1 Timothy 2:12 has been used as a divinely-inspired mute button, silencing half of God’s good creation. Despite my tradition’s insistence in the full equality of men and women in ministry (see this document if you’re curious), this verse still troubles the faithful. In order to figure out Paul’s perspective we need to take a broad approach. What does Paul say about woman and men—both in and outside of a ministry context? This is where Cynthia Long Westfall’s book comes in.

In Paul and Gender, Westfall refuses to interpret any of these flashpoint verses in isolation. Rather, over the course of over 300+ pages, she explores Paul’s theological vision of men and women.

Most studies that claim to be about Paul and gender or about gender and the Bible are really about the role of women in the church, home, and society. While women’s issues are of central interest and clearly render this study timely and relevant, I take the position that Pauline passages on women cannot be adequately understood or applied apart from a corresponding understanding of the Pauline passages on men. (x)

Take the household codes for example. We tend to focus on defining what Paul meant by, “Wives, be subject to your husbands” (Eph. 5:22) without paying attention to the demands on husbands aside from their need to love their wives. Westfall points out how “The nature of Christ’s actions toward the church and the husband’s actions toward the wife in Ephesians 5:25–33 would have been understood as ‘women’s work.’ The representation of the church as the bride would have been effeminate, according to Greco-Roman values. Consequently, Paul is subverting male privilege in home and church” (23).

This study covers the entire theological gamut: from creation to eschatology, from the fall to the body, calling, and authority. By the you get to the last chapter (on 1 Timotny 2:11–15) you’re equipped to actually understand what Paul was talking about.

This study is careful, detailed, and comprehensive. In addition to its obvious value for the academy, it’s an invaluable resource for pastors who champion female voices in the pastorate. I’ll leave the last word to Westfall:

It thus is odd that Paul defines pastoral care as maternal nurturing, but historically, women have been excluded from church positions that entail pastoral care on the basis of other Pauline writings. (53–4)

Westfall, Cynthia Long. Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Baker Academic, 2016.