Paul and Gender: Chapter 5

a book summary

This is a summary of the fifth chapter of Cynthia Long Westfall's book: Paul and Gender, which she entitles Eschatology. 

By Eschatology, I don't think Westfall is referring exclusively to the end of the world, but rather, how Christ's life and death bring about an already and not yet state of renewal among those who have the Holy Spirit. She spends several pages discussing how Christ's work begins to reverse the effects of the fall in believers, and how this reversal and the future redemption of our bodies is the hope that we live into currently. Westfall argues that Paul urges us to act in light of Christ's redeeming us while doing Christ's work both now and for eternity.

What does this mean for men and women? I believe she's arguing that Paul, through his eschatological language, was showing how if God meant men and women to rule together in Eden, then that is what Christ's work on the cross allows to start happening right now. Renewal starts now and lasts for eternity.

Human’s Destiny

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Westfall links three convictions in Paul's writings to the book of Revelation regarding eschatology. "(1) The believers will form a kingdom of priests who will rule the nations with authority. (Rev 5:10; cf. 2:26) (2) The curse will be abolished (Rev 22:3). (3) Death will be abolished (Rev 21:4)." (Westfall, 144)

The conclusion of these three convictions is a life that lives with these expectations in mind. That is, we act differently towards things that will pass away than we do to the things that will remain forever: things of the flesh and things of the spirit. 

Like 2 Peter 3:11-12 says, "Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!" (ESV) Westfall notes that Paul urged the same in 1 Cor. 1:7-8; Phil.3:20-4:1; Col. 3:1-4; 1 Thess. 5:6-11; 2 Thess. 2:13-15; Titus 2:11-14 (Westfall, 144). 

Because the things of this earth will pass away, "we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer." (2 Corin. 5:16 ESV). Westfall argues that this includes certain distinctions made between men & women, power figures & low-class, and circumcised & uncircumcised.

"According to Paul, there is no differentiation in humanity's destiny on the basis of gender, race, or status. Women, as well as gentiles and slaves, have a shared destiny of authority and rule (Westfall, 147)." And "Paul emphatically states that women have the same eschatological hope without distinction (Gal 3:28)..." (Westfall, 144).

Not only that, but all believers, male and female, shall participate in Christ's resurrection, sharing his life, glorious body, inheritance, and his power (Rom 8:10, 23; 1 Cor. 15:35-49; 2 Cor. 4:16-17; 5:1-4) (Westfall, 149). To be part of Christ's body is something women participate in too, even though Christ was a man. According to Westfall, Christian Jews saw more of a problem with uncircumcised Gentiles sharing in Christ's resurrected body than Jewish women, who had altogether different bodies. 

Yes, I know Westfall is using "body" in different ways here. What I think she means is that some people argue that because Jesus was a physical male, that must mean that men have priority in God's kingdom. So Westfall demonstrates how the physical bodies of women didn't exclude them from fellowship and participation. The Jews saw no problem with the inclusion of women in Christ's body. However, the Jews did see a problem with including Gentile Greeks. Paul in his letters, Galatians in particular, explains how the physical bodies of Greeks don't exclude them from fellowship and participation.

"Most Jews did not believe that uncircumcised men could be included in the people of God, though women could be included without any physical alterations" (Westfall, 150).

To participate in Christ's body is to share in his rulership, Westfall states. No believer is banned due to gender or ethnicity or status. Both men and women will have dominion and power with Christ. "...the eschatological future of women who are in Christ is the same as the destiny of humanity: the exercise of power and authority over the angels and nations (including men)" (Westfall, 152). That's in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3.

Not only this, but Westfall argues that Paul says the Holy Spirit's outpouring and gifts are given according to the will of the Holy Spirit and not based on people's status, gender, or race. She has some fiery words to say about those who limit women's function in the church based on 'transcendent norms,' and I hesitate to insert those bits in this summary. Just know she doesn't mince words for men engaged in a gender power struggle. 

"Such power struggles miss the mark, and they involve building on the church's foundation with exactly the kind of wood, hay, and straw that Paul warned against when he criticized the Corinthians for pitting Christian leaders against one another in a power struggle (1 Cor. 3:11-15)" (Westfall, 157-8).

Social Reform

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She goes on to say that "Paul did not have the goal of empowering women and slaves in the social and political structures of the Roman empire, but he was very interested in empowering and equipping them in the Christian community in every way" (Westfall, 161). I believe she means that at that time, Christians were a small minority group living in the powerful Roman empire, which could squash Christians if the Christians seemed like a threat. If Paul told the churches to liberate the slaves and let women hold offices outside the church, then the Roman Empire would deem Christians a threat to their social structure and squash the Christians.

Paul argues "for the entire church to adopt a missional and self-sacrificial adaptation to fallen social structures of the Greco-Roman world as a strategy to advance the gospel, similar to missionary strategy required in the Middle East today (Westfall, 147). Paul says he became all things to all people for the sake of winning them over to the gospel. Likewise, Westfall argues that Paul is suggesting the adaptation of cultural norms so that Christians are seen as blameless and holy.

Thus in Titus, Paul is urging the women to be the "models of Greco-Roman expectations, 'self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands so that the word of God may not be discredited' (2:5 NSRV)" (Westfall, 163).

"This reason is missional, not ethical or ontological. Similarly, the motivation for young men's behavior is apologetic: so that 'any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us' (Titus 2:8 NRSV). The motivation for slaves is to make the gospel attractive, which is also missional: 'so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior' (2:10 NRSV)" (Westfall, 163). 

Thus wives' submission was a way for the church to "live at peace among the people and structures of the Roman Empire in order to thrive (1 Tim. 2:1-3) without flaunting its revolutionary ways and thus becoming a victim of the sword (Rom 13:1-7)" (Westfall, 161).

This missions-minded approach to submission prompts me, (Abby) to think about how missionaries adapt to cultural norms to reach the people. They learn the language, wear the clothes, live within the social structures, etc. Thus, if I were to become a missionary in some Middle Eastern countries, I might have to give up my right to vote or travel freely outside the home. On the other hand, if I were to be a missionary to some European countries, it would be important for my husband and I to have equal authority in the marriage and in decision-making power in the house and community. If a woman were to play a subservient role in some European cultures, this might make Christianity repulsive to its people. Again, this is just Abby talking. This prompts another question: Is the church's insistence on male-only elders and pastors reviling the word of God in America?

Westfall goes on to explain how the mission's minded submission of women goes hand in hand with Paul's instructions to those in authority to serve like Christ did, sanctifying/cleaning/caring for others as a servant or woman does her master's feet/body. Paul's instructions to those in hierarchical authority—husbands and masters—is to see others as part of themselves, worthy of equal care and respect as they give their own bodies (Westfall, 165). With this kind of language, Paul redefines leadership positions as a servant's position equal to what women and servants were already doing in the home and in house church.

"...both wives and husbands are servants to each other, with only one lord and master, who has full authority and power over them" (Westfall, 166).

An Interesting Side Note That Seems Important

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1 Timothy 5:14 uses a Greek word for "to be master of a house or head of a family" when describing women's household management. This is not the previously mentioned Greek word for "head," which means source, but the Greek word that would be translated into English as "head of the house." Interestingly, this word is being used to describe a woman's job. As mentioned in the first chapter, women were in charge of the domestic sphere. They ruled there, so to speak.

1 Timothy 3:4-5, 12 and Titus 1:5-6 mention household management as an important qualification for leadership in the house church. "Even the Greco-Roman household codes saw women as having authority in the domestic sphere, while men had complimentary authority in the public sphere . . . A woman's management and leadership in the home included the proactive practice of hospitality in teaching, hosting house church, caring for needs (visitors, orphans, and widows), and evangelizing. These functions represented the front line in the advancement of the gospel; most of the activities of the Christian community took place in the domestic sphere in the house church and the exercise of hospitality" (Westfall, 163-165). Westfall cites Oseik and Macdonald's chapter on "Women as Agents of Expansion," in Woman's Place, and Robert Banks Paul's Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in Their Historical Setting. 

This is often missed when we read the qualifications for leaders in scripture because we tend to think of churches in the public sphere instead of in the homes. When the New Testament was being written, churches met in homes where women were the domestic rulers, so to speak.

"It is inaccurate to read Paul as if he did not allow women to have authority or that every reference to authority must have a male referent; most women had multiple roles where they were both in submission and in authority" (Westall, 164). 

A Note About Galatians 3:28

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Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." 

I'm rather impressed with Westfall's take on this verse. She first points out how some take this verse to mean that Paul intended liberation and equality of women to take place in the Greco-Roman society, but she disagrees with this, saying that that is not supported by the book of Galatians.

She argues that Paul's intent was the church's early formation and the establishment of the kingdom of God within their culture. Thus, Galatians is about Greeks being included in the kingdom of God and in church community without altering themselves through circumcision. Paul is not saying that everyone becomes homogenous in Christ, but that the requirements that previously excluded the Greeks from Jewish worship are no more. The relationship between Jews and Greeks was transformed (Westfall, 168-9). 

Likewise for the other two groups—slaves & free, male & female. Westfall states that this statement doesn't mean no one has a gender in Christ, but rather no one is excluded from being an active, empowered member of the body of Christ.

She takes some time addressing Lewis Johnson's take on Galatians 3:28 in "Role Distinctions" in Piper and Grudem's Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. She quotes Johnson as claiming that Galatians 3:28 is talking about a "person's standing before God in righteousness by faith" and not about transformed gender relationships (Johnson as quoted in Westfall, 169). She argues Johnson's explanation doesn't take into account the effects of Gentiles' inclusion into the church family, which meant becoming active participants and using their gifts for the edification of the body. 

Westfall goes on to say that if people argue that Paul meant for social changes to occur between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, but not between male and female, then "women would be the only disadvantaged group that did not experience a status change among the people of God as a result of their 'standing before God in righteousness by faith,'" (Westfall, 170). 

She states that the restrictions of women in the later church days was actually a social change from the Old Testament. She quotes a legal textbook in a collection of canon law published around 1140 CE. This quote is fascinating and so sad, so I'm sticking it in here.

"In the Old Testament much was permitted which today [i.e., in the New Testament] is abolished, through the perfection of grace. So if [in the Old Testament] women were permitted to judge the people, today because of sin, which woman brought into the world, women are admonished by the Apostle to be careful to practice a modest restraint, to be subject to men and to veil themselves as a sign of subjugation." (Decretum Gratiani as quoted in Westfall, 170)

"This is an excellent example of how, in the history of interpretation, Paul's doctrine of grace resulted in a literal freedom from the law for male Gentiles in the church, but an increase in law/restrictions for women, so that Paul's vocabulary was turned on its head by inconsistent hermeneutics" (Westfall, 171).

Gosh, this makes me sick to my stomach. So sad.

She finishes this chapter with a discussion about "over-realized eschatology," which I'm not including in here because my brain hurts. If you're interested in "over-realized eschatology" and your brain doesn't hurt, you can read this chapter for yourself.

Click on the link to read the next summary available after March 22th.

Westfall, Cynthia Long. Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle's Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2016)