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works on her part, and it is inconceivable that Paul could mean this and so contradict the
whole of his witness for salvation by grace apart from human effort or merit. And in any
case what were unmarried women to do who could not legitimately bear children--or
childless wives for that matter?
(3) There is a third suggestion, but equally improbable, that the words should read
`she shall be saved by the child-bearing' (i.e. the Messiah). If this is what Paul really
meant he could hardly have used a more ambiguous way of saying it. The Greek article
is generic, describing the whole process of child-baring, rather than one particular
instance. Does the Scripture anywhere teach that the virgin Mary was saved and her sins
cancelled, because she bore the Saviour?
(4) The fourth idea takes the phrase in question to mean `she will be saved, even
though she must bear children', but this imposes an unnatural meaning on the preposition
dia.
There seems no doubt to us that (1) is the true meaning of the passage and this
imposes no strain on any other part of the Word.
We note that the verbs change from the singular to the plural, "she shall be saved'; "if
they continue", which shows that the latter part of the verse refers to Christian wives in
general. They are to show the virtues of faith, love and self-control and in so doing they
need have no fear of child-birth. It is the sphere of home life where the woman shines
pre-eminently and as E. K. Simpson says:
"the pity is that the `new woman' so often scorns her rightful crown and seems to nurse a
standing grudge against heaven that she was not born a man . . . . . when extraordinary
cases arise, they must be accredited by peculiar circumstances like David's seizure of the
shew bread. Many tasks not strictly feminine must fall to the lot of female mission
pioneers in solitary posts, or in seasons of emergency elsewhere. But the Head of the
Church allots the posts of the members of His Body as His wisdom wills; and those who
quit that appointed station for one of their own affecting, flout His prerogative of choice
to their certain harm and loss" (The Pastoral Epistles, p.49).
Paul now proceeds to guide Timothy regarding the qualifications of those who were to
lead the local assembly. He gives another of the faithful sayings of the Pastoral Epistles:
"Faithful is the saying, if a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work" (3: 1, R.V.).
It is important to realize that the modern word `bishop' does not represent the Greek
word episkopos, which means an overseer. Bishops in the time of the Apostle Paul were
not highly educated scholars who had been theologically trained and wore a particular
garb. There was no division into clergy and laity. Bishops were ordinary believers who
had been adjudged faithful and had the spiritual qualifications the Apostle is about to
enumerate. There was no hint here or elsewhere in the N.T. of the monarchical
conception of episcopacy such as was later lauded by Ignatius, one man controlling a
province consisting of a number of churches. This was a backward step finally leading to
Romanism with its spiritual autocracy and its domination by the priesthood.