Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 30:3 (Summer 2016)
Article: Revisiting The Clarity Of Scripture In 1 Timothy 2:12
Author: Jamin Hübner

PP 30:3 (Summer 2016) p. 18

Revisiting The Clarity Of Scripture In 1 Timothy 2:121

Jamin Hübner

Jamin Hübner is a graduate of Dordt College and Reformed Theological Seminary, and holds the ThD from the University of South Africa. He teaches at John Witherspoon College in South Dakota’s Black Hills. He is a member of the Priscilla Papers Peer Review Team.

First Timothy 2:12 has played a defining role in the Christian debate about the role of women in ministry, especially in American evangelicalism. The text appears to forbid some kind of behavior involving women teaching men. For that reason, exegetical studies about this verse have been numerous and exhaustive.2

But there is an important aspect of the debate that continues to be overlooked, and it relates to a broader principle of theological interpretation and hermeneutics. The principle is typically related to “the clarity of Scripture” (or “perspicuity of Scripture”) and can be summarized in the words of one Reformed confession: “when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture . . . it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.”3

As it will be demonstrated, this principle is common in the history of Christianity and tends to be accepted by both “complementarians” and “egalitarians.”4 The question is whether both groups equally apply the principle, especially when it comes to key texts surrounding women in ministry.

As it will be argued, those who forbid women pastors on the basis of 1 Tim 2:12 illegitimately give the passage the weight of a “clear” text while ignoring the implications of its notorious difficulties. This case will be made analytically by:

First defining the features of a “plain,” “straightforward,” and “clear” passage and an “obscure,” “difficult,” and “less clear” passage.

Second, confirming that 1 Tim 2:9-15 is in the latter category for five reasons:

1. The meaning of 1 Tim 2:9-15 has been and is still highly disputed.
2. 1 Tim 2:9-15 does not make sense according to a literal, “straightforward reading” of the text, and therefore requires greater exegetical treatment.
3. 1 Tim 2:9-15 contains an unusual num...
   
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