You have got to be kidding me! All we know about this woman is in this one verse where he says she was like a mother to him as well. Not a spiritual mother but a mother mother. Perhaps she was very nurturing to him. Eddie Hyatt however is on a mission to re-write the clear instructive passages we see in the key verses today so he literally invents this addition to scripture where Rufus' mother offers encouragement and counsel to Paul. While the connection of Rufus from Romans to Mark is interesting it bears no weight to his argument that we should discard the key verses.
"What About 1 Timothy 2:12? Some will surely quote I Timothy 2:12 as a counter to all the above biblical passages. It reads, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to usurp authority over a man, but to be silent." First of all, the above passages about women must be given equal consideration with this passage. Many have made the error of making 1 Timothy 2:12 a canon within the canon when it comes to women and forcing every other passage to fit their interpretation of this one passage. That is not good hermeneutics. Secondly, it is obvious from 1 Timothy 1:3 that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy to address the issue of false doctrine that was being spread in the church in Ephesus. His concern is not women in leadership per se, but the propagation of false doctrine by both men and women. First Timothy was not written as a manual of church order to be observed by all churches at all times, but to address the unique situation that existed in Ephesus at the time. This is borne out by the fact that "authority" in 2:12 is a translation of the Greek word authentein, a word that is found only here in the entire New Testament. If Paul was addressing the normal exercise of authority in the church, we would expect him to use exousia, which he and other New Testament writers use over 100 times. That Paul uses this strange Greek word that neither he nor any other New Testament writer ever used is a clear sign that he is addressing a unique and local situation in Ephesus and is not giving instructions for all churches everywhere. Those who would restrict the role of women in the church cannot claim Paul as an ally or an authority for their stance." -- Eddie Hyatt
Let's sift through the muddy waters Hyatt just presented. First of all, you do not lend equal weight to narrative scripture that does not contain direction as opposed to the key verses which are specific and directive. Secondly Hyatt has failed to produce one scripture that contradicts the key verses and has been caught in many bald faced lies. Considering the man just added to scripture to pretend Rufus's mother provided counsel to Paul, Eddie Hyatt should not be lecturing on good hermeneutics. There is no forcing of scripture with regards to the Corinthians verses which completely corroborate the Timothy scriptures. Hyatt's cultural contextual argument is asinine. The entire bible is written about a specific time or to a specific audience. Do we dismiss all of it then? Does Eddie Hyatt understand what divine inspiration means? Do we toss out all of Timothy then or just the parts Hyatt doesn't like? Remind me again of the importance of sound hermeneutics please. Not to mention that the Corinthians verses validate the Timothy verses. I do not need Paul as an ally -- God wrote the bible. Finally in conclusion:
'An Amazing Word From God. Much of the church has refused to recognize the gifts of its female members and has, thereby, violated Paul's command in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit." As a result of this disobedience, many gifts have lain dormant while millions have perished without Christ, and the church has languished in defeat. In 2010, I awakened very early one morning and, not wanting to awaken Sue, went into an adjoining room where I sat on a sofa enjoying the solitude and quietly communing with the Lord. At some point, I sensed my heart become very still and quiet, and then I heard, "I want you to be more identified with Sue and what she is doing," a reference to her work for the full acceptance of the gifts and callings of women in the church. There was a moment of quietness and I then heard the words, "This message has the power to begin a mass movement from Islam to Christianity, beginning with the women."' -- Eddie Hyatt
God did not say that to you Eddie. Your wickedly deceitful heart did. How can I be sure? Because God does not contradict His Word. It is not quenching the spirit to obey the Word of God. Beloved, this topic gives me no joy but we have to follow what God says whether we like it or not. On the one hand we have clear, unambiguous directive scriptures about what God wants and why He wants it that way. On the other side just look at the scriptural gymnastics Eddie Hyatt had to employ just to try and sound quasi-biblical! Deborah, who represents the only time in recorded history of a woman in leadership over men is labeled as a common occurrence. He presents prophets and co-laborers as proof we should ignore the key verses. He turns Mary Magdalene into an apostle because Jesus told her to go tell the others. He turns Pheobe into a pastor even though the text says no such thing. He seats Priscilla above her husband because Paul mentions her name first four of the six times he refers to the couple. He turns Junias into a woman and the into an apostle when he was neither. He took the women praying in Philippi and promoted them into imaginary leadership positions. He took Rufus's mother and turned her into Paul's Consigleiri. These are the scriptural gymnastics Eddie Hyatt must engage in for his stance to have a remote chance of being taken seriously. This gymnastics routine is getting old and the bible will never let him stick the landing.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- March 20, 2019
