How to Study the Bible (Part 2)
L ast time I asked you to consider what you want 1 Timothy 2:12 to mean. Depending on what you’ve been taught, here are a few things you might want it to mean: Women can’t preach or teach in the church. Women can’t argue with their husbands. Women shouldn’t disagree with their husbands at church. Women can teach, but only women and children. Women can teach men, as long as their husbands aren’t in the class. Paul just found it painful to listen to women teach. This has nothing to do with women today. This deals with the home and not the church. I’m sure there are many others, but the important thing is that you don’t try to force this passage to mean what you want it to. It may mean what you want it to, but be open to the possibility that you are wrong. A good place to start with understanding a verse is to look for the complete thought. The verse and chapter markings are not part of scripture. They are there to aid us in finding passages, but they often create breaks in pa...