider how this natural law resourcement might fit in with their own recovery project.

This essay will investigate to what extent the Apostle Paul uses a sort of natural-law reasoning in his argument against women teaching or holding an office of authority in the church. The primary textual subject will be 1 Timothy 2:8–15, but parallel New Testament passages will be considered insofar as they provide additional support for understanding the logic of Paul’s argument. I will argue that Paul is making a kind of natural law argument, by way of custom and decorum. This is not a simple appeal to human intuition, neither is it a generalized observation of empirical data taken from nature. It is, however, an argument based on the concepts of basic honor to authority figures, an element of the natural law, and the social power of decorum, of what is proper or fitting for social relationships between men and women. These are concepts grounded in a particular philosophy of nature and the morally formative role of custom. While appropriately using language and categories from the creation order, Paul is indeed employing a particular kind of natural-law application of this biblical account in order to prescribe customary social relations between men and women in the church.

Eikon 2.2 (Fall 2020) p. 89

Interpreting 1 Timothy 2:8–15

First Timothy 2 is well-worn ground, as it is rightly seen to be a definitive text for the debate over women in leadership in the church. In verse 12, Paul states, “I do not permit a woman to ...