Paul, Feminism & the last days

14-07-2025 - Posted by Geert-Jan
Originally posted on Februari 25, 2021 - by Andre Piet

The second letter to Timothy is Paul’s spiritual testament. He wrote this personal letter in anticipation of his execution (4:6). It is a powerful writing in which he encourages his younger, faithful co-worker to remain steadfast and not to go along with the downward trend. All in Asia had deserted Paul (1:15), and it is against this backdrop that the apostle warns that things in Christendom would go from bad to worse. Eventually, they would not endure sound teaching (4:3). In chapter 3, Paul predicts in detail the moral and spiritual condition in the last days of the Christian world (“having a form of godliness”). Not just developments in “later times” as he had previously pointed out to Timothy (1Tim.4:1), but “last days.” Superlative. The description bears a striking resemblance to that in Romans 1, with the difference that in Romans 1, it speaks of the ‘Gentile world’ that does not acknowledge GOD. This similarity demonstrates how much the decline of Christendom in its final phase will have reached a low point.

Then follows in 2 Timothy 3 a pair of verses with which most interpreters struggle. Below is a fairly literal working translation based on the ISA-interlinear.

6 For from among them are those who creep into houses and take captive little women, loaded with sins, led by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth…

What phenomenon is Paul referring to here? Let’s first examine the text carefully, discussing it clause by clause.

for from among them are those…

Paul wrote in verse 1 in the future tense (“perilous times will come”), but here he writes in the present tense. However, it is true that the people he refers to come from the group he had predicted in verses 1 to 5. The “from among them” refers to the group he mentioned in the preceding verse (:5). Paul describes future “last days,” but he already perceives the outlines of them in his time. The developments were already present in seed form for Timothy, but only in the last days would they be fully developed. Thus, this letter would be more relevant in the (distant) future than in the days when Paul wrote these words.

who creep into houses…

Those whom Paul describes creep into houses. Sneaky, then. The intrusion occurs ‘under the radar,’ without the master of the house apparently noticing.

and take captive little women…

The verb used here unmistakably means “to take captive.” The verb (Str.163) appears three more times in the NT (Luke 21:24; Rom. 7:23; 2 Cor. 10:5) and is usually translated as such. It is a military term. The idea is that the women who were in the houses are taken away by the intruders. The Dutch NBG translation rendering “to win over” is therefore incorrect. The Dutch NBV translation is unfortunately even freer:

Some of them worm their way into entire households and gain control over women…

But it’s not about ‘worming their way into’ but about ‘sneaking into.’ And not just about ‘gaining control over’ but about ’taking captive.’ Also, Paul does not call the victims ‘women’ but…

little women…

The diminutive for women stands out. It appears only here in the NT. By “little women,” we are obviously not to think of the small stature of the involved ladies but rather that it expresses contempt. It is also not Paul who speaks disparagingly about the women; the intruders do that. Have they convinced women that their position in the homes is inferior and, under that pretense, taken them away?

loaded with sins and led by various impulses

What follows is a description of these “little women” who have been taken captive. The first is that they are loaded with sins and led by various impulses. The “and” can best be understood here as explanatory: “… who are loaded with sins, namely led by various impulses…” Not feelings (emotions or desires) themselves are sinful, but being led by them is. Once on that path, sins accumulate—there is no end to the missteps that result. Feelings need control. Paul describes a primarily female pitfall because in women, feelings generally come more to the fore than in men. Their more developed emotional life is their strength (e.g., in raising small children) but where leadership is concerned, it is more of a weakness.

always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth…

“Always learning” would be considered positive in almost any other context. In the Jewish world that formed both Paul’s and Timothy’s background, ‘learning’ (studying) is considered so important that it even surpasses acts of philanthropy. The value of learning is that one increasingly understands the truth. The “always learning” here, however, is a disqualification since it does not lead to the knowledge of the truth. In fact, they cannot even come to the knowledge of the truth.

The reason for this inability to come to the knowledge of the truth was read in the previous sentence: they are led by various impulses. Where feeling and sentiment become leading, one is by definition no longer receptive to the truth. The truth is (proverbially) hard, and that’s a good thing. Because that qualifies the truth as a rock on which one can stand and build. Feeling and sentiment, on the other hand, are soft, malleable, and movable. The word ‘emotion’ is also derived from ‘motion,’ which means movement (think of mood swings). Feeling and truth are independent of each other. Facts are not influenced by feelings—they stand entirely apart. Recognizing this is where “knowledge of the truth” begins.

The women who are “always learning” have been taken from their homes and are therefore no longer primarily mother and wife, but as “always learning.” Perhaps under the pretense of liberation, but Paul qualifies it as “taken captive.” Because she has ended up in a position where she does not belong and where things are expected of her that do not suit her and therefore chafe.

just as… so these also oppose the truth…

From verse 8, the description is no longer about the women but about those who entered the houses. Because “these” in Greek is masculine, as is the earlier “those who creep into houses” (:6). Just as the always learning women cannot come to the knowledge of the truth, so the intruders oppose the truth. Just as the Egyptian magicians opposed Moses by imitating him with their tricks and magic, so the movement of the house intruders opposes the truth.

overview

With the above analysis of the text, we can now sharpen the picture. The common attempts by interpreters to understand 3:6 and 7 in a church-historical context, in my opinion, do not do justice to the context in which Paul sets this down. The context implies that it concerns a characteristic movement in Christendom in its final phase. Where I in this blog silently assume that we are (now almost two millennia after Christ’s departure) in that final phase. Let me summarize the profile of the movement as discussed above, point by point:

1. they enter homes without the man noticing;
2. they speak with contempt about women in the homes;
3. women are led outside the homes;
4. women are taught to be led by feelings;
5. women would always be educated;
6. the women are blocked from coming to the knowledge of the truth.

feminism

I know of only one movement from the last century that meets this profile in all respects, and that is feminism. A movement that…

1. could succeed because the man neglected his role as guardian and master of the house (family);
2. speaks with contempt about the position of the woman as wife and mother;
3. promotes that the woman would find her life’s fulfillment outside the home;
4. advocates that a person should first listen to feelings;
5. argues that women should always be educated for a profession outside the home;
6. due to its soft (emotion-oriented) human and world view, is not receptive to (Biblical) truth.

Instead of an explanation that seeks support in vague, extra-biblical references in the past, by closely following the text, we arrive, in my opinion, at one of the most characteristic movements of the past hundred years! And precisely where we might expect it: in ’the Christian West’ where the path of truth has been lost. So that Paul’s description in 2 Timothy 3:6 and 7 fits like a puzzle piece: in terms of time (“last days”) as well as place (> the Christian world). Without needing to mention the word feminism, we recognize its characteristics in Paul’s striking description!

Delen: