Reading the Bible forward

advice from Dr. Esau McCaulley

A few months ago, I listened to a podcast from Jude 3 Project that was an audio recording of one of their “courageous conversations” that they held in front of a live audience. I had seen an advertisement for this particular event on Instagram months ago and was deeply interested. A New Testament scholar, Esau McCaulley, and an Old Testament scholar, Jo Vitale, were going to tackle some of the hard parts of reading the Bible. 

When the conversation came out in podcast form, I was not disappointed. I referenced it on the blog. I sent it to friends. I mentioned it in newsletters. They did an excellent job not just addressing specific and challenging questions that people have when they read the Bible, but also in laying out a way of reading and interpreting the Bible that the listener could learn from and continue on their own.¹ It was a great example of scholarship for the church. They used words that everyone could understand. Their study was designed for the maturity of believers. They had done the legwork that most of the church does not have the time or, honestly, the interest to do for themselves. That’s why we have and we need scholars. 

There’s one thing that Dr. McCaulley said that has stuck with me ever since. He was giving a recap of 1 Corinthians 14 (and genuinely, you should go listen. I know it’s long but it’s worth it) and he asked what changed if we didn’t start with that chapter or 1 Timothy 2. He suggested reading the New Testament forward. 

The results of reading the New Testament forward are interesting.² We discover an angel appearing to a young woman on the margins of society, inviting her into God’s plan to save humanity. We find a prophetess, Anna (Luke 2:36-38). We find women supporting Jesus’ ministry (Luke 8:1-3). We find no account of a woman opposing Jesus and His mission, or even choosing not to believe in who He is. We find Jesus hold theological conversations with women and that woman go out as an evangelist (John 4). We see a woman understand and proclaim Jesus to be the Messiah (John 11:27). We see women remain faithful at the cross (Matthew 27:55, 61; Mark 15:40-41, 47; Luke 23:27, 49, 55; John 19:25) We see women be the first to encounter a resurrected Jesus and be the ones sent to tell the men that He had, in fact, risen (Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-11, John 20:1-18).

After Jesus’ ascension, we find the Spirit come upon the believers, and some of those believers were women (Acts 1:14, 2:1-4). We find Peter quote Joel who said that a sign of the time was that God’s Spirit would fall on men and women, young and old, of all social classes (Acts 2:17-18). Women are thrown into prison for their faith (Acts 8:3). We see women responding to God’s gospel and starting churches in their homes (Acts 16:1-15, 40). We find women teaching male teachers and prophesying (Acts 18:24-28; 21:9). We find Paul sending a letter to the believers in Rome, who he did not know, by the hand of a woman, teaching about spiritual gifts with no delineation of what is appropriate for women or men, and commending the ministry of many women, including an apostle (Romans 12 and 16).

Even within the book of 1 Corinthians, before we get to the mysteries of chapter 14, we find chapter 11 where instructions are given for how women are to prophesy and pray in the assembly of the believers. We also find commands and invitations for everyone to participate in the life of the church (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12, 31, 39). 

Imagine if we go all the way back to the beginning and read the creation narrative, wondering how it would be interpreted on its own, without bringing back a certain interpretation of Paul as we read it. God’s people had this message for generations and would not have interpreted it in Paul’s headship language.³ It’s easy to see how sin changes the story of women and men and yet, God continues to pull women in in unexpected and unlikely ways. 

What happens if we read 1 Timothy 2 after all of that instead of starting there? If we know all these other things that happened first and were part of God’s plan? That, in fact, if God didn’t pull in women as much as He did Gentiles or slaves, that His promises were being compromised? What does that change?

I’d really like for you to contemplate that reframe. Let me know if you’ve considered it before. I hadn’t before I heard Dr. McCaulley discussed it. What does it change if we read the Bible forward? 

1. The fancy word for this is “hermeneutics.” Which I can finally spell without the help of auto-correct.

2. There is probably more than what I list here. I filled in these paragraphs from memory only looking up the coordinating references.

3. I prefer to use the language of head and body very specifically because once we start saying “headship,” there’s no Biblical definition. It becomes a choose-your-own-adventure.