Did Paul really say that women would be saved through having babies?

(Continued from Sept. 13 post)

As we continue to look at what the Bible says about women, I want to investigate what Paul wrote to Timothy as he served in Ephesus.

1 Tim 2:11-15

11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12  I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13  For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Paul is writing to Timothy, who is serving the church in Ephesus, which is the home of the goddess Artemis. Acts 19 tells the story of the city.  Paul preached the gospel there, and people came to Christ, and turned from the worship of idols and from all their false religions.  A silversmith who made idols of Artemis became upset and gathered other workers together to riot and protest Paul to protect the worship of Artemis. This goddess was closely linked to the city of Ephesus.  Artemis was the goddess of fertility.  She was also a very powerful goddess, and the Greeks believed that she had a twin brother, that she was born first, then helped their mother as a midwife in giving birth to her brother.Artemis was a strong, powerful female who outwitted and overpowered male gods. Women in Ephesus had this as their pattern for behavior. This the the context of the letter that Paul wrote to Timothy.
Paul told Timothy, "Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness".

Quietly:  "tranquillity arising from within," causing no disturbance to others. It is translated "quiet", or "peaceable", and is to characterize the spirit or disposition.

Paul is not telling the women to "shut up and listen", but telling them to have a quite and gentle spirit. 

"With submissiveness" indicates to the teaching, not to a person, but to receive the word that is taught and be obedient to that word.  
The same word is used in 2 Cor 9:13
" By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ,

Paul's intention is that the women have an attitude to listen well to the teaching and obey the teaching they hear.

Verse 12 "I do not permit.... exercise authority"

The Greek word translated "authority"is "authentein"; the original meaning was “to murder with ones own hand”, and came to mean to dominate, to hold sway over, to gain the upper hand.  This word is only used this one time. Every other time we see authority, it is from different Greek words that have a milder meaning. 

The better translation would be, “I do not permit a woman to teach with a view to dominating a man.”

Because of the influence of the worship of Artemis, some in Ephesus elevated the feminine above the masculine, so that some women would try to assert their status as women to dominate the men.

In verse 13-15 Paul makes some confusing statements.
Adam was born first...
Paul is not saying that men are superior because Adam was created first. To follow that reasoning, animals would be superior because they were created before Adam. Paul is refuting the thought that was prominent in Ephesus that the because Artemis was born first, the female came first and is superior

It seems also, that Paul here is saying that women should be silent in the church because Eve was deceived. I have heard that theory taught, but that would mean that the death of Christ and the forgiveness it bought does not have the power to cover sin and restore both men and women.  Christ’s death defeated sin and freed us all from the curse. Women are not to live under any curse caused by Eve's deception.
Paul is using Biblcal truth to counter Greek mythology and its influence in the Ephesian church.

Verse 15 seems to say that women can be saved by bearing children. Of course, that is not consistent with the rest of scripture. Women, as well as men, are saved by grace through faith, by the blood of Jesus. So, what is Paul talking about?

At this time, the mortality rate for both babies and women during childbirth was very high, there was no medical treatments available. The Greek and Roman women prayed to Artemis, the goddess of fertility, to keep them safe during childbirth. Women even travelled to Ephesus to have their children so that they could pray and sacrifice to Artemis to keep them safe, to "save" them through  childbirth.

So, when Paul said that a woman would be saved through childbearing if she continued in faith, he is not saying that a woman receives eternal salvation through child bearing.

What he was really saying is that these women do not need to look to Artemis for protection during childbirth. Jesus will protect them, save them, during childbirth as they look to him in faith.

By looking at these passages with information from the original language, in context, looking for consistency with the entire Word of God, we see very different meanings than what most of us have been taught.
My desire in sharing these thoughts is not to start a revolution in our churches. I just want my grand daughters to feel the freedom to be everything that God calls them to be, to do anything that God puts in their hearts. We are women; loved by God, called by God, equipped to do good works that He has planned for us.
Let's be free to do ALL of those things.