“1 Timothy 2”
The True Creation Story
1 Timothy 2:13-14
13 For it was Adam who was
first created, and then
Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the
woman was deceived and became a wrongdoer.
In Ephesus, Artemis was the ruling goddess
and the Ephesians subscribed to her version of the creation story. Artemis is the known as the daughter of Zeus
and the twin sister of Apollo. The story
of Artemis’ beginning is that she was born first, and then assisted in the
delivery of her twin brother. As a
result of this narrative, the women of Ephesus assumed a position of
superiority over the men. The Ephesians worshiped Artemis as the fertility goddess and the goddess that aided in
successful childbirth.
Paul explains to the Ephesians, in
his letter to Timothy, that Adam was created first and that woman came from man. Jewish people would have responded to this
information with looks of confusion because this was common knowledge among the
Jews. However, for the Ephesians, this
was a new teaching. The doctrine that
had been taught to them was that woman was created first, and man came from
woman. Considering the fact that Artemis
is a false god, the Ephesian account of creation was incorrect and needed to be
changed.
There is a famous quote that says,
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” So it was going to take more than a verbal
teaching to get the people’s thinking on the right track. Timothy was responsible for dispelling false
teaching and Paul sent him the written ammunition that he would need to adjust
the city’s incorrect understanding of the creation story.
As Paul continued to write, he
acknowledged that Adam was not the one who had been deceived by the serpent;
Eve was. Although the women of Ephesus
were well educated, the level of superiority that they had over the men would
have suffered a major blow as Paul reviewed the activity that had occurred in
the garden. History does not indicate
that the Ephesians were teaching that the man was the one deceived, but Paul
chose to highlight this bit of information.
The knowledge of this deception would have caused the women to develop a
more humbling view of their position as well as the position of the men of
Ephesus.
In conclusion, although cultural
practices may change over time, the word of God is, has been, and will be a
constant in the lives of believers.
