Forgiveness Past, Present and Future

Yesterday it was my privilege to hear a moving conversion story from a young man who opened his life to Jesus Christ a month ago. Not raised in church, losing his father to a tragic car accident before he was even born, and living his life of twenty-four years without God or any plumbline of morality, this young man teared-up as he described how in a very dark moment of his life last month, the knowledge of his need for Christ became a reality, and he gave his life to God, expressing his belief that he was on a path to ruin, and only God could turn him around. He came to me because Emmanuel was really the only church he attended during his immoral days where "he felt loved and not condemned" and he wanted to be baptized at Emmanuel to publicly share his new life in Christ.

I offered some words of encouragement and then gave him a copy of Happiness Doesn't Just Happen. Do you know what my words of encouragement were? You may be surprised. Here is what I told him.

"You have been saved. You may not realize all that means right now, but it's all good. God has loved you, reached down in His mercy and opened your eyes to your need of Him and revealed to you what Christ has done for you. He has become the Father you never had. You have been born from above. His love for you is unconditional, His kindness toward you is immeasurable, and His mercies will be new and fresh every morning. Everything in your life He will now ultimately work for your good. He is that good. That's His name - God - the abbreviation for the English word good.

You are going to screw up again. You will morally fail again. You will struggle in the future with the desire to party the way you used to party. Your old friends will seek to pull you back with them. Your old patterns of living are not gone - the battle is just beginning- and there will be days you will fail miserably.

Remember this. When Jesus died all your sins were future. He carried all your sins away. Your future screw-ups no more cause Him to love you less than your past screw-ups. You can't promise Him things to get Him to love you more, and you can't perform better to get Him to be good to you. He treats you just as if you never sinned and just as if you never will sin even though you have sinned and you will sin. Your relationship with the invisible, immortal and omnipotent God of the universe is good-to-go because of your faith in Christ, and all blessings of the obedience of Christ toward the Father are now yours because of faith. God sees no sin in you anymore. Period.

Then why change? Why transform? Because of the nature of sin. Sexual immorality, hatred, drunkenness, stealing, cursing, (_________ fill in the blank) is sweet like honey when it happens, but in time it is like gravel in the mouth. Living life without thought of God brings only temporary pleasure and guaranteed pain. You can't help but change because your perspective is changing. You are now thinking of the eternal. You recognize that there is more to life than just the immediate. You change because you are changed - by God.

My job is to help you realize that your relationship with God is like no other relationship you will ever have. Everyone else loves you, accepts you, stays with you, embraces you, guides you, protects you, enjoys you because of your performance. Not God. His favor towards you never changes because His Son has accomplished for you in the past what you will never be able to accomplish now or in the future. The great privilege of being a Christian is to unlock the riches of His grace and to continue to discover His immeasurable love."
 

I am convinced that if we preachers spent more time exalting Christ and less time being concerned about people's present or future screw-ups, more people would experience the life changing transformation of God's amazing grace through faith in Christ. I am often accused of being an antinomion ("one with no law"). So be it. Christ is the end of the law for me.

In His Grace,

Wade

Imago Dei and Your Teenage Daughter

It was my wife's and my privilege to raise three boys and a girl. All four of our children are grown and out of the home. Two of them are now married, including our daughter Charis who recently moved back to Oklahoma with her husband for his new career. We are grateful for the grace of God in our children's lives, but we are particularly thankful for God's presence in the life of our daughter.  Young girls in America are bombarded with media and advertising that defines "success" for women in terms of beauty, sex appeal, and body consciousness. Before I offer a word of encouragement to parents with pre-teen or teenage daughters, I ask you to watch the following video that will illustrate how American advertising has lied to our girls.

 How do we combat these messages our loved ones see? I believe we must teach them about the Image of God within our girls, or as the ancients called it, the Imago Dei.

Thomas Aquinas taught that God's image is seen in one's intellect or reason. The ability to think is a human's most God-like quality. Aquinas pointed out that animals were not created with a mind like that of a human, so animals do not have the image of God. The first humans (Adam and Eve) had a battle between their reason and what Aquinas called their "lower powers." God intended for Adam and Eve to be controlled by their ability to reason with God, but they allowed their physical appetites, such as lust and gluttony, to overtake their minds. They fell from walking in harmony with God.

Aquinas taught that after the fall, the descendents of the first parents lost all control of their “lower powers.” God said in Psalm 81:12, “I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices," a concept repeated by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:24, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.”

Thomas Aquinas writes:

In his original state man was divinely endowed with the grace and privilege that, so long as his mind was subject to God, the lower powers of the soul would be subject to his rationale mind, and his body to his soul. Man’s mind by sin abandoned subordination to God, with the consequence that now his lower powers were no longer wholly responsive to his reason; and such was the rebellion of the flesh against reason that the body as well was no more wholly responsive to soul.
 

Aquinas believed that for the Image of God to be restored, there must be an understanding that the lower powers must come into submission of the mind. This can only happen when people come to know and love the Creator God more than themselves. This experience with God is what we would call salvation. It is what happens when someone comes to be a partaker of the life of God in Christ, not just a believer in the existance of God through Christ. Christ begins the work of transformation, but we parents can be partners with Him in encouraging our girls.

If we wish to combat the influence of our culture in the lives of our daughters, we would do well to practice the following:

(1). Be cautious of ever emphasizing, either intentionally or unintentionally, the need for a beautiful body over the necessity of a well-conditioned mind.
(2). Take interest in recommending books that your girls can read more than any interest in commending boys your girls can date.
(3). Spend as much time and energy on sponsoring your daughter's planned field trip as you do your daughter's prom date night.
(4). Focus on reinforcing your little girl's ability to think for herself.
(5). Use phrases like, "I love the way you think!" or "You amaze me with your abilities to understand!" or "I'm so proud of the way you stood up for your convictions" -- as ways to confirm the importance of one's mind over one's body.
(6). Ask questions about, and show interests in, any friend that may be unpopular with the "in" crowd, but gives evidence of having a strong character and a good mind.
(7). Never be bashful to talk with your little girl about her relationship with God.

The fight for the souls of our daughters goes against a tidal wave of cultural conformity, but in the end, I can't imagine we parents ever regretting emphasizing the Imago Dei (the mind) over the temporary tent of this world (the body) in the raising of our daughters.

Quoting Pagans and Pharisees: I Corinthians 14:34-35

Rachelle and I have recently returned from a trip to Greece and Turkey with forty people from Emmanuel Enid. We visited Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Berea, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Sardis, Laodicea, Thyratira, Thessalonica and almost every other city or island where Paul traveled during his three missionary journeys. In the photo to the left, Rachelle and I are in front of the ruins of the city of Corinth. In the background of the photo is the very bema where Paul stood before the Roman pro-consul Gallio after Paul was accused by the Jews in the city of Corinth of "persuading people to worship God contrary to the law of God."  The Roman pro-consul Gallio refused to make a judgment against Paul saying, "I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters" (Acts 18:15). Gallio recognized the conflict in Corinth to be a Hebrew religious matter, not a Roman political problem. However, Gallio did nothing as Sosthenes, a convert to Christ and leader of the synagogue, was beaten by the Hebrew mob before the bema (see Acts 18:17). Paul was hurried out of the Corinthian market-place while Sosthenes was being beaten by the Jews. Paul was eventually secreted out of the city by fellow believers because of the Jewish threats against him (see Acts 18:18).

Most Bible-believing Christians have paid little attention to the problems Paul faced during his 18 month stay in Corinth (50 to 51 AD). The Jews sought to imprison him because of his influence among the people. When they failed to have him arrested, the Corinthian Jews beat Sosthenes, the leader of their synagogue for believing what Paul taught. The Roman pro-consul Gallio did not prosecute Paul under Roman law as the Jews wanted, but he was "unconcerned" with the Jews beating those who believed Paul's message (Acts 18:17). Notice, again, the reason the Corinthian Jews gave to the Roman pro-consul Gallio for their anger against Paul - "he is persuading people to worship God contrary to the Law of God."  The Law of God is what we now call the Old Testament and all the Old Covenant traditions of Hebrew worship. A simple principle regarding our worship of Christ can be derived from reading Acts 18 and Paul's time in Corinth:

The more our corporate worship looks like Old Testament Jewish worship (i.w. "a holy building in which to gather, authoritative male priests who rule over others, and a sacrificial system of actions designed to please God, etc...), the more our corporate worship is unlike Paul's and early believers' worship of Christ. (Wade Burleson)

Allow me to give just one example which illustrates the dichotomy between the Law of Old Covenant worship as practiced by the Jews in Corinth and the freedom of New Covenant worship as practiced by Paul. In one of Paul's earliest epistles, he clearly teaches that there should be no difference between males and females in the ekklesia (Galatians 3:28), and he later writes to the Corinthian Christians and says all believers should serve one another as they have been gifted (I Cor. 12:4-11). Paul teaches the Corinthians that members of the assembly, both male and female, should participate in congregational worship (see I Cor. 14:31 and 14:39), and that women should publicly pray and gifted women should teach others in the ekklesia just as men should publicly pray and gifted men should teach others in the ekklesia (see I Cor.  11:5). The entire discourse of Paul's writings to the early churches in Greece and Asia Minor is saturated with the new instruction that God's new priesthood is composed of males and females, slaves and free, Jews and Gentiles. In the ekklesia (assembly) of Christ there is to be no separation of people by race, nationality, gender or color. Each of us has been made a priest (Revelation 1:5) and we all form a royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9).

The Jews who were worshipping in the syngagogue of Corinth, however, were greatly offended by Paul's teachings. They heard it with their own ears! Paul was "persuading people to worship God contrary to the Law."  This could not be allowed! After the Corinthian Jews dragged Paul before the bema to charge him with a crime and then beat Sosthenes in the public square, Paul escaped to Cenchrea and later Ephesus (see Acts 18:18). He later wrote to the Corinthians and was quite blunt about those Corinthian Jews who caused him trouble and their zeolousness for the Law. He calls them "false apostles" and "deceitful workers" (II Cor. 11:13), and he tells the Christians in Corinth to resist their false practices and to stand firm to the new "traditions" that Paul had taught them (see I Corinthians 11:2). Paul's practice of empowering followers of Christ to serve God as the Spirit gifts them--regardless of one's gender, economic status, or ethnicity--was precisely why the Jews in Corinth dragged Paul before Gallio and why Paul had to escape the city. This is the context one should always have in mind when reading the letters of I and II Corinthians.

So, the startling prohibition of I Corinthians 14:34-35 seems discordant and unconnected to Paul's stay in Corinth and the entire first letter of encouragement he writes to the Corinthians.  Paul writes:

"The women are to keep silent in the assembly; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to even speak in the assembly." (I Corinthians 14:34-35)  

There's a reason these text above seems discordant and unconnected to Paul's stay in Corinth-- it is. I will show below how these two verses are a quotation of what the Corinthian Jews taught about women in the assembly, not what Apostle Paul taught. In the very next verse (v. 36), Paul powerfully refutes what the Jews in Corinth were teaching about women. How do we know I Corinthians 14:34-35 is a quotation of the Jews that Paul refutes and is not Paul's own views about women in the ekklesia? There are at least five solid, hermeneutical reasons:

(1). As already mentioned, these two verses are antithetical to everything Paul writes about women throughout the New Testament, especially his teaching regarding women in I Corinthians. These two verses (vs. 34-35) are almost jarring because they represent a position that Paul has already torn apart in his previous writings.

(2). These verses are very consistent with the Law of God in the Jewish Scriptures and traditions. The Jews in Corinth accused Paul of persuading people "to worship God contrary to the Law" (Acts 18:13). If the above two verses actually represented Paul's beliefs, the Corinthian Jews would have hugged and kissed Sosthenes and Paul, not dragged them before the bema in Corinth in order to imprison them and/or beat them.

(3). Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians in Greek. The written Greek language does not use "italics" like we do in our English to identify a quote. To know that something is a quotation: (a). The author must identify that what he is writing is a quotation (something Paul does elsewhere), or (b). the quotation must be so familiar to the audience that no indentification of the quote is necessary, or (c). the author uses a Greek eta after the quotation to then refute it.  I believe the latter two ways are precisely how the Apostle Paul identifies he is quoting someone else in I Corinthians 14:34-35.

(4).  The Jews in Corinth, like all orthodox Jews in Paul's day, believed women were not qualified to be learners in the synagogue, much less teachers, because the Law and the talmudic literature forbad them from learning. A woman's presence in the synagogue was tolerated, but women were to be unobtrusive and silent, never interferring with the work of the men. The Jews believed when a woman desired to ask a question in order to learn, she was to maintain her silence in the assembly and wait to ask her husband after leaving the synagogue and returning home. The Jews believed the husbands were to be the source of their wives' learning. The Corinthian Jews were "zeolous for the Law" and constantly opposed Paul's promotion of women as equal to men, including Priscilla and Acquilla, the couple with whom Paul stayed in Corinth and who both later teach Apollo "the way of God more accurately" in Ephesus (see Acts 18:26).  The quotation in I Corinthians 14:34-35 is consistent to the law of the Jews in Corinth, but it is absolutely contrary to the teaching and the practice of the Apostle Paul.

(5). Paul REFUTES the Jewish quotation in I Corinthians 14:34-35 twice in the very next verse (v. 36) by using the Greek letter eta. Go look in your interlinear Greek/English Bible and find the stand alone Greek letter eta in v. 36. You will see the eta twice in that one verse. It looks like this: η    The Greek eta has two possible markings that cause it to be translated with either the English word "or," or with the English equilavent of what we mean when we make a sound with our mouths  like "PFFFFFFFFFFFFT!" This means "That's ridiculous!" or "Are you kidding me?" or "Nonsense!"   This latter meaning, in my opinion, is precisely what Paul is saying (twice) in I Corinthians 14:36 in response to the Jewish quotation he has just given I Corinthians 14:35-36. The original Greek text has no markings, so the translation of η must be made by translators based on other facts than the markings of the Greek letter. I believe the context, the culture of Corinth, and the radical nature of New Covenant worship taught by Paul (and resisted by the Corinthian Jews zealous for the Law) demands the η be translated with a "PFFFFFFFFFFFT!" instead of "or" (as is done in the NAS).  So, let me translate I Corinthians 14:33-36 using the proper translation of η:

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the ekklessia of the saints. (Would you like an example?) "The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If women desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in the church." PFFFFFFT! Such nonsense! Do you Jews who practice this believe the Word of God comes from you only? PFFFFFFFT! Do you believe the Word of God comes to you only? If anyone wishes to think himself a prophet or spiritual, let that person recognize that the things I HAVE WRITTEN TO YOU (not what the Jews zealous for the Law are teaching) are the Lord's commandment. 

The Apostle Paul quotes the pharisaical Jews in Corinth the same way he quotes the pagan poets when he was in Athens. In Paul's famous message on Mars Hill, he says:

God is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, "For we His offspring." Being the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. (Acts 17:27-29). 

 Are you familiar with the pagan poet Paul quotes from as he addressed the Athenians? Probably not. His name was Disoemeia, and he was a native of Paul's hometown of Tarsus. He was a Greek poet the Athenians loved to quote. He was also a worshipper of Zeus. I give you Robert Browning's English translation of Cicero's Latin version of Disoemeia's ancient Greek poem Divine Signs from which Paul quotes.

"From Zeus we lead the strain; he whom mankind
Ne'er leave unhymned: of Zeus all public ways,
All haunts of men, are full; and full the sea,
And harbours; and of Zeus all stand in need.
For we are His offspring: and he, ever good and mild
Gives favouring signs, and rouses us to toil.
Calling to mind life's wants: when clods are best
For plough and mattock: when time is ripe
For planting vines and sowig seeds, he tells
Since he himself hath fixed in heaven these signs."

Paul quotes both pagan poets and proud Pharisees in Scripture. Just because you are quoting a passage from the Bible does not necessarily mean you are revealing the mind of God. Serious, Bible-believing Christians recognize that no individual verse or passage of Scripture can be correctly interpreted outside of the textual context and an understanding of the cultural climate of those to whom the letter was initially written.

As my father has written:

"Someone is going to say 'The Bible means what it says." But that may be the problem. I don't think the Bible means what it says as much as it means what it means and some interpretation must go into understanding its meaning. This would certainly indicate that we need to recognize the possible fallibility of our understanding of Scripture to stay away from the heat that sometimes happens in discussing it."

The issue of womens' function and roles in the church generates much heat in the evangelical church. Those of us who believe in the infallibility of the sacred text should be very careful before using one's views on this issue as the standard for Christian orthodoxy. Truth is, those who urge women to be silent in the church may have more in common with pagan poets and proud Pharisees than Paul and the principles of sacred writ.

'Let Us Be Like the Gods' Always Conks

Every empire seeks world dominance. The Sumerians, a people living in the "land between the rivers" of the Tigris and Euphrates (a land called Mesopotamia) were the first to seek world dominion. They were eventually supplanted by a larger and more aggressive people called the Hittites. The Hittites were then conquered by the  Assyrians , who were conquered by the Babylonians, who were conquered by the Persians, who were conquered by the Greeks, who were conquered by the Romans, who were conquered by the Turks, who were conquered... well, you get the picture.

Every kingdom eventually collapses. No empire reaches or sustains its goals. In the end, emperors become liars and empires grow lame. Isaac Newton, in his brilliant work The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, reveals how kingdoms have historically exaggerated their histories and their accomplishments for the sake of national pride.

Newton, probably the greatest scientiest to ever live, spent his lifetime tearing down the lies regarding ancient civilizations, particularly the intentional deceit certain civilizations (Babylonian, Egyptian, Grecian, etc.. ) have existed for tens of thousands of years. Isaac Newton believed nothing in ancient history--when properly understood--conflicts with biblical history. The Chronology of Ancient Kingoms Amended represents his lifetime of work in the historical chronologies of empires.  Newton used his brilliant intellect and unsurpassed knowledge of science, the classical languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Greek, etc...) and human logic to trace the world's earliest kingdoms from one common family.

Newton, like my dear friend George Ella, believed great human cultures and superior human languages de-evolve, never evolve. The oldest languages, like those of the ancient Sumerians and Hittites--and most importantly the language of a Shemitic tribe called Hebrews--are highly complex and inflected languages. The Greek language did not evolve from grunts and groans and cave drawings to Homer's Illiad. Neither did The Song of Solomon. Hebrew love poetry from Solomon is eloquent and extremely complex, surpassing the literature of today. Where are the Solomon's of today? Where are the Homer's of today?

They have all gone the way of ancient kingdoms. They are gone. The thorn in the side of man is the belief that man is evolving into something better, reaching higher and farther than ever before, becoming "like the gods." The truth is far more sobering. Man is devolving. Man is corrupting. Man is dying. We are devolving in our languages, our cultures, and our civilizations. You object with: "But look at our scientific advancements!" I respond: "If the ancient Egyptians had our technology, they would have flown to another universe by now." We continue to devolve as mankind.

C.S. Lewis gives the reason why mankind shoots for the gods and devolves into the dung:

"The reason why man can never succeed in in this is because God made us; He invented us as a man invents an engine. A car made to run on petrol would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no no other.

That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about Him. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

This is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended--civilizations are built up--excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few years, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. This is what Satan has done to us humans."

Amen, Mr. Lewis. Amen.

The Apostle Paul and the Oracle of Delphi

"The greatest blessings come by way of madness, indeed of madness that is heaven sent." - Socrates on the Oracle of Delphi.

When the ancient peoples around the Mediterranean Sea basin wanted wisdom from the gods they went to oracles. An oracle was a person who spoke (orated) for the gods in various temples. During the time Israel was in Babylonian captivity (6th century B.C.), a ruler in Smyrna, Lydia (modern Turkey) named King Croesus wanted to find the best oracle in the world, one with powers to divine the future better than all others. So in 560 B.C. Croesus sent his emissaries on a 100 day journey to the seven most popular oracles in the world with a question: What is King Croesus doing today?

Croesus kept a diary during those 100 days and when his messengers returned to Smyrna, he compared notes in his diary to what the oracles said. Of the seven oracles consulted, only the Oracle at Delphi (Greece) accurately described what Croesus was doing on the day the question was asked. The Oracle of Delphi said:

"I count the grains of sand on the beach and measure the sea; I understand the speech of the dumb and hear the voiceless. The smell has come to my sense of a hard shelled tortoise boiling and bubbling with a lamb's flesh in a bronze pot: the cauldron underneath it is of bronze, and bronze is the lid." 

To eat turtle soup mixed with lamb's meat prepared in a bronze pot was exactly what Croesus was doing on that particular day. This dish was not typical cuisine for kings, especially one as rich as Croesus. Amazed at the Oracle of Delphi's prescience, Croesus sent emissaries back to Delphi with gifts of gold and silver for the oracle and they asked additional questions.

For the next one thousand years (560 B.C. to A.D. 371), the Oracle of Delphi would serve as the most prestigious and revered fortune teller in the world. Her answers guided the civilized world for the timing of wars, the establishment of new settlements, and wisdom to appease the gods.

The Spartans consulted the Oracle before the Battle of Thermopolae, a turning point in the war between the Greeks and Persians, expertly portrayed in the recent Hollywood motion picture 300. Alexander the Great traveled to Delphi to consult with the Oracle before he set off to conquer the world. Socrates often went to Delphi from Athens with his students. The Oracle once declared Socrates the wisest man among the Greeks. This led Socrates to say, "This one thing I know: I know nothing." Yet the Pythia's pronouncement made such an impression on Socrates that it propelled him into a lifetime of learning by asking questions of others, something we now call the Socratic method of learning. Every major Greek and Roman leader, soldier, or politician would either personally travel to Delphi or send emissaries to Delphi to consult the Oracle. The influence of the Oracle of Delphi only dissipated after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and the Roman world adopted Christianity as the official religion of the state.

The Oracles at Delphi Were Women

Delphi (pronounced Delphee in Greek, not Delph eye) is a community in the mountains 100 miles northwest of Athens. Greek mythology declares that Zeus let loose two eagles to find the most beautiful location on earth. The eagles circled the lands and collided at Delphi. The Greeks believed Delphi to be the center of the world (naval), around which the universe revolved.  They built a temple to the god Apollo at Delphi, and within that temple, they placed a chamber where the Oracle of Delphi greeted guests on only one day a month - the 7th day, Apollo's favorite number.

Apollo was often called Pythian Apollo because he allegedly killed a giant python snake at Delphi and took the Oracle of Delphi as his bride own. The women who served as the Oracles at Delphi were given the title of Pythia in honor of Apollo's heroic feat. Two great stone pythons guarded the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and those who wished to have their futures foretold would enter the Temple of Apollo and go to the Oracle's room in the southwest corner of the Temple.

The Pythia were a common women from the village of Delphi who had been chosen by the priests of the Temple to serve as the Oracle. The word common defines ancestry, for some of the women from Delphi who served as Pythia were slaves. The word common, however, does not define their physical beauty. Greek and Roman historians often commented in their writings on the striking beauty of the Pythia at Delphi. This beauty seemingly was a prerequisite for being chosen as a Pythia. In her divination room would be the naval stone (omphalous) which marked the Temple as the center of the world, a golden tripod upon which the Pythia would sit as she greeted guests, and across the room from where the Pythia sat was the alleged tomb of Dionysius.

The Temple of Apollo was built on inersecting geographical fault lines at Delphi. The Pythia would sit on her golden tripod over two interesecting crevices in the earth which seeped ethelyne, ethane, and methane--a cocktail of non-addictive but highly hallucinogenic gases. Contemporary Greek historians recorded a strong, sweet smell filled the Oracle's chamber, the tell-tale sign of ethylene, one of the world's first aenesthetics.

The Pythia would removed a cap from the naval stone (see picture to the left) that sat beside her chair, releasing the hallucinogenic gases that had collected underneath the naval stone which sat on top of the X of the fault lines. As the gases released, the Pythia would enter into a conscious trance as she considered the questions presented her. Swaying back and forth, she would eventually utter her answers.  The priests did not invent answers from uncipherable utterances of the Oracle, but faithfully recorded what the Oracle said. The Oracle would give a lucid, sometimes crytpic answer, in either poetry or prose. Plutarch called the Oracles of Delphi "inspired maidens." The answers to the questions posed to Oracle would be given to the supplicants, who considered the poetic responses Apollo's direction for their lives.  Entire nations would wait with baited breath for an answer from the Oracle at Delphi. It is not an exaggeration to say that a woman's words ruled ancient civilization.

Paul and the Pythia

When the Apostle Paul visited Philippi (51 A.D.) during his second missionary journey, he and Silas were followed by a young girl for many days who kept crying out to the people of Philippi, "These men are servants of the Most High God who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation" (Acts 16:17). Many Christians have a hard time understanding what Paul did next. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!'And it came out at that very moment. (Acts 16:18).

The only way you can understand why Paul did what he did is to realize the biblical description of this young girl. The English versions of the Bible say she had "a spirit of divination" (Acts 16:16). The literal Greek word used to describe this woman is Pythia. She could have served in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, or she could have been a lesser oracle. What we do know is she had the spirit of divination. She followed Paul and Silas and spoke of them as being spokespersons of Zeus, the Most High God, and said the people should listen to their words of deliverance in the same manner they listen to the words of an oracle. Of course, the Pythia was misrepresenting Paul and Silas. She was possessed by a demonic spirit and Paul delivered her. Michaelangelo would later paint the Pythia of Delphi on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but the Apostle Paul showed no such reverence to the Pythia he met in Philippi. One should always remember that all that glitters in organized religion is not gold.

When the Pythia's masters saw their hope for profit in Philippi was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities and demanded the disciples of Christ be imprisoned. Paul and Silas were thrown in jail where they would later lead the jailor to faith in Christ (Acts 16:31). The story of the conversion of the Philippian jailor and his family is a vivid reminder that God orchestrates all events (like the Pythia's actions at Philippi) for His glory and the ultimate good of His people (like the Philippian jailor).

Nothing much has changed in the world in the last 2,000 years. People still revere what God considers evil. People still persecute those who preach the gospel. But in the end, God always wins.

A Culture of Abuse Built on Pastoral Authority

Julie Anne at the Spiritual Sounding Board blog pointed me to an essay summarizing the recent problems at Sovereign Grace Ministries. It is nauseating to read details of some of the physical and sexual abuse that has taken place in a few SGM churches. The victims will soon have their day in court, and I predict SGM has already begun a slow path of decline to eventual non-existence. SGM will either eventually change their name or will be absorbed into another non-profit entity. In the first comment after the online essay, Michael Camp makes this statement: "I think it's important to try to identify the root reasons why such churches develop a culture of abuse. In my experience, it's not just a few bad apples, or one hyper-control-freak who lords it over others, but a whole system of warped theology..."

I agree Michael.  T.F. Charleton, the writer of the essay, states her reason for "a culture of abuse" within SGM churches. She writes, "If purity culture is a rape culture, the submission culture that exists in many conservative evangelical churches is abuse culture." I would agree with Ms. Charleton and add one caveat. Nobody demands submission unless they deem themselves an authority.

Of the over 1300 posts I've written, the statistical leader in terms of the number of readers, excluding my Cozumel prison experience, is a post entitled Our Problem Is Authoritarianism and Not Legalism. That post struck a chord with a thousands of people in various churches. In that post I wrote:

Nowhere in the New Testament does it say that a Christian, because of title or position, has moral authority over another Christian. The idea of an "office" of authority in the church, like that of the office of "President of the United States," simply does not exist. Christ alone has the position of authority in the church and He has no vicar on earth but His Spirit, who resides in the life of ever believer. 

Michael, the culture of abuse in SGM churches revolves around a warped view of authority. There are pastors, elders, leaders in SGM churches (all male) who have placed themselves above all others and shouted "Stay in your place!" The only way a SGM pastor can create an environment where a child obediently takes off her clothes so the pastor can spank her bare buttocks, and for the pastor to perpretate that same practice as the child grows into womanhood,  is for the pastor to use his position of authority to manipulate and intimidate. Not all SGM pastors are predators by any means. But when a predator pastor fills a pulpit at SGM, it may be easier to secretly and criminally manifest sexual, psychological, and personal dysfunctions because of the culture of authority.

SGM is not alone. Any church or organization that emphasizes male authority over women and children fosters a culture of sexual, physical and psychological abuse. It is only when Jesus turns a male pastor into a selfless servant, a person who cares and loves for those around him, will that pastor create a climate in the assembly that is conducive for health and spiritual growth. This is why the subject of authority in the church is an important one. The future of healthy evangelicalism rides on us getting our views of spiritual authority right.

Tim Tebow: Make a Vow and Grow It Long

A couple of years ago I wrote a post about my wife's and my 2009 encounter with Tim Tebow and my growing esteem for Tim as a faithful Christian witness. The post was probably something that many mainstream pastors could have written at the time. Southern Baptist evangelical leaders were driving the Tebow bandwagon in 2009. Not any more. Last week Tebow cancelled a speaking engagement at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas for this coming April. Tim is keeping other speaking engagements in the Dallas area that same week, but he is not going to be speaking at First Baptist. The Internet, Twitter and the blogs have been abuzz about Tim Tebow's withdrawal from his commitment to speak. Though not specifically stating the reason for his decision, Tebow issued the following statement:

"While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance."  

Tim Tebow did not share what "new information" he received, but the secular media had been hounding Tebow for agreeing to speak at FBC Dallas, a church that some in the media wrongly accused of being "hateful" and "intolerant" for their views on homosexuality and Islam. Before Tebow cancelled, CBS sports journalist Gregg Doyel wrote an ugly piece entitled Agreeing to Speak at Intolerant Church Is Tim Tebow's Greatest Sin. Doyel slandered FBC Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress when he compared Jeffress to the radical and uncouth Fred Phelps, the pastor of Westboro Baptist, Topeka, Kansas. Sportswriter Gregg Doyel is not writing for a Christian audience, so his words of attack against Robert Jeffress and FBC Dallas should not come as a surprise to Christians.

However, what some SBC evangelicals have said about Tim Tebow since word filtered out that he cancelled his speaking engagment at FBC Dallas is very suprising. According to Tom Rich, one pastor named Jerry Vines tweeted, "The devil laughs when Christians compromise truth." Southern Baptist pastor Jack Graham wrote, "It is very, very sad when Tim Tebow bows to political correctness and cultural decay." Another pastor, Kevin Parnella, tweeted "Being a coward, breaking his word, and turning his back on biblical truth does not make Tim Tebow credible."  For his part, pastor Robert Jeffress implied Tim Tebow "...wimped out." I find it flabbergasting that evangelical leaders who once drove the Tebow bandwagon are now verbally crucifying him.  I'm not sure I could write anything to change the viewpoints of these pastors towards Tim Tebow, but maybe there is something I could write that might encourage Tebow as he moves forward in his desire to share the love of Christ. I am calling it the Cenchrea Solution.

Cenchrea is a sea port on the eastern side of the Isthmus of Corinth, just south of Athens, Greece. Cenchrea's natural harbor (pictured here) flows into the Aegean Sea. It is the harbor where Paul and Priscillia and Aquila, after spending eighteen months in Corinth, boarded a ship to head to Ephesus and then Syria as Paul finished his second missionary journey (Acts 18:18). Cenchrea is mentioned only twice in the Bible. The second occasion is in Romans when the Apostle Paul commends Phoebe, a woman deacon from the church at Cenchrea, to the assembly in Rome (Romans 16:1-2). Phoebe boarded a ship in the port of Cenchrea in A.D. 57 and set sail for Rome in order to deliver Paul's letter to the Romans. Renan wrote, "Phoebe carried under the folds of her robe the whole future of Christian theology." 

 

But Cenchrea is also a signficant seaport because of a statement made in Acts 18:18 regarding Paul: "Paul had his hair cut at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken." Notice that the verb is in the past tense. Paul "had taken" a vow.  It was customary for Jews to allow their hair to grow long during the fulfillment of their vows. By the time Paul reached the port of Cenchrea his vow had been fulfilled. Now he needed a haircut. What was the vow Paul made? In Acts 18 we discover that Paul arrived in Corinth and began to teach in the Jewish synagogue. He also walked the streets of Corinth, sharing Christ with the Greeks of that city. Acts 18:4-5 tells us that Paul was trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks of the truth of Jesus Christ. "And Paul was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade the Jews and the Greeks." (Acts 14:4). However, after Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth Paul began to concentrate solely on reaching the very religious and devout Jews of the city. "But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah." (Acts 18:5)

The Jews did not like Paul or his message."The Jews resisted ... so Paul shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will only go to the Gentiles." (Acts 18:6) This last sentence reveals the vow that Paul made. He vowed to stop going to the Jewish synagogue in Corinth. For the rest of his time in Corinth Paul vowed he would only share the message of Christ with the pagan Greeks. By the way, the culture of the Corinthian Greeks was corrupt to the nth degree. The society in which they lived really bothered the religious Jews of Corinth. But Paul's mission was to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ and nothing else. He vowed he would no longer waste his time in the religious synagogue of the Jews. As was customary for Jews when making a vow, Paul began to let his hair grow long. He stopped living with the Jews in Corinth and went to live with a Gentile man named Titius Justus, as told us in Acts 18:7:

"Then Paul left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue."

Paul stayed with Titius Justus next to the synagogue, but he never again went into the Jewish synagogue in Corinth. He walked the streets of Corinth for at least another year sharing Christ with the pagan Greeks, and he spent Sundays teaching a small but growing Christian assembly. Toward the end of his stay in Corinth, the religious and pious Jews slandered Paul. They tried to press charges against Paul, angry that he was not interested in Jewish customs and traditions and their Jewish laws. How dare this trained Jewish scholar from Tarsus spend his time with the pagan Corinthians! The Jews let Paul know they no longer appreciated him.

It's interesting to note that Paul would later write a letter to the people he had led to Christ in Corinth, and in this letter (I Corinthians), he described what he did during those months he spent among the pagan Greeks in Corinth:

"For I resolved to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (I Cor. 2:2).

His fellow Jews wanted Paul to be interested in much more than Christ and Him crucified. They wanted him to press home the Law. They wanted him to keep the customs and traditions of the Jews. They wanted him to identify with them -- but he was only interested in taking the message of Christ to the world. He was uninterested in promoting anything else. When Paul left Corinth, he went to Cenchrea to catch a ship to go to Ephesus and then on to Syria, but before he boarded:

"Paul had his hair cut at Cenchrea because of the vow he had taken" (Acts 18:18).

The cutting off of his hair (see Numbers 6:5) signified the end of the Paul's vow not to speak in the Jewish synagogue. Now notice the next verse:

"They (Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla) came to Ephesus.... Now Paul himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews" (Acts 18:19).

Paul's vow was over. He cut his hair. He could now go into the Jewish synagogue.


My Advice for Tim Tebow 

Tim Tebow, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ who identifies with us Southern Baptists. Your membership is at a Southern Baptist church in Jacksonville, Florida. It seems some of your own people (a few Southern Baptist leaders) want you to focus (with them) on secondary and tertiary issues. They want you to affirm their beliefs in matters that have nothing to do with Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The fact that this is not your calling or your mission makes them no difference. They are upset with you.

I suggest you follow the example of the Apostle Paul.

Take a vow, Tim.

Avoid SBC churches.

Grow your hair long.

The pagans in America need your message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified more than we Southern Baptists need you in our temples.

Artemis and the End of Us: Evangelical Errors Regarding Women



Artemis

Cultish behavior gives me the heebie-jeebies. A cult is defined as a group of people who follow a particular system of religious behavior established by an authoritative or revered person. Lest someone argue that Christianity is a cult, remember that Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Jesus frees people, cult leaders bind people. Jesus speaks truth to people, cult leaders lie to people. Jesus empowers people, cult leaders oppress people. Christianity is not a cult nor is Jesus a cult leader. He saves His people from systems that bind.

Some Christian men, however, have set themselves up as authorities in the institutional church and implemented systems of control that turn pockets of evangelicalism into cultism. This is what gives me the heebie-jeebies. The most prominent example of cultism within evangelical Christianity is the system of behavior imposed on women within the ekklessia (assembly) of Christ. Christian women are told by some authoritative church leaders that "women must never teach men; women must be silent in the assembly; women  must not have any authority over men, and women should seek to be passive servants to, and receivers of, male leadership, but should never exhibit characteristics of vibrant leadership when males are present." This system of behavior for women is cultic; for it is definitely not Christian nor is it consistent with the teachings of Scripture.

The Scriptures and the Freedom of Women

The New Testament gives many examples of women teaching men (cf. Luke 2:25-38; Acts 21:9; John 4:28-29). Women served as deaconia in the early church (cf. Romans 16:1-2). Women were co-laborers with men in Christ's kingdom (cf. Romans 16:3) and at least one of Christ's apostles was a woman (cf. Romans 16:7). Males and females accompanied Jesus throughout His earthly ministry (cf. Luke 8:1-3).  Gifted men and women spread the good news of the kingdom. God first used women to preach (proclaim) the resurrection of His Son (cf. John 20:1-2). Male disciples later proclaimed the resurrected Christ in the same manner female disciples first preached Him (cf.  Luke 24:1-11). Women in the upper room at Pentecost received the same Spirit and the same gifts as men (cf. Acts 1:14-15). God is emphatic that in the days of the New Covenant both males and females will prophesy of Him (cf. Acts 2:17-18). The Apostle Paul encouraged men and women to teach, to pray and to fully participate in the assembly (cf. I Corinthians 11:4-5 and I Corinthians 14:23-24).

God clearly reveals to us that Christian men and women should serve as they are gifted by the Spirit. Any imposed restrictions on women speaking, teaching, or leading in the assembly of Christ is contrary to inspired revelation of God's word. So if the New Testament teaches that men and women are gifted by the Spirit to do the work of the kingdom, why do some put a system of restrictions on women, a system totally contrary to the overall tenor and explicit teachings of holy Scripture?

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

Several years ago I was called by the Tulsa Police Department to a home where a young man committed suicide by cutting of his right hand with a pocket knife and bleeding out. We found him dead with his head slumped to his chest and a pool of blood at his feet. Before the young man died he laid his pocket knife on the middle of an open Bible with these words underlined: "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown in hell" (Matthew 5:30).

I will never forget the gruesomeness of discovering the young man's right hand in a trash can, nor the words of the lieutenant as he walked around the room muttering under his breath, "Stupid, stupid, stupid." We were later told that the man had struggled for years with pornography and masturbation. The man took the words of the Bible and obeyed them. However, there is something mighty stupid about a man who reads Scripture and acts on words without taking time to look at their meaning, particularly when the overall tenor and teaching of Scripture is opposite of the action he is compelled to take!

If anybody ever tells you that women should never teach men, or that women should never be in leadership over men, or that women should be silent around men, then you should mutter under your breath, "Stupid, stupid, stupid." These people, well intentioned as they may be, are committing spiritual suicide by acting on words of Scripture without looking at their meaning. The system they seek to impose is opposite to the overall tenor and teachings of Scripture on the subject of women (see above). Here are the words some commit spiritual suicide over:

"In like manner also, see that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."( I Timothy 2:9-15: emphasis mine)

I recently had a Christian man paraphrase for me  I Timothy 2:9-15 and then tell me, "I will never have a woman lead me, teach me, or allow myself to be in a position where women usurp my authority over them because I believe the Bible!" My friend has the problem of reading words of Scripture and acting on them without taking time to understand their meaning.

Until you understand the problem Timothy faced (the man to whom the words in I Timothy 2:9-15 are written), and until you are familiar with Ephesus (the place where Timothy lived), and until you have a working knowledge of the Amazons (the warrior women that the ancient Greeks believed founded Ephesus), and until you comprehend the influence of the cult of Artemis and the Temple of Artemis which was in Ephesus, the meaning of the Apostle Paul's words will never be rightly understood.  F. F. Bruce once wrote, "Subjugation of a woman is a system of man's fallen nature. If the work of Christ involves... breaking the fall, then the implication of His work for the liberation of women is plain." Jesus Christ came to liberate subjugated women. The cultism in evangelicalism regarding women's behaviors will only be broken when people lay aside stupid, false obedience to I Timothy 2:9-14 and realize the meaning of Paul's words to Timothy.

Ephesus and The Temple of Artemis

Rachelle and I will be with a group of friends in ancient Ephesus (located in southwest Turkey) next month. One of the reasons I am excited to be there is because Ephesus is the location of the most magnificent of the Seven Wonders of the World--The Temple of Artemis.

This is the first temple in the world made completely of marble. The richest man in the world in his day, King Croesus (595-547 B.C.) of Lydia (modern Turkey), ordered the Temple of Artemis be constructed in honor of the Greek goddess Artemis. Work on the Temple of Artemis began in 550 B.C. and took over a century to complete. King Croesus lived long enough to stuff the foundation of the Temple of Artemis with tens of thousands of gold coins to serve as talismans, ensuring the Temple's protection from destruction. Generations of people, even in America, have used the phrase "Rich as Croesus" to describe wealthy people in their day. King Croesus is given credit by many historians as the inventor of cold and silver coinage. His wealth is legendary, and he gave his riches to fund the building of the Temple in Artemis.  Croesus was a contemporary of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire. Cyrus was the king who defeated the Babylonians, freeing the Jews from their Babylonian captivity, enabling them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild Solomon's Temple.  Therefore, the Temple of Artemis and the Second Temple in Jerusalem were built during the same time period (the 6th century B.C.).

However, it was only the Temple of Artemis that became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World because of its stunning beauty. The Temple of Artemis was a temple dedicated to the power, beauty and strength of women. Marble artesians from all over the world carved Amazon women into the base of the 120 columns. Amazons were "warrior women" from an area north of Ephesus and the Black Sea (modern Ukraine). These Amazon women were known for their fierce fighting ability and had been made famous by the Greek poet Homer in his portrayal of them in The Iliad.

Homer (c. 750 B.C.) also gave tribute in The Iliad to Artemis, the Greek goddess of women and of war. Artemis is called by Homer "Artemis the Hunter, Queen of the Wild Beasts" (Iliad 21.470). Artemis is also presented as the goddess Phosphorous or Light (Strabo, Geo. 1.9.). If worshipped properly and prayed to during childbirth, Artemis promised to deliver women from death while giving birth. For this reason, women in the ancient world revered and worshipped Artemis. Likewise, men worshipped Artemis during times of battle and war. Since the ancient world was always at war, Artemis was often on the lips of men during times of battle. The Greek men (and later the Romans) prayed to Artemis (the Romans called her Diana), not Apollo in time of battle. In Greek mythology, Zeus fathered the twins Artemis and Apollo through the Titaness Leto. The Artemus cult taught that Artemis was superior to Apollo because she came (was born) born first.

When men and women entered the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the women would wear fancy hair braids, bedeck themselves with jewelry and ornate clothes as they prayed to Artemis. Heliodorus said, "Their locks of hairs carry their prayers." There were no sacrifices in this Temple. The women worshipped Artemis with their clothing, jewelry, and their words. Artemis, in turn, gave them their sexual prowess over men and their deliverance during childbirth. Likewise, men came to Artemis, acknowledging their need of her strength during time of war. The men would hold up hands, palms up, just above their waist as they prayed for victory in battle. Not surprisingly Ephesus, above all other places in the ancient world, celebrated the power, strength and beauty of women and their ability to use their sexual prowess to manipulate and dominate men. The Temple operations, which included prostitution and craftsmen who sold gold and silver idols of Artemis, drove the economy of Ephesus. Hundreds of thousands of people visited the city annually.

Paul and Timothy's Presence in Ephesus in the Midst of the Artemis Cult

Acts 18:24 through Acts 20:1 records for us that Paul and Timothy spent three years in Ephesus (c. A.D. 55-58), by far the longest time Paul spent in any one city during his three missionary journeys. Paul almost lost his life during a riot in the city because silversmiths who made little statues of the goddess Artemis were upset that Paul and Timothy were cutting into their business by winning converts to Christianity. Paul would later write in I Corinthians 15:32 that he "fought wild beasts at Ephesus."  Did he fight lions, tigers and bears? No, the wild beasts were the people of Ephesus who were devoted to Artemis, "The Queen of the Wild Beasts."  When Paul left Ephesus in A.D. 58, he traveled south for about 30 miles to the island of Miletus and then called for wise leaders of the church in Ephesus to join him at Miletus where he said to them, "After I leave, savage wolves will come among you and will not spare the flock. Even some among you will arise and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them" (cf. Acts 20:29-30).

Sure enough, less than five years later (A.D. 63)  the Christians in Ephesus were in trouble. There were some women or maybe even a single woman, most likely a new convert out of the Artemis cult, who had begun to teach false truth in the assembly at Ephesus. Timothy is sent to Ephesus to help the church and give some correction. Timothy sends to Paul a letter from Ephesus, giving Paul an update on what is happening and asking some specific questions about how he should proceed (a letter that is not extant). The Apostle Paul sends a response to Timothy, a letter we now call I Timothy. It's important to remember (as we have seen) that nowhere in Scripture does Jesus, Paul or any other apostle restrict women in the assembly. In fact, when a false teacher nicknamed Jezebel begins to have influence among believers in the city of Thyatira, Jesus does not reprimand the church for having a female teacher, but rather He upraids the church for not doing anything about her false teaching (cf. Revelation 2:24).

The Meaning of I Timothy 2:9-15

Now, let's put up I Timothy 2:9-15 again in order to discover the meaning of the words in light of what we know about the Artemis cult in Ephesus:

"In like manner also, see that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."( I Timothy 2:9-15)

(1). "Let the woman adorn themselves in modest apparel" (v. 9).

Obviously, there were women coming to the assembly of Christ in Ephesus similar to the way they used to go to the Temple of Artemis, dressed to kill, with braided hair, gold, pearls and fine clothing. Paul is letting Timothy know that this mode of dress, particularly in the city of Ephesus, was not conducive to the worship of Christ. What Christ desires is the beauty of goodness toward others, not the drawing attention to oneself in public.

(2). "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection" (v. 11).

The reason I believe the problem in Ephesus is a particular woman who is in a teaching position within the assembly of Christ is because the noun "woman" is in the singular, not the plural. In verses 9 and 10, women is in the plural, but in verse 11, Paul switches to "the woman" or possibly that woman about whom Timothy has written Paul. It can't be a universal prohibition for all time against all women ever teaching men in the assembly because (a). That would violate the tenor and teaching of the rest of Scripture where women frequently taught men, and (b). Paul has elsewhere encouraged men and women to teach, to pray and to fully participate in the assembly as they are gifted (cf. I Corinthians 11:4-5 and I Corinthians 14:23-24).

Further, the word translated silence is hesuchia (quietness). It is used in I Timothy 2:2 to describe what the character of every believer should be, both males and females. It never means "don't speak," but addresses the character of humility. This woman in Ephesus, coming out of a society saturated with the power, strength, abilities and even domination of women through the Artemis cult, needed to realize that she had a great deal to learn about Christ and His kingdom.

(3). "I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (v. 12).

This is the key phrase. First, the phrase translated "I suffer not a woman to teach" is literally in the tense of "I am not now permitting a woman to teach." Again, the woman not now permitted to teach is in the singular. It is the same woman of verse 11. This woman needs to learn in quiet humility before she ever presumes to teach, because she is still too influenced by Artemis cultic beliefs. This verse can NEVER be used as a proof text for women never teaching men or having "authority" over men.

(a). Deborah gave counsel and taught men and women about the Law of God (cf. Judges 2:16-19; 4:1-5:31). Huldah prophesied to Israel the word of the Lord and led the men of Israel (2 Kings 22:14-20). Priscilla and Aquila explained more perfectly to Apollos the way of God in Ephesus (cf. Acts 18:19-26). Most importantly, when Jezebel was teaching error to the church in Thyatira, Jesus never once told the church they were wrong for having a woman teach or lead them; He simply said they were wrong for not rejecting her false teaching (Revelation 2:18-29).

(b). "I suffer not a woman .... to usurp authority over the man" (v. 13).

This phrase "usurp authority" translates one Greek word authentein. This word is used only one time in all of Scripture--let me repeat that again--this word authentein is used only once in the entire Bible, right here in I Timothy 2:12. This word was used, however, in classical Greek literature and it meant "to murder someone." Paul could have chosen nearly fifty Greek words to speak of the ordinary exercise of authority, but he chose a word that more represents someone "dominating, controlling, or subjecting one to harm." Of course, this is precisely what the Artemis cult taught women to do. Artemis was the female goddess of fertility and war. Women in Ephesus were taught to use their voices, their charm, their sexuality and their beauty to dominate, control and subjugate men. It seems that this woman in Ephesus was causing trouble in the church by behavior in the assembly of Christ that was way too similar to the ways of the Artemis cult from whence she came.

(4). "For Adam was formed first, then Eve."

Timothy, tell the woman causing problems that her notion she should always have the floor and direct the assembly because she believes women are superior to men--since Artemis came first and Apollo came second--is a misguided belief. The truth is God created man first then He formed Eve from Adam, so it is very appropriate for her, a woman who considers herself a descendent of the Amazons, to sit quietly and learn from those who are older and wiser, even if they are males! Artemis taught the power of women to dominate men through sexual prowess, but Christ teaches that men are equal to women and there's nothing wrong with a woman learning from others (even men) before she begins to teach men.

(5). "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (v. 14).

And Timothy, remind her that the Scriptures teach that Eve was decieved. Contrary to what she learned in the Temple of Artemis, males are not always her problem. To be deceived and in need of correction is just as much a possibility for her as it was for Eve. She must move away from her belief in female superiority, a belief reinforced by the Artemis cult.

(6). "Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" (v. 15).

Timothy, tell this woman that she will be okay during childbirth, even if she totally and fully renounces her trust in Artemis. Yes, she lives in a culture that teaches Artemis alone saves a woman from death during childbirth, but the truth is Christ holds the keys of life and death. When women continue in faith, hope and love--avoiding the sexual immodesty and looseness on display in the Temple of Artemis and the worship of the goddess of fertility and war--it will be the one true God who delivers them from death during childbirth, not Artemis.

(7). And finally, Timothy, I wrote this letter to help you with the problems in the assembly in honor of "Him who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see" (I Timothy 6:16).

The people of Ephesus called Artemis the goddess of Light. The men approached Artemis in the Temple with hands raised above their waist praying for victory in battle and in war. Paul reminded Timothy in this same chapter that Christian men should approach Christ in worship with their hands raised and pray for peace with all men, not war. (Timothy 2:5). Christian women, come before Christ with a sense of modesty and humility, realizing that the ways of Christ are opposite of the ways of Artemis. Paul's entire personal letter to Timothy was an encouragement to him to "fight the wild beasts of Ephesus" and be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and correct the errors brought into the church by "savage wolves" who were remaining under the influence of Artemis theology.

In Conclusion

I recently read a comment from a reader on Wartburg Watch named HoppyTheToad, a female believer in Christ who commented about a previous church experience she and her husband had:

"We spent five years at a church filled with gender role nonsense. It has a way of making women paranoid about their actions, lest they be perceived as being a domineering woman. One of the chuch elders took Mr. Hoppy aside one day while at work. He wanted to know about that status of our marriage because I seemed too interested in discussing theology on our church email loop. Women were completely forbidden from speaking in the (very participatory) service, including the one day that all the men except one were at a retreat. (We couldn’t even make announcements about the church garage sale.)

While women were allowed to discuss theology elsewhere, I guess I must’ve broken some unspoken rules. I would often be the only women in a group of men standing around discussing theology. Occasionally joining a discussion on the church email loop somehow led this elder into assuming Mr. Hoppy must be very displeased to have such a “domineering wife.” He defended me as best he could. By the time we baled out of that church, yes, the elders were sitting around at lunch with their wives discussing what a “domineering” wife I am."

Mrs. HoppyTheToad, I have a solution for your dilemma should you find yourself in a similar situation again:

(1). Walk around the church seven times and shout "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid."
(2). Print this blog post and ask your pastor if you can read it before the assembly.
(3). Realize that by understanding the meaning of I Timothy 2 spiritual suicide is prevented in those assemblies who desire to place cultic restrictions on women.

A lack of understanding of Artemis may well be the end of western evangelicalism's effectiveness, but the rivers won't run and the sun won't shine before I let that happen within my small sphere of influence.