CREATIVE HISTORY PAPER
17 January 2006
Women Apostles:
St. Thecla of Iconium v. 1 Timothy 2
Setting
You are a companion of the apostle Thecla, doing missionary work in Asia Minor.
One of your churches has just received a copy of the First Letter to Timothy, which
forbids women to teach and says they will be saved through bearing children (1 Tim
2:11-15). The church is confused by this doctrine because they have learned from
Thecla that women and men both are saved by giving their lives to Jesus and following
his Spirit, whatever it calls them to do. How would you respond to this dilemma?
Based on this information, write a letter detailing your response (agreement/disagreement)
to this apparent shift in Pauline teaching. Beware the anachronism. Remember to
support your stance by using as much direct reference to the primary sources as
possible, but restrict yourself to whatever would have been available to the
audience at that time.
Options
You have been trying to decide how to respond to this situation,
and have discovered several alternatives to weigh:
- Paul has really not changed his mind; the ecclesia had misunderstood
his teaching before this, and 1 Tim 2 clarifies what Paul meant.
- Paul has changed his mind; the ecclesia must follow along with this
change so the gospel will be heard and respected.
- Paul was the author of this text and has not changed his mind; some are misunderstanding
what Paul was trying to say in this passage.
- Paul did not write this passage in 1 Tim 2, rather, someone has tampered with
Paul's letter to insert this text and make his ideas conform more closely to the
normative social structures of the day (what Paul calls "this present evil
age").
- Paul did not write this passage in 1 Tim 2. In fact, Paul did not write this
letter at all. Someone has forged a letter in Paul's name to change how people
understand Paul's teaching and make his ideas conform more closely to the normative
social structures of the day.
Assignment
- First introduce your character, giving a brief description of your social location
(sex, class, ethnic origin, clan, etc.)
- Then, speaking as that person, respond to the following questions:
- What is your response (agreement/disagreement) to this apparent shift in
Pauline teaching?
- Which of the explanations above do you think best accounts for the existence
of this text?
- Given your knowledge of the teachings and actions of Jesus and Paul, how
will you interpret this text for your Jesus-ecclesia and what will you encourage
them to do with respect to this teaching? Remember, they are coming to you
for advice, so you cannot "cop out" by saying they have to make
up their own minds. Besides, how they act will have consequences for you because
you are known as members of the same worshipping community.
- Where are at least five specific examples of sayings or actions of Jesus
or Paul that support your responses to these questions? (Give the Biblical citations
in parentheses in your text.) Remember that these examples must come from sources
or texts that antedate the time when you are living. You can assume that
your character knows any of Paul's authentic letters (1 Thess, Gal, 1-2 Cor, Phil,
Phlm, Rom), and probably the deutero-Pauline letters (Col, Eph, 2 Thess), but
the other letters in the Pauline tradition have not yet been written.
- In a post-script, reflect on your character and her/his response to the situation.
How does it compare to the way Paul lived and the gospel he preached? In what
ways do you agree or disagree with Paul?
- To prepare to present your paper in class, outline your responses to the following
questions (on a separate sheet of paper):
- What was your experience writing this paper?
- How did this process affect your view/understanding of the Pauline and
other NT materials?
- What issue(s) did the process raise that you would like to explore further?
- What is the most important thing you learned by doing this exercise?
to
see the Grading Protocol for these assignments