Getting the Whole Picture, Part 9: Summary of The Shift

Hopefully PARTS 4-8 of Getting the Whole Picture regarding women in the Church, helped give a more complete perspective on the meaning of authentein especially in Paul’s time and why it’s been confusing ever since. This word went through several significant shifts from Attic to Koine Greek, from used negatively and exclusively in human contexts to being used not just positively, but dramatically and superlatively so, when referring to God as the Absolute Supreme Sovereign Master and Ruler overall and that originated all (AKA omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent). In addition to those shifts, the meaning has shifted through translations from Greek into other languages over the ages since Paul’s time. It also got co-opted around Paul’s time by some involved in astrology, secret knowledge, other dubious and disturbing deeds, and even deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons per Paul in 1 Timothy 4.

The general consensus of understanding the authentein in 1 Timothy 2:12 for many denominations and congregations at this point in time is a general authority and why not, it seems pretty clear and plain in English in our modern translations for at least the last 100 years. 

Here are some reasons why this neutral / positive understanding might not be the case based on what has been shared so far in this series (including comments). If anyone is interested in further info, on any of these reasons, please leave a comment!

1) Paul did not use exousia (Strong's Greek: 1849. ἐξουσία (exousia) -- Authority, power, right, jurisdiction) or exousiazo (Strong's Greek: 1850. ἐξουσιάζω (exousiazó) -- To exercise authority, to have power over, to control). Paul was very familiar with exousia and used it 30 or so times in other letters. He also did not use the Greek despotes, meaning master (Strong's Greek: 1203. δεσπότης (despotés) -- Master, Lord, Sovereign).

2) Most of the ancient translations starting around 150AD used a negative meaning of domineering type behavior. Ancient translations also used similar language to describe the lording over in Matt 20:25.

3) Cognates matter! Most of the pre-Paul negative uses are nouns, and these were dismissed by many scholars. It seems there was some selective uses by both comps and egals that fit their position. As I mentioned a few times already, there has been so much written on this rare, strange word that you can do a lot of your own reading and studying, but I’m mostly focusing on aspects that did not get a lot of attention in this discussion for various reasons, especially when this was being debated at the CRC Synod in the 1990s.

4) Timing matters! The pre-Paul authente usages are mostly negative and mostly in a human context. No referent is Divine until post-Paul that we know of. There is evidence of this negative harmful connotation continuing around and after Paul’s time, at the same time as it is also shifting toward a positive meaning, but that shift mostly occurred after Paul from the usages we know of at this point in time.

5) Context matters! When the context is a person it’s almost always negative, for objects, it’s neutral, and for Divine as the referent, the meaning is superlatively positive. 

6) Authentas in Wisdom of Solomon is used in a fairly similar context to the pagan practices in Ephesus in Paul’s time that he was familiar with and Timothy was dealing with.

7) General authority has essentially been the understanding for only about the last 100 years. After Erasmus introduced “usurp authority” in 1516, and even though Tyndale (1526) simply used “auctoricie”, the Geneva (1560) and King James (1611) versions chose to follow Erasmus’ “usurp authority”. Over the years between 1516 and 1901, translations used a mix of “usurp” or just “have” authority. Since 1903, the translations have predominantly used “have” or “exercise” authority, including the recent popular 1984 NIV and 2001 ESV, these last two likely influenced by the comp vs egal debate going on over the last 50 or so years.

8) Traditionally there has been a bias against women. A belief that women are inferior to men pervaded most of history. Women being considered as equals in value and worth is comparatively recent (mostly in the last century) and sadly is still not the case for billions of people in the world. We can see a hint of that bias toward women by how hesuchia was often translated as “silence” in 1 Tim 2:11 & 12 in English versions instead of calm and quiet (Strong's Greek: 2271. ἡσυχία (hésuchia) -- Quietness, silence, tranquility). 

9) The traditional lens for 1 Timothy has been that this passage / letter context is almost entirely about church order without including serious consideration of the context of cultural confusion coming in with the many new converts with pagan pasts that Timothy needs help correcting. Historically, it seems acknowledgement of that context was often minimized and dismissed for various reasons, if and when it was even considered.

10+) There are more reasons coming in future posts. I will be addressing the teaching and making a case for why that would be negative as well based on Paul pairing didaskein / teach with a negative authentein / behavior. Created order is also on the list as a future post or two. Women and childbirth along with women and witchcraft are in the works, and a few other matters in 1 Timothy that are often part of the confusion and discussion regarding women in the Church before wrapping it up with a beautiful and biblical alternative to this battle over power and authority between men and women, comps and egals. I might do a debrief or epilogue after that! At this point, that one is in my head and in a dozen different documents that need to be compiled into a coherent concise collation. Stay tuned!