I grew up in the CRC, and am still here, along with my family. I'm married to Daryl, who has a construction business. I had a CPA license for 10 or so years, then I added EX to the front, and MOM to the back, so now I'm an EX CPA, MOM =). I am MOM to Duncan, Ian and Samantha. Our family also owns a raspberry farm, and in the summers we get to work out there together.
Hey Rich... welcome... good to see you on here... if you don't remember, I met you a prayer summit @ Cedar Springs a few years back... great thoughts and insight... thx. for sharing...
definitely thought you guys looked young enough that they were yours =)
I re-read my post on the link and realized the "about 12-13 minutes in" could be read 2 different ways.... so when you watch the link, Moses really starts talking about his prayer journey in Korea, that starts at about 12 or 13 minutes in, and this goes through about 17 minutes or so, just in case you are listening for it only between 12-13 minutes... sorry if I caused confusion
That is so interesting and excitiing how God is connecting us in the area of listening prayer... I too, have prayed with others involved in healing prayer ministries (but not CRC or even reformed backgrounds), and went through some training for this. At this point in my life - with little ones (11, 7 and 5), I don't get to go in and pray with them very often, so most of my prayer time is at home... we do pray together as a family every night before bed, and, especially if we need direction with something, take time for listening prayer... my son, who's 11 has several testimonies of scriptures the LORD put on his heart that were beautiful answers to what we were asking.
One testimony is last Christmas, I asked him to sing with me in a combined church Christmas cantata that brought singers from the local CRC's together, since they were organizing a youth choir to participate as well. So I mentioned it to him, and his response was "do I have to?" My response, was, "no, you get to sing, but you have to have a good attitude." So, that night when we had our prayer time together, I said, let's ask God, whether He wants you to sing in this cantata. We were quiet about 5 minutes, I rec'd a scripture, but didn't share it right away, and then I asked him if he had any thoughts or any scriptures came to him... He said "Isaiah 5"... I asked him, "do you know what Is. 5 says?" He responded "no", so we looked it up, and Is. 5 is the "Song of the Vineyard" and starts with... now let me sing to my Well-beloved... So I asked my son, what he thought God was telling him, and he said "Sing!" (can't get any clearer than that!) and for the next half hour, he continued to receive more scripture references about singing...
The scripture that "popped" into my head was "make a joyful noise!" We both sang in the Christmas cantata last year =) !
Now, there's a whole lot more to this story...because when we showed up at the first practice, by the time we started practicing the first song, it was my attitude that was not good (and that's putting it mildly)... and I just realized as I was writing this, that God was going to hold me to the words I said to my son and wanted me to sing it with the right attitude as well... and boy, did He ever "undo" my bad attiude... the first verse, I didn't even know what I was singing I was so mad, in the second verse He melted the hardness in my heart and by the 3rd verse I was a basket case about ready to walk out because I did not know what I was going to do with all the "fluids" flowing from various places of my face... I had NOT "listened" to the prompting of the Holy Spirit as I walked in to practice that "you might want to get some kleenex"...My intellect immediately responsed to that with a snarky thought..."why would I need kleenex for practice?" and dismissed the thought... it was what I call a "terrible, beautiful" experience of being "undone", taking out the ugliness that was in my heart, and replacing it with a beautiful piece of His heart...
I don't mind being more specific about what was going on and why I was mad and how He got my attention, but it gets kind of long for this post... I will work on writing that out, and maybe if the network gets a testimony tab (hint hint moderators;-), I can post it under that some time =)...
I can't wait to hear about your trip...that is way cool... I sensed the Spirit when I read about it, and now again, when I'm thinking about it (I just read it again, and I felt another wave of the Spirit)... If you are blogging on it, let me know where I can find that... would love to hear everything... It's going to be amazing...
Well, I have been to a number of prayer retreats. several were pastor/prayer leader summits. Some were 3 days, some are 1/2 day, about 4 hours, and some are 1-2 days, some included some teaching. Some were facilitated by Dennis Fuqua, who uses a wonderful, fresh approach to prayer, and focuses a lot on worship based prayer. I think having someone like Dennis come for a weekend to teach, preach and pray with a church or several churches would be very helpful in expanding/growing a church's/community's prayer life. It opens the door to praying differently then we have traditionally prayed in our reformed tradition. It's not wild and crazy, but beautiful and sweet, with everything directed by the Holy Spirit, and straight out of scripture... something our conservative inclinations can be ok with. Dennis is a very down to earth man of prayer, and we've appreciated his leading through his sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in growing the level of prayer in our area. let me find the link to his ministry, International Renewal:
I also get together regularly with Dr. Alvin Vander Griend, Author of love to pray, and a founder of the Harvest Prayer Ministries. I know he has amazing and powerful teachings on prayer, with very practical guides to help the church grow a "culture of prayer."
The board for the prayer center i help serve on, tries to have a quarterly prayer retreat. So far, these have been 9-4ish on a Friday or Sat. We will spend time confessing and praying for each other (James 5:16). We will pray about different ministries connected to the prayer center, we will pray for prayer events, we will pray for our prayer missionaries, etc. ...let's see how does that translate into a church... confessing is same, praying for ministries would be sunday school, cadet/gem programs, catechism classes, bible studies, nursery, music, youth group, whatever you guys have going on, and then also maybe praying for para church ministries that your members are involved with like feeding homeless and poor, schools, supporting single moms, or whatever it might be. You can also pray for denominational leaders (ie Board of Trustees, Executive Director, Home Missions Director and their staff) and issues, which we generally don't get to spend very much corporate prayer time on.
and then just pray for the Holy Spirit to pour out through prayer...
I've had extended times of prayer together from 2+ plus hours to 3 days, some were held at church, some were at a retreat facility. I will say, most people, including most pastors, are not ready for 3 days for various reasons, but hopefully that day is coming to the crc =)
Steve, there are lots of options, and I think you get to pray into what God wants it to look like for your church. some questions: What are the funds available for it? How busy people are might limit it to an evening or an evening and part of the next day, but a prayer retreat is far better than meeting the Pres. of the US. You would drop everything you have going on for that opportunity =), right? We get to meet with this amazing God of the universe, our Creator, the One Who loves us beyond our wildest imagination!
Hope and pray you have a powerful and profound prayer retreat where you encounter God in fresh and beautiful ways!
I wish we did have some experience with this Tim... I will pass this on to Alvin VG, if he has any insight for you, we are on a prayer board together, and our meeting is tomorrow...
Bless your heart Amanda, and welcome to the team... thank you for sharing a bit of how these concerns were put on your heart over the years...
praying for wisdom, compassion and a forehead of flint when needed, for you and all those who deal with an area that still too many in the church respond to with a willful blindness...
and as thankful as I am for the progress that has been made over the last 30 years... there is still much work to be done...
I see this post by Colin Watson originally posted in 2020 is currently being featured under the Spiritual formations tab...
We desire to be churches and communities that cultivate practices of prayer and spiritual discipline, transforming our lives and communities by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hmmmm... One of the things that I have realized over the last number of years is that traditionally we (reformed) have had a tendency to focus on a transactional more than a relational faith.
That tendency has carried over into our structures and systems as well. We have emphasized a hierarchical authority and power of leadership over others/power differentials, instead of a mutual, relational LOVING and SERVING ONE ANOTHER! (let alone the other 40+ ONE ANOTHER commands). That is one of the transformations needed in our lives, communities and denomination with the help of the Holy Spirit.
One of the biggest aspects that we can help families focus on, is simply praying together. I'm finding the "family altar" has pretty much disappeared from our rhythms for the most part. There are lots of reasons why... so restoring the family altar - a time of sharing the word, worship and praying together as a family is a key piece for the family faith formation. Praying together on a family level and on a congregation level, seems to be an area that has been under-emphasized in the reformed tradition, at least in our more recent history.
Cheryl Saks has written several helpful books on prayer to help restore praying together...
The 2nd service could be re formatted in various ways, for those who don't want to prepare a 2nd message... I personally would love to see more time praying together... and as an alternative to a 2nd sermon, spend time to discuss and dig deeper into the passage that was preached on in the morning. Give everyone an opportunity to share how the Holy Spirit ministered to them in the morning service (or the previous week) from the music, the message and anything else that was meaningful to them.
I love I Cor 14 where EVERYONE has a word of encouragement/instruction, a hymn, scripture or revelation to share for the strengthening of the Church. Sadly, this gets lost in our current format.
ps.. if Jesus says it's worth His time to show up where 2 or 3 are gathered in His Name, why do we think we need more than that to make it worth our while. (recognizing He never leaves or forsakes us, but there is a different dynamic of His Presence when we connect with others in Jesus Name.)
Denise, I've been working on the 1 Timothy 2:12 verse that is often used by complementarians based on the 84 NIV (and a few other translations) to prohibit women in church leadership - I believe that particular verse is a HUGE hurdle for a lot of women to serve in leadership in the Church... I've heard a number of times of how "CLEAR" scripture is that it is only men that are to be elders/deacons/pastors... and it often leads back to this specific verse
As you probably know, the role of women in Church leadership has been anything but "clear"... I did some research on this back in 2008, but put it on the back burner for various reasons... well, again for various reasons, it moved to the front burner, and over the last year and a half or so, I continued digging and researching the role of women again, going back to scripture, but this time, thanks to the increased information on the internet (and of course the Holy Spirit!!!) with the help of male and female theologians around the world, experts in Greek and Hebrew, and Bible websites that are amazing, I was astounded at what I discovered...
a context/lens for 1 Timothy that I've never heard/read shared in the CRC (or in any of my research back in 2008) is how Artemis was a HUGE factor in Ephesus... Interestingly, I found that it seems it is mostly in the last 10 years or so (thanks to the internet), that we have been able to more fully understand how Artemis was worshipped in Ephesus... Many of those who have already opened the door for women in office in the CRC moved on 25 years ago and stopped any further research as it wasn't necessary any more, since it was a done deal for them -however most of the information on Artemis was NOT available back then... and those who didn't agree that women should be in office are not going to look for ways that they might be wrong - they are fine with the status quo as scripture is "clear" and have no reason to question their position... that leaves a small group of those who are even pondering and researching the role of women in office these days...
Acts 19 talks about the riot the Apostle Paul caused in Ephesus due to so many converting to "the Way" from the cult of Artemis. Ephesus/Artemis is also the context of 1 Timothy. Paul, in 1 Tim, is addressing false teachings by certain people - men AND women (84 NIV limited it to "certain men"), and how a singular "woman" (possibly a new convert formerly involved in the cult of Artemis) is part of the problem promoting false teachings - that's why Paul is not "permitting" her to teach... yet! She needs to learn more about her new faith, and she needs to be encouraged to learn quietly (like everyone else who wants to learn) before she can teach others about the Way w/out confusing her new beliefs w/ the practices of cult worship! Also, the women involved in the worship of Artemis were often LOUD!
Whenever "epitrepo"/permit (1 Tim 2:12) is used in the NT, it is ALWAYS a case by case basis, never a universal command for ALL time! Which sadly, is how it has been implemented over the centuries!
also, the non-biblical headings used in some translations are misleading (ie "instructions on worship" 84 NIV)... there has been no consensus on what Paul was addressing in 1 Tim 2 - it has been assumed and represented that Paul is referring to the early church worship gatherings... what makes far more sense and fits far better, is this is a point by point corrective comparing the false teachings/worship of the cult of Artemis with the true teachings/worship of "the Way"/Christian beliefs... if you compare each aspect to the cult of Artemis, it lines up powerfully! including v15 re childbearing, which theologians have NOT known how to explain or what to do with that over the years and centuries!
I believe the context of Artemis needs to be tested and vetted and then shared... I have done my research and written a document going verse by verse to compare the correctives to how Artemis of the Ephesians was worshipped. I'm convinced this is the lens that we need to look at this passage with, and that has not been the case as far as I can tell... I believe getting a better understanding of the 1 Tim 2 passage will help women in the CRC and beyond!
I've done a bit more research on 1 Tim 2:12 and found out that the meaning of authentein in 1 Tim 2:12 has morphed over the ages since Paul's time... In Paul's time from 200BC to 300AD, authentein was associated with a violent and negative authority... then in the 400s AD when Jerome translated the Greek into Latin, he ignored the violent aspect and toned down the authority to "domineering authority" so still negative, but we lost the violent nuance... then in the 1500s AD when Erasmus did his translation, he toned authentein even more and took out the negative aspect completely, and authentein became "exercise authority"... and modern translations have now simply translated it as "authority"...
Posted in: Can you recommend any good books about rural church ministry?
Hey Rich... welcome... good to see you on here... if you don't remember, I met you a prayer summit @ Cedar Springs a few years back... great thoughts and insight... thx. for sharing...
Posted in: Can you recommend any good books about rural church ministry?
That is awesome!!! Thank You Jesus...
Posted in: What is listening prayer?
definitely thought you guys looked young enough that they were yours =)
I re-read my post on the link and realized the "about 12-13 minutes in" could be read 2 different ways.... so when you watch the link, Moses really starts talking about his prayer journey in Korea, that starts at about 12 or 13 minutes in, and this goes through about 17 minutes or so, just in case you are listening for it only between 12-13 minutes... sorry if I caused confusion
That is so interesting and excitiing how God is connecting us in the area of listening prayer... I too, have prayed with others involved in healing prayer ministries (but not CRC or even reformed backgrounds), and went through some training for this. At this point in my life - with little ones (11, 7 and 5), I don't get to go in and pray with them very often, so most of my prayer time is at home... we do pray together as a family every night before bed, and, especially if we need direction with something, take time for listening prayer... my son, who's 11 has several testimonies of scriptures the LORD put on his heart that were beautiful answers to what we were asking.
One testimony is last Christmas, I asked him to sing with me in a combined church Christmas cantata that brought singers from the local CRC's together, since they were organizing a youth choir to participate as well. So I mentioned it to him, and his response was "do I have to?" My response, was, "no, you get to sing, but you have to have a good attitude." So, that night when we had our prayer time together, I said, let's ask God, whether He wants you to sing in this cantata. We were quiet about 5 minutes, I rec'd a scripture, but didn't share it right away, and then I asked him if he had any thoughts or any scriptures came to him... He said "Isaiah 5"... I asked him, "do you know what Is. 5 says?" He responded "no", so we looked it up, and Is. 5 is the "Song of the Vineyard" and starts with... now let me sing to my Well-beloved... So I asked my son, what he thought God was telling him, and he said "Sing!" (can't get any clearer than that!) and for the next half hour, he continued to receive more scripture references about singing...
The scripture that "popped" into my head was "make a joyful noise!" We both sang in the Christmas cantata last year =) !
Now, there's a whole lot more to this story...because when we showed up at the first practice, by the time we started practicing the first song, it was my attitude that was not good (and that's putting it mildly)... and I just realized as I was writing this, that God was going to hold me to the words I said to my son and wanted me to sing it with the right attitude as well... and boy, did He ever "undo" my bad attiude... the first verse, I didn't even know what I was singing I was so mad, in the second verse He melted the hardness in my heart and by the 3rd verse I was a basket case about ready to walk out because I did not know what I was going to do with all the "fluids" flowing from various places of my face... I had NOT "listened" to the prompting of the Holy Spirit as I walked in to practice that "you might want to get some kleenex"...My intellect immediately responsed to that with a snarky thought..."why would I need kleenex for practice?" and dismissed the thought... it was what I call a "terrible, beautiful" experience of being "undone", taking out the ugliness that was in my heart, and replacing it with a beautiful piece of His heart...
I don't mind being more specific about what was going on and why I was mad and how He got my attention, but it gets kind of long for this post... I will work on writing that out, and maybe if the network gets a testimony tab (hint hint moderators;-), I can post it under that some time =)...
I can't wait to hear about your trip...that is way cool... I sensed the Spirit when I read about it, and now again, when I'm thinking about it (I just read it again, and I felt another wave of the Spirit)... If you are blogging on it, let me know where I can find that... would love to hear everything... It's going to be amazing...
In Him..
Posted in: What suggestions do you have for a church prayer retreat?
Well, I have been to a number of prayer retreats. several were pastor/prayer leader summits. Some were 3 days, some are 1/2 day, about 4 hours, and some are 1-2 days, some included some teaching. Some were facilitated by Dennis Fuqua, who uses a wonderful, fresh approach to prayer, and focuses a lot on worship based prayer. I think having someone like Dennis come for a weekend to teach, preach and pray with a church or several churches would be very helpful in expanding/growing a church's/community's prayer life. It opens the door to praying differently then we have traditionally prayed in our reformed tradition. It's not wild and crazy, but beautiful and sweet, with everything directed by the Holy Spirit, and straight out of scripture... something our conservative inclinations can be ok with. Dennis is a very down to earth man of prayer, and we've appreciated his leading through his sensitivity to the Holy Spirit in growing the level of prayer in our area. let me find the link to his ministry, International Renewal:
http://irm.livewebsitebuilder.com/
and this is another link for Dennis
http://livingprayerbook.web.officelive.com/aboutus.aspx
I also get together regularly with Dr. Alvin Vander Griend, Author of love to pray, and a founder of the Harvest Prayer Ministries. I know he has amazing and powerful teachings on prayer, with very practical guides to help the church grow a "culture of prayer."
The board for the prayer center i help serve on, tries to have a quarterly prayer retreat. So far, these have been 9-4ish on a Friday or Sat. We will spend time confessing and praying for each other (James 5:16). We will pray about different ministries connected to the prayer center, we will pray for prayer events, we will pray for our prayer missionaries, etc. ...let's see how does that translate into a church... confessing is same, praying for ministries would be sunday school, cadet/gem programs, catechism classes, bible studies, nursery, music, youth group, whatever you guys have going on, and then also maybe praying for para church ministries that your members are involved with like feeding homeless and poor, schools, supporting single moms, or whatever it might be. You can also pray for denominational leaders (ie Board of Trustees, Executive Director, Home Missions Director and their staff) and issues, which we generally don't get to spend very much corporate prayer time on.
and then just pray for the Holy Spirit to pour out through prayer...
I've had extended times of prayer together from 2+ plus hours to 3 days, some were held at church, some were at a retreat facility. I will say, most people, including most pastors, are not ready for 3 days for various reasons, but hopefully that day is coming to the crc =)
Steve, there are lots of options, and I think you get to pray into what God wants it to look like for your church. some questions: What are the funds available for it? How busy people are might limit it to an evening or an evening and part of the next day, but a prayer retreat is far better than meeting the Pres. of the US. You would drop everything you have going on for that opportunity =), right? We get to meet with this amazing God of the universe, our Creator, the One Who loves us beyond our wildest imagination!
Hope and pray you have a powerful and profound prayer retreat where you encounter God in fresh and beautiful ways!
Posted in: Can you share your church's experience with "Strategic Prayer Initiative?"
I wish we did have some experience with this Tim... I will pass this on to Alvin VG, if he has any insight for you, we are on a prayer board together, and our meeting is tomorrow...
Posted in: Can you share your church's experience with "Strategic Prayer Initiative?"
wow.. you are quick and thanks for deleting my 2nd save =)
Posted in: New Director, Amanda Benckhuysen: "Why I Want to Work With Safe Church Ministry"
Bless your heart Amanda, and welcome to the team... thank you for sharing a bit of how these concerns were put on your heart over the years...
praying for wisdom, compassion and a forehead of flint when needed, for you and all those who deal with an area that still too many in the church respond to with a willful blindness...
and as thankful as I am for the progress that has been made over the last 30 years... there is still much work to be done...
be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Posted in: A Denominational Emphasis on Spiritual Practices
I see this post by Colin Watson originally posted in 2020 is currently being featured under the Spiritual formations tab...
We desire to be churches and communities that cultivate practices of prayer and spiritual discipline, transforming our lives and communities by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hmmmm... One of the things that I have realized over the last number of years is that traditionally we (reformed) have had a tendency to focus on a transactional more than a relational faith.
That tendency has carried over into our structures and systems as well. We have emphasized a hierarchical authority and power of leadership over others/power differentials, instead of a mutual, relational LOVING and SERVING ONE ANOTHER! (let alone the other 40+ ONE ANOTHER commands). That is one of the transformations needed in our lives, communities and denomination with the help of the Holy Spirit.
https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/lets-talk-about/case-one-another-see-these-59-commands-bible
Posted in: Church, Your Families Need Help (And Adding More Programs Isn’t the Answer)
One of the biggest aspects that we can help families focus on, is simply praying together. I'm finding the "family altar" has pretty much disappeared from our rhythms for the most part. There are lots of reasons why... so restoring the family altar - a time of sharing the word, worship and praying together as a family is a key piece for the family faith formation. Praying together on a family level and on a congregation level, seems to be an area that has been under-emphasized in the reformed tradition, at least in our more recent history.
Cheryl Saks has written several helpful books on prayer to help restore praying together...
http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-prayer-saturated-family/380261
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Prayer_Saturated_Church.html?id=9zj0AgAAQBAJ
Posted in: CRCNA Decision to De-emphasize Second Sunday Worship Service
The 2nd service could be re formatted in various ways, for those who don't want to prepare a 2nd message... I personally would love to see more time praying together... and as an alternative to a 2nd sermon, spend time to discuss and dig deeper into the passage that was preached on in the morning. Give everyone an opportunity to share how the Holy Spirit ministered to them in the morning service (or the previous week) from the music, the message and anything else that was meaningful to them.
I love I Cor 14 where EVERYONE has a word of encouragement/instruction, a hymn, scripture or revelation to share for the strengthening of the Church. Sadly, this gets lost in our current format.
ps.. if Jesus says it's worth His time to show up where 2 or 3 are gathered in His Name, why do we think we need more than that to make it worth our while. (recognizing He never leaves or forsakes us, but there is a different dynamic of His Presence when we connect with others in Jesus Name.)
Posted in: Supporting Women and Ethnic Minority Leaders in the Pastoral Call Process
Denise, I've been working on the 1 Timothy 2:12 verse that is often used by complementarians based on the 84 NIV (and a few other translations) to prohibit women in church leadership - I believe that particular verse is a HUGE hurdle for a lot of women to serve in leadership in the Church... I've heard a number of times of how "CLEAR" scripture is that it is only men that are to be elders/deacons/pastors... and it often leads back to this specific verse
As you probably know, the role of women in Church leadership has been anything but "clear"... I did some research on this back in 2008, but put it on the back burner for various reasons... well, again for various reasons, it moved to the front burner, and over the last year and a half or so, I continued digging and researching the role of women again, going back to scripture, but this time, thanks to the increased information on the internet (and of course the Holy Spirit!!!) with the help of male and female theologians around the world, experts in Greek and Hebrew, and Bible websites that are amazing, I was astounded at what I discovered...
a context/lens for 1 Timothy that I've never heard/read shared in the CRC (or in any of my research back in 2008) is how Artemis was a HUGE factor in Ephesus... Interestingly, I found that it seems it is mostly in the last 10 years or so (thanks to the internet), that we have been able to more fully understand how Artemis was worshipped in Ephesus... Many of those who have already opened the door for women in office in the CRC moved on 25 years ago and stopped any further research as it wasn't necessary any more, since it was a done deal for them -however most of the information on Artemis was NOT available back then... and those who didn't agree that women should be in office are not going to look for ways that they might be wrong - they are fine with the status quo as scripture is "clear" and have no reason to question their position... that leaves a small group of those who are even pondering and researching the role of women in office these days...
Acts 19 talks about the riot the Apostle Paul caused in Ephesus due to so many converting to "the Way" from the cult of Artemis. Ephesus/Artemis is also the context of 1 Timothy. Paul, in 1 Tim, is addressing false teachings by certain people - men AND women (84 NIV limited it to "certain men"), and how a singular "woman" (possibly a new convert formerly involved in the cult of Artemis) is part of the problem promoting false teachings - that's why Paul is not "permitting" her to teach... yet! She needs to learn more about her new faith, and she needs to be encouraged to learn quietly (like everyone else who wants to learn) before she can teach others about the Way w/out confusing her new beliefs w/ the practices of cult worship! Also, the women involved in the worship of Artemis were often LOUD!
Whenever "epitrepo"/permit (1 Tim 2:12) is used in the NT, it is ALWAYS a case by case basis, never a universal command for ALL time! Which sadly, is how it has been implemented over the centuries!
also, the non-biblical headings used in some translations are misleading (ie "instructions on worship" 84 NIV)... there has been no consensus on what Paul was addressing in 1 Tim 2 - it has been assumed and represented that Paul is referring to the early church worship gatherings... what makes far more sense and fits far better, is this is a point by point corrective comparing the false teachings/worship of the cult of Artemis with the true teachings/worship of "the Way"/Christian beliefs... if you compare each aspect to the cult of Artemis, it lines up powerfully! including v15 re childbearing, which theologians have NOT known how to explain or what to do with that over the years and centuries!
I believe the context of Artemis needs to be tested and vetted and then shared... I have done my research and written a document going verse by verse to compare the correctives to how Artemis of the Ephesians was worshipped. I'm convinced this is the lens that we need to look at this passage with, and that has not been the case as far as I can tell... I believe getting a better understanding of the 1 Tim 2 passage will help women in the CRC and beyond!
Posted in: Supporting Women and Ethnic Minority Leaders in the Pastoral Call Process
I've done a bit more research on 1 Tim 2:12 and found out that the meaning of authentein in 1 Tim 2:12 has morphed over the ages since Paul's time... In Paul's time from 200BC to 300AD, authentein was associated with a violent and negative authority... then in the 400s AD when Jerome translated the Greek into Latin, he ignored the violent aspect and toned down the authority to "domineering authority" so still negative, but we lost the violent nuance... then in the 1500s AD when Erasmus did his translation, he toned authentein even more and took out the negative aspect completely, and authentein became "exercise authority"... and modern translations have now simply translated it as "authority"...