In the section defining the words “gender” and “sexes” I described how difficult it can be to come to a common definition about even some very basic words. There is a lot of work that needs to be done just to have a common ground surrounding a word like “gender” in our own society, how much more work would need to be done then to correctly understand what was meant from words used in ancient or first century texts. There is a severe danger in assuming the definition behind your neighbor's use of the word “gender,” and so an even sharper danger when assuming the definition of words or phrases used by a first century Roman Jew. What are we to do?
Biblical scholarship has come up with several systems of study to circumvent such misunderstandings. These systems of study and interpretation are called exegesis. The goal of exegesis is to understand what the author actually intended their words to mean when they were being first spoken or written down. Clearly this work is vital because we do not live in ancient Jewish or first century roman contexts, so we will not have a shared understanding of their ideas, words, or phrases and thus must work to uncover what they meant at the time.
Last year my church sent me to the Charles Simeon Trust to learn a method they teach to exegete a passage as you’re preparing to preach expositionally. As I entered the conference incredibly skeptical, I left convinced that theirs is a helpful and needed structure for properly exegeting scripture. Although they do not put forth anything novel (indeed their approach is widely accepted though it has gone by different names) I will none-the-less give a quick overview of their approach to exegesis, which I will be adopting as I work through these passages.
This section is helpful for this thesis because, we will come to see, many of the false interpretations of these passages arise due to an insufficient method of study. So, laying out this method will also give us language to identify where and why misinterpretations occur. This has been incredibly helpful for me, because Paul’s letters have so many imperatives and “you” statements, that we easily and frequently skip the exegetical process and move straight from describing what the text says to interpreting what it means for us now. Such a move is the result of insufficient exegetical work and not actually how most pastors approach any other passage of scripture, so we should not be content approaching these texts in such a way either.
The first thing to be aware of when we study a text is our frameworks. In proper study, we should allow the text to create our framework, rather than letting it inform our interpretation of the text. What I mean in this case is, regardless of where you stand on the “egalitarian vs complementarian” spectrum, we should always set that conviction to the side (as best we can) when studying the Word, allowing it to speak to us without being filtered through our presuppositions. The best way to start this process: pray for the Spirit to do that work in you.
After asking the Spirit to speak His Word to us, we can approach the text at its surface level. What is it saying? Are there words that aren’t clear that maybe we need to do a little digging on? This is the simple first step: read and comprehend the words. It seems simple, but it’s a necessary step. Often we’ll have a preference regarding a Bible translation when we read, this is the moment where it is usually helpful to seek additional translations or consult another resource like a lexicon. I usually go through the passage on Biblehub.com, taking full advantage of Strong’s lexicon on words that could be convoluted or otherwise not straightforward.11
After feeling like we have a comprehension of the actual words, we’re ready to begin the exegetical process. Our first goal is to answer the question “what did these words mean to their original audience?” This is not as easy as it may sound. As we’ve already concluded, words only mean what they mean in a given cultural context. Those meanings can change rapidly, especially when a translation process is involved, when significant time has passed, or when a cultural boundary has been crossed. For a better understanding of this, I’d refer you to a Bibleproject podcast episode that I found helpful: episode 250: Genesis 1 and the Origins of the Universe - Ancient Cosmology E1.10
In order to ascertain a text’s original meaning, Charles Simeon Trust determines two vital factors to identify: 1) context 2) structure. Let me unpack each one quickly.
After the three prongs of context have been identified for a passage, we carry our conclusions with us and move on to identifying the passage’s structure. Knowing the structure of a passage is a vital component of exegesis because it reveals the means by which the author directs the audience to their aim/intent for said passage. Said differently, we as modern readers must track alongside the author’s every step toward their conclusion, observing the route they took to get there. When we’ve done this, we can then synthesize their argument in the way the author intended.
This is not always easy because the Bible contains many genres of literature. Each genre has its own style of constructing an argument and even each author a unique take on the genre. We must not assume that a passage will walk logically from point A to B to C to D and finally conclude with their main message, E. This is not always the case. But after we’ve identified the actual structure of a passage, then we can walk through the argument as the author constructed it. If we do so whilst living within the context we’ve reconstructed for the passage, we should reach its correct interpretation, the message the author intended for their original audience.
This is the work of exegesis; however, a proper interpretation of a given Scripture for us today does not end there. Once we’ve identified the author’s intended message for the audience of their day, we must then identify the theology of the passage. Here we ask questions like “what is the theology that is being taught, assumed, or setting the foundation in this section?” This takes work, but it’s necessary for us to identify the theology of the passage lest we end up with a message sounding like “the Bible says this, so do it.” The beauty of Scripture is that God is revealing Himself, so to skip this step is to make the Bible be all about us, rather than the revelation of God.
But the beauty of Christian theology is that it is tangibly known in the gospel. So we must allow the underlying, assumed, or taught theology of a passage to move us toward Christ, because it’s our conviction that what Jesus said is true when he spoke to the Jewish leaders in John 5 and said, “You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me...” So, because the true God has become incarnate in Jesus, in Him theology finds its physical manifestation and in all scripture.
Another way of saying this is, “how does this passage preach the gospel of Jesus Christ?” Because it is the Christian’s conviction that all scripture points to, revolves around, and ultimately finds its gravity in Jesus, we can and must always ask of a passage “how is this illuminated by the gospel?” Or “In what way do we see Jesus glorified here?” Or, my favorite way of asking the question, “if you were running alongside the Ethiopian eunuch’s chariot of Acts 8 and he was reading this passage, how could the Spirit use you to proclaim the truth about God as it’s revealed here?” Asking and correctly answering this question of the passage you’re studying is vital because it ensures that your interpretation will be centered around its actual source of weight and meaning: Jesus.
Now, to be clear, I do not mean that every passage of scripture is an allegory to Christ. What I mean is, every passage of scripture contains some element of the good news about the triune God of Love; He is always found there in His Word. So if we are interpreting scripture and cannot seem to find the good news about Jesus within it, either our imaginations are too small, or our interpretation is erring; the Spirit will always lead us to the Son in a right interpretation.
Finally, and only once we have both discerned the author’s aim through context and structure and interpreted the biblical theology of the text, can we then apply the passage homiletically to ourselves. This process is rather simple, but it is where the beauty of scripture’s unending fount of love and wisdom bubbles out for endless generations. The author’s aim, now directed toward and through the theology that culminates in the gospel of Jesus Christ, can be interpreted in a way that applies to us. The important thing in this interpretative step is that we retain the heart of the author’s original aim as we move to our own application.
If, at the end of a particular exegesis, it seems that Paul’s point in writing a passage is to tell his audience they ought to “live free lives out of the abundant grace you have experienced in Christ;” that should be the main message we receive as well. But the application of that message will be different in every context. For Paul’s original audience, their application of that message might be, “to extend Jesus’ grace to my neighbors, I won’t eat meat sacrificed to idols.” For us in our context, that application wouldn’t make sense. But it might make sense for us to say “to extend Jesus’ grace to my neighbors, I won’t pick up extra shifts at work so that I can spend evenings with them.” As long as the application is congruent with Paul’s aim “live freely out of abundant grace” and coming from the heart of the gospel that “it’s from and for the glory of Jesus that grace has come,” then it will be a challenge not to apply the aim of the passage correctly.
So, it is with this structure that I will be exegeting the “complementarian proof texts” in the coming section. For each passage we will:
So in every passage we will follow these steps, for the exegetical process is a safeguard for us to avoid dangerous and false teachings. In all of this, however, I want to acknowledge that it is ultimately only the work of the Holy Spirit that can bring about proper Biblical interpretation. So let us walk humbly before our God as we ask Him to do an awesome work in our lives, leading us to love Him more through these passages. Now would be a great time to stop reading and pray.
Introduction to a Redeemed Exegesis of the 6 Major Complementarian Proof Texts
In this section I’ll be exegeting the 6 major “complementarian proof texts” to show that, when properly interpreted, they are indeed congruent with a redeemed humanity viewpoint of the sexes.
Please remember that this is not an attack toward individuals and believers who are humbly seeking to be obedient to the Lord but have landed in another place. It is simply an exegesis of a handful of passages that have been historically misinterpreted due to the existing gender frameworks that have overshadowed the Word, and so prevented us from seeing the right interpretation.
So even if you’re firmly grounded in one of those camps, I would encourage you to humbly set your framework aside and engage in a thought experiment with me. I’ll be the first to admit that what I expected to find before doing this work and what I actually found in doing it were not the same. I actually expected to find myself moved toward either complementarianism or egalitarianism, but in hindsight I should not have been surprised that the Lord moved me away from an interpretation that fuels the plights of human striving and toward the goodness of His grace. So with that, I’d encourage you to grab a Bible and do this work alongside me, rather than just accepting it on its own merit.