Children are a blessing from the Lord...

Sorry, I missed the command in Scripture that we must lactate and dilate.

Not all women feel called to motherhood. That is fine with God, but appears to be a problem for you.

There are lots of moms who never lactate and dilate -- the ones where they and their husbands aren't able to have biological children of their own.

Obviously, these are the moms, along with their husbands, who formed a family through adoption.

Jacqueline:

“Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
(1 Timothy 2:9–15 NAS95)

And in case you didn't get that last verse:

“But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
(1 Timothy 2:15 NAS95)

Dear Sue,

First, every Christian, male and female, Jew and Greek, slave and free is saved only by grace through faith in Christ alone. And there's no need to accuse this statement, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of the balkanization of women or the banishment of single or barren women from the Kingdom of God. On the other hand, given the connection between childbearing and the salvific work of God the Holy Spirit makes here in 1Timothy 2:15, we must not dismiss or lampoon it because we have chosen instead to honor the childless and patronize mothers. That's the postmodern habit of sacrificing the normal on the altar of the abnormal, and for many Biblical reasons, it's time to honor motherhood and question and rebuke childlessness that is rebellion against the Word of God.

So once we get past all the exceptions we want to trot out, what does the Holy Spirit mean, here?

Calvin's comments on the text are particularly helpful:

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15. "But she shall be saved." The weakness of the sex renders women more suspicious and timid, and the preceding statement might greatly terrify and alarm the strongest minds. For these reasons he modifies what he had said by adding a consolation; for the Spirit of God does not accuse or reproach us, in order to triumph over us, When we are covered with shame, but, when we have been cast down, immediately raises us up. It might have the effect (as I have already said) of striking terror into the minds of women, when they were informed that the destruction of the whole human race was attributed to them; for what will be this condemnation? especially when their subjection, as a testimony of the wrath of God, is constantly placed before their eyes. Accordingly, Paul, in order to comfort them and render their condition tolerable, informs them that they continue to enjoy the hope of salvation, though they suffer a temporal punishment. It is proper to observe that the good effect of this consolation is twofold. First, by the hope of salvation held out to them, they are prevented from falling into despair through alarm at the mention of their guilt. Secondly, they become accustomed to endure calmly and patiently the necessity of servitude, so as to submit willingly to their husbands, when they are informed that this kind of obedience is both profitable to themselves and acceptable to God. If this passage be tortured, as Papists are wont to do, to support the righteousness of works, the answer is easy. The Apostle does not argue here about the cause of salvation, and therefore we cannot and must not infer from these words what works deserve; but they only shew in what way God conducts us to salvation, to which he has appointed us through his grace.

"Through child-bearing." To censorious men it might appear absurd, for an Apostle of Christ not only to exhort women to give attention to the birth of offspring, but to press this work as religious and holy to such an extent as to represent it in the light of the means of procuring salvation. Nay, we even see with what reproaches the conjugal bed has been slandered by hypocrites, who wished to be thought more holy than all other men. But there is no difficulty in replying to these sneers of the ungodly. First, here the Apostle does not speak merely about having children, but about enduring all the distresses, which are manifold and severe, both in the birth and in the rearing of children. Secondly, whatever hypocrites or wise men of the world may think of it, when a woman, considering to what she has been called, submits to the condition which God has assigned to her, and does not refuse to endure the pains, or rather the fearful anguish, of parturition, or anxiety about her offspring, or anything else that belongs to her duty, God values this obedience more highly than if, in some other manner, she made a great display of heroic virtues, while she refused to obey the calling of God. To this must be added, that no consolation could be more appropriate or more efficacious then to shew that the very means (so to speak) of procuring salvation are found in the punishment itself.

"If they continue in faith." In consequence of the old translation having used the expression, “the birth of children,” it has been commonly thought that this clause refers to the children. But the term used by Paul to denote “child- bearing” is a single word, teknogonia,and therefore it must refer to the women. As to the verb being plural, and the noun singular, this involves no difficulty; for an indefinite noun, at least when it denotes a multitude, has the force of a collective noun, and therefore easily admits a change from the singular to the plural number.

Besides, that he might not represent all the virtue of women as included in the duties of marriage, immediately afterwards he adds greater virtues, in which it is proper that godly women should excel, that they may differ from irreligious women. Even: “child — bearing” is obedience acceptable to God, only so far as it proceeds from faith and love. To these two he adds sanctification, which includes all the purity of life which becomes Christian women.

Lastly follows sobriety, which he formerly mentioned, while he was speaking about dress; but now he extends it more widely to the other parts of life.

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So, are we "censorious men?" I hope not.

Love,

As you argue, do not forget that women have spent all of history being seen as less than a man and we wonder why this issue raises so many hackles. As I see it, a woman's place in the family is equal to a man's in a complementary way. If we all did the same thing the world would be absolute chaos. Along that note, if men are not stepping up to the plate to fill their role women will because they have to.

With divorce rates so high, kids born out of wedlock raised by a single parent with two jobs, drugs and alcohol, homosexually and the mess that comes with that, missing Dad's, missing Mom's It should come as no shock why this issue ranges to both extremes being both ignored and being fought over. It touches something at the very center of our humanity. It will split friends, family, and churches.

Be careful what you write.

Try again - When I say "be careful what you write" I am referring to the train of comments, not the blog.