Greetings from Lucindale Bible Chapel, in South Australia. Many thanks to the three of you for this wonderful conversation. Dr. Glahn, thank you for researching and writing your book. You are continuing the rich and under-recognised discipline of John Turtle Wood (1821-1890) who just "knew" those inscriptions buried deep in the dust and soil of Ephesus had important things to teach us. Mike and Aimee, I really like the concept of "Birds of a Feather". May the Lord continue to lead you and to use you for His glory. Yours Because His, Philip Galley
Things I learned from this episode: Amy had her mind blown, Michael is good with pithy succinctness, and Sandra prefers electronic research to looking through card catalogues. 1 Tim 2 has always been a very difficult passage for me, and Sandra Glahn, Ken Bailey, etc. have brought up some very good and plausible interpretations that contextualize the passage. Nothing beats learning things while being entertained. You go girl.
An ongoing tension is revisited here with Dr. Glahn's groundbreaking work. In order to get to the truth of one verse (1 Timothy 2:15), we need a thorough understanding of an ancient goddess and 400 years of history that led to a regional cult. We need understanding of a possible idiom (will be saved/delivered through childbearing) to properly understand that Paul is using the words of of Ephesus' Artemis culture to make a point about the superior saving work of Christ. In other words, the average person sitting at home reading their Bible will never get to that understanding on their own. As a pastor, advising my congregants to go home, read their Bible and trust the Holy Spirit for revelation seems ill-advised without also telling them that we require scholarship to help see us through. Admitting that to people who have no mind for scholastics or intellectualism is the tension of which I speak. It is a sobering thing to process. Thanks to all of you for this, though.
I think what Paul is saying doesn’t need outside knowledge to understand. The context of Paul’s letters and his specific letter in the case of Timothy gives the context, heresy. What specific heresy? Some form of Gnosticism.
Praise God for the 'tension' of which you speak, Warren. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and the honour of kings is to search a matter out."
fascinating. unfortunately, it will be difficult for this work to be translated into Portuguese (Brazil). may god bless us with great books by people really committed to the knowledge of the Scriptures!
I have to admit, I was a bit lost in this discussion. I have read a great deal about Artemis working through Clinton Arnold's Ephesians in Magic and Power and his Ephesians commentary (Zondervan Exegetical). I still don't get her main point other than Artemis was not only a fertility goddess. I appreciate Mike Bird's summaries, but I needed more clarity.
This is my interpretation on it. I think Dr. Glahn is concluding that the Artemis of first-century Ephesus is not seen as a fertility goddess at all. She is seen as a goddess of virginity/chastity and also a goddess of midwifery. The Ephesian people were looking to her for assistance in helping women deliver babies to term without the woman dying or as a fallback, killing them with her arrows, aka, quickly and painlessly. They may have used an idiom or adage "will be saved/delivered through the childbearing" as a way of saying their lives will be spared by Artemis during their pregnancy. Paul (according to Dr. Glahn) may have taken that phrase and built on it. Through a life devoted to Christ and His holiness, women would be eternally saved as opposed to simply saved from a painful death in delivering a baby. It was his way rhetorically to demonstrate the superiority of Christ to Artemis.
Excellent. I've pre-ordered my copy. Re: "saved through childbearing", Aimee might be interested to know my former OPC- PSE pastor taught that this means "women are generally sanctified through childbirth".
Greetings from Lucindale Bible Chapel, in South Australia. Many thanks to the three of you for this wonderful conversation. Dr. Glahn, thank you for researching and writing your book. You are continuing the rich and under-recognised discipline of John Turtle Wood (1821-1890) who just "knew" those inscriptions buried deep in the dust and soil of Ephesus had important things to teach us. Mike and Aimee, I really like the concept of "Birds of a Feather". May the Lord continue to lead you and to use you for His glory.
Yours Because His,
Philip Galley
Love this!!!! Can’t wait to read the book and praying that more people will write similar books.
Glad you liked it!
Things I learned from this episode: Amy had her mind blown, Michael is good with pithy succinctness, and Sandra prefers electronic research to looking through card catalogues. 1 Tim 2 has always been a very difficult passage for me, and Sandra Glahn, Ken Bailey, etc. have brought up some very good and plausible interpretations that contextualize the passage. Nothing beats learning things while being entertained. You go girl.
Thank you to all 3. Wonderfull history and education. I had very little knowledge of artemis . Thank you as always for Great content Mr. Bird!
An ongoing tension is revisited here with Dr. Glahn's groundbreaking work. In order to get to the truth of one verse (1 Timothy 2:15), we need a thorough understanding of an ancient goddess and 400 years of history that led to a regional cult. We need understanding of a possible idiom (will be saved/delivered through childbearing) to properly understand that Paul is using the words of of Ephesus' Artemis culture to make a point about the superior saving work of Christ. In other words, the average person sitting at home reading their Bible will never get to that understanding on their own. As a pastor, advising my congregants to go home, read their Bible and trust the Holy Spirit for revelation seems ill-advised without also telling them that we require scholarship to help see us through. Admitting that to people who have no mind for scholastics or intellectualism is the tension of which I speak. It is a sobering thing to process. Thanks to all of you for this, though.
I think what Paul is saying doesn’t need outside knowledge to understand. The context of Paul’s letters and his specific letter in the case of Timothy gives the context, heresy. What specific heresy? Some form of Gnosticism.
Praise God for the 'tension' of which you speak, Warren. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and the honour of kings is to search a matter out."
This interview = eye-opening and enjoyable!
Great conversation. Looking forward to new insights from the half million inscriptions.
Great, two minutes in I was looking forward to reading this book this week, now I have to wait until October! Ha! loved this!
Bill, pre-order!
@@earlychristianhistorywithm8684 Just did, thanks for reminding me!
fascinating. unfortunately, it will be difficult for this work to be translated into Portuguese (Brazil). may god bless us with great books by people really committed to the knowledge of the Scriptures!
Wow!!!!
I have to admit, I was a bit lost in this discussion. I have read a great deal about Artemis working through Clinton Arnold's Ephesians in Magic and Power and his Ephesians commentary (Zondervan Exegetical). I still don't get her main point other than Artemis was not only a fertility goddess. I appreciate Mike Bird's summaries, but I needed more clarity.
This is my interpretation on it. I think Dr. Glahn is concluding that the Artemis of first-century Ephesus is not seen as a fertility goddess at all. She is seen as a goddess of virginity/chastity and also a goddess of midwifery. The Ephesian people were looking to her for assistance in helping women deliver babies to term without the woman dying or as a fallback, killing them with her arrows, aka, quickly and painlessly. They may have used an idiom or adage "will be saved/delivered through the childbearing" as a way of saying their lives will be spared by Artemis during their pregnancy. Paul (according to Dr. Glahn) may have taken that phrase and built on it. Through a life devoted to Christ and His holiness, women would be eternally saved as opposed to simply saved from a painful death in delivering a baby. It was his way rhetorically to demonstrate the superiority of Christ to Artemis.
Excellent. I've pre-ordered my copy. Re: "saved through childbearing", Aimee might be interested to know my former OPC- PSE pastor taught that this means "women are generally sanctified through childbirth".
Dawn, hmm, yeah, that's a weird view to hold, never heard that before.
19:19 The promise is in Genesis 3:15.
BS