Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 36:4 (Autumn 2022)
Article: Paul’s Concern For Ephesus: A Survey Of 1 Timothy 2:8–15
Author: Eliza Stiles

PP 36:4 (Autumn 2022) p. 18

Paul’s Concern For Ephesus: A Survey Of 1 Timothy 2:8–15

Eliza Stiles

Eliza Stiles received an MA in systematic theology from Wheaton College and is a Master of Divinity candidate at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. She is passionate about advocating for gender equality in the church and helping middle and high school students feel at home in their church communities. In 2020, Priscilla Papers published Eliza’s article, “‘Precious Food of True Life’: Christ Our Mother, Female Embodiment, and the Eucharist in Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love,” in tandem with her being among the recipients of CBE’s annual Alvera Mickelsen Memorial Scholarship.

In the middle of 1 Timothy sit some of the Bible’s most contested words about women. Historically, these verses have been wielded against women to address how they should dress, the authority they can have in the church and society, their place in the supposed creation hierarchy, and their role as mothers. However, such applications of this text tend to ignore the issues Paul is addressing and therefore misapply his instructions. Paul’s concern about the situation in Ephesus is not that women or men are causing problems, but that the church’s witness in the Ephesian community is at risk. In the city that was home to the cult of Artemis, false teachings were spreading and wealth was turning some people in the church away from the truth of the gospel. In 2:8–15, Paul instructs Timothy to respond to the specific ways men and women have let these false teachings affect their Christian lives. Paul’s critique is instructive for the way all Christians are called to represent the truth of the gospel and to oppose anything contrary to the truth of the gospel. Focused on maintaining the church’s witness in Ephesus, Paul urges Timothy to root out false teaching and its effects on the Christian community by encouraging peaceful prayer, humility in relation to wealth, increased education in the truth, and by confronting abusive authority.

Literary Context

1 Timothy, a letter that names Paul as its author, was likely written in the later years of his life (AD 62–67).1 Paul is writing to his long-time ministry colleague, Timothy, whom he is urging to remain in Ephesus to handle the spread of false teaching that has arisen (1:3). In Paul’s emotional farewell to the Ephesians in Acts 20, he had specifically warned them to be on guard against false teachings. Even so, he told them, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spar...