Over the last couple of years, 1 Timothy 5:9 has become a popular verse among some folks in the Churches of Christ. Strange.
In the New International Version, it reads as follows: “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband,” . . . The character sketch of the widow who may be placed on the list obviously continues. But verse 9 is enough for those who want to make a point. And their point goes like this:
What group of elders would want to say, “We’ve decided that, as a church, we’re no longer going to help any widow of the congregation unless she is--in the words of 1 Timothy 5:9-- over sixty.”? What church would stand for a decision like that? Wouldn’t we think it was foreign to the Spirit of Christ for a group of elders to announce a policy like that? And yet, there it is in black-and-white in your Bibles! If a widow is only 59, don’t help her.
That’s a near verbatim statement from a recently-preached, wide-distributed sermon which, of course, has a larger point to make. And that larger point goes like this:
When we come across a passage that says “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent” (1 Timothy 2:12), maybe we should treat that statement the same way we treat the one in 1 Timothy 5:9. Paul didn’t intend for it to be applied in every church in every time. Because if he did, then in order to be consistent, we would have to cut off all widows 60 and under from services and assistance provided by the church. So, again, this means that twenty centuries later we have the same right, even responsibility, to look at 1 Timothy 2:12 in a different way, just as we look at 1 Timothy 5:9 in a different way.
I’d like to suggest that 1 Timothy 5:9 says no such thing. As the week goes on, I'll explain why.
Widows over 60...is that similar to the Age of Accountability being 12?
ReplyDelete- amy clifford
Thanks for your notes, girls.
ReplyDeleteAmy, it's always good to hear from you. I always remember you and yours fondly.
Dee, thank you for the link. I did a quick read of Keith's post and will have to go back and look more closely later. It strikes me as the sort of thing that, in the last 10-20 years, has come out in a few long essays and books on the passage in question.
In the 2 or 3 posts on this topic, I don't intend necessarily to uphold a traditional reading of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 (although that would be where I'd come out these days).
My main concern here is that a misrepresentation of 1 Timothy 5:9 has led to its becoming an almost celebrated passage (here and there in the blogs), and is currently (ab)used in order to say, "Paul didn't really mean, for all time, Don't help widows 60 and under. Of course, that means we can also think of most everything in 1 Timothy 2:9-15 as being culturally and temporally bound only to the original audience of the letter.
What I want to say in these posts is simple: the above line of reasoning is no good. It's major premise is false.
You got me hooked. I'll be back, :-)
ReplyDeleteWe just might agree ...
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine