On 13 April 2010, at an LLSTA training seminar in Riga, Professor Tim Schramm from Hamburg gave a lecture, “Exegesis of the biblical texts traditionally used to oppose the ordination of women”. The professor began with notes on his hermeneutical approach.
- The Bible, my Bible, is a gift given by God, but its texts did not fall from heaven like rain. Rather, these texts were composed over a process of about a thousand years. They were collected, edited (that is, changed) and finally canonized. The Bible is a book made by human hands with a long history; it came into being only gradually.
- The Bible is not simply a book, but a “small library” with rich content and remarkable diversity. The Old Testament, like the New Testament, is “polyphonic” – like a choir with many voices. Differing notions of God, humanity and the world are sounded out. The assertions of the Bible are by no means consistent; each has its own viewpoint, they coalesce with their own era, they differ substantially and are often glaringly contradictory. The book of books confronts us with many questions. It is not a collection of easy answers.
- All the texts of the Bible – both the clear passages and the difficult and enigmatic ones – deserve our attention and respect. Every method of explaining them is welcome. Since the texts are ancient and individual and have a long prior history, they call for historical-critical exegesis in every form. As Paul said: We are called to be free – including in our attitudes towards the Bible, and in our attitudes towards Paul and his letters.
- What can we find in the Bible? In what way do you read the biblical texts? Do you accept historical-critical exegesis? And are you willing to question, criticize and correct certain verses? Martin Luther did so when, on theological grounds, he rejected the Epistle of James: it teaches justification through works and contradicts the teaching of Christ.
- What criterion do you use to evaluate the biblical affirmations? In the debate over the ordination of women, we will come to the conclusion of whether we are ready to disclose our hermeneutical approaches.
- The Jesus tradition, and thus the early Christian movement, was “inclusive” in the sense that it included everyone, and it can therefore be called “egalitarian”. It challenged and resisted the dominant patriarchal ethos, because this movement practised equal leadership (Schussler Fiorenza / Crossan / Theissen).
- Paul’s authentic letters bear witness to a similar notion, although their setting is no longer rural Palestine but urbanized centres where Christian communities began to flourish. On the theological basis of Gal 3:26-28, all Christians are equal. Women and men have equal rights, which can be realized both in their private lives and in public life, for example in marriage (1 Cor 7) or in offices where women are just as active as men, without restrictions (1 Cor 11:14).
- The Pauline letters (2 Thess/Col/Eph) and the pseudo-Pauline letters (1 Tim and 2 Tim/Tit) present a different picture. Here we encounter – expressis verbis (explicitly) or, reading between the lines, a notion that resembles interpolation (the insertion of words) in 1 Cor 14:34 and following – that is, the orthodox Church compares it to the patriarchal family – “equality in Christ” between women and men, slaves and free people turns into relations of subordination. The spiritual office became exclusive – a male privilege, see 1 Tim. 3:1-13, 4:14, 5:17 and following, as well as Ignatius, I Clement. Heterodox groups – that is, as they were labelled by the victorious Catholic Church – kept to the Pauline baptismal formula, and among them were women pastors and priests.