Monday, September 13, 2010

Complementarian Genetics


I’ve heard or read complementarians argue based on 1 Timothy 2:9-15 that the reason (or "a" reason) that women cannot teach men or have or exercise authority over them is because "the woman" (Eve), and not Adam, was (completely) deceived, which shows that women are more deceivable than men.* (Plus, they've come to be "in transgression" as well.)

So, would this be Complementarian Genetics 101:
The "x chromosome" carries the "deception gene."

The "y chromosome," however, carries the "anti-deception gene."

So if a person has two x chromosomes, and is therefore a female, they are by nature "completely deceivable" - which is one way you can translate the compound εξαπαταω (exapataô) in 1 Timothy 2:14 in contrast to the plain απαταω (apataô) in the same verse.

However, if a person has one x and one y chromosome, and is therefore a male, they have a genetic defense against being completely deceived. It is for this reason that only those with both an x and a y chromosome are to be entrusted with positions of authority in the church, and only they can teach both men and women.
If this is not Complementarian Genetics, why isn’t it?


* Or sometimes, perhaps because they realize how ridiculous it would sound, they just skip explaining that part of this passage. See, e.g., Silent in the Church: Why Can’t Women Preach? 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Corinthians 14 by J. Ligon Duncan III where he writes:
...That is what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy 2:11.

And then in verses 12-15, he reiterates it. "I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." And then he gives his rationale for it. I won't go into the specifics of that rationale, except to say this. Isn't it interesting that when Paul gives his rationale for this, he doesn't say, "Because this is something that I thought up." He doesn't even say, "Because this is what Jesus says." He goes all the way back to the first book of the Bible, all the way back to the Torah written by Moses, and he goes all the way back to the beginning and to the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall. And he says, the reason that this is to be this way in Ephesus is not because of some ad hoc problem that you have, but because this is the way that God made men and women to relate. When that way is not followed, let me tell you a little story from Genesis 3. In other words, Paul says that the reversal of roles that is contemplated when the all male qualified teaching office is violated in the church is precisely the same circumstance that we see played out in the Fall of man where Adam abdicated his responsibility as the covenant keeper and Eve started a chain that led to the fall of man. So, this is his rationale for women not teaching or exercising authority in the public assembly.