1 Timothy 2:11-15: The Profitability and Non-Historicity of “Adam and Eve”

Select the following resource to learn more about the stories in Genesis (“generations”):

St. Paul on the “Toldot” in the Bible: Titus 3:9-14 // 1 Timothy 1:3-11
on the Non-Historicity of Biblical “Generations” and the Necessity for Biblical Repentance.


How does the Bible use the biblical story of Adam and Eve?

Let’s use 1 Timothy 2:11-15 as the example:

1 Timothy 2:11-15 ESV | Greek

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.


Observations

In this text, the Bible uses Adam and Eve as an authoritative story. In other words, this story does guide the present behavior of actual people.
However, the Bible uses Adam and Eve as a non-historical story. In other words, this story does not report the past behavior of actual people.
1 Timothy 2:13-15 ESV | Greek

13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

The “she” (v. 15) is “Eve” (v. 13), not only because “Eve” is the most recent antecedent, but also because “Eve” is the only one who could make sense as “saved through childbearing” (v. 15).
Obviously, “she” is not describing an ordinary woman. Nowhere in the Bible is barrenness itself a sin - or a sign of eternal damnation. Although barrenness is not desirable in general (e.g. Genesis 1:28) just as celibacy is not desirable in general (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2), barrenness can be desirable (e.g. Luke 23:28-31; e.g. Luke 21:23) just as celibacy can be desirable (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:25-35). An ordinary woman’s salvation does not require childbearing.
In contrast, Eve could be “saved through childbearing.”
Childbearing is suggested in God’s only direct statement to Eve:
Genesis 3:16 ESV | Hebrew | Greek (Septuagint)
“To the woman he said, ‘I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children….’”

The reason for the name “Eve” itself requires childbearing:
Genesis 3:20 ESV | Hebrew | Greek (Septuagint)
“The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”

No one can be saved without Jesus (see the paper Jesus: Man, Maker, Mediator), and Jesus would not have been born without Eve bearing children, according to the “genealogy” of Matthew 1:1-18 and according to Luke 3:23-38. In other words, Eve is saved through childbearing - that is, by Jesus.
The “she” (v. 15) is not an actual person.
While “she” is saved on the condition of them “continu[ing] in faith and love and holiness, with self-control,” it does not appear possible for an actual person to be saved on the condition of other people continuing in their faith.
The pattern in Scripture is that judgment of a person after the person’s life is judgment of that person’s deeds in that life. For more information, view the second point in the paper Three Points in the Cross.
We have reason to believe that there is no exception to this pattern - not even in 1 Corinthians 15:29; those “dead” (νεκρῶν) appear to have been baptized on behalf of themselves before they died.
1 Corinthians 15:29 ESV | Greek

Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead (νεκρῶν)? If the dead (νεκροὶ) are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

The text does not say that “we” are baptized for the dead or that “you” are baptized for the dead. The “dead” (νεκρῶν) are “those… who have fallen asleep in Christ” (v. 18).

Let us examine the previous verses:

1 Corinthians 15:18-21 ESV | Greek

18 Then those also who have fallen asleep (κοιμηθέντες) in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[b] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead (νεκρῶν). 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God[c] has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

The “dead” (v. 21) are interchangeable with “those who have fallen asleep” (v. 18) “in Christ” (v. 20). If they were in Christ before they died, then they could have been baptized before they died. In other words, those “being baptized on behalf of the dead” (v. 29) could be those being baptized before they were dead - knowing that they will be raised from the dead.

In the verses after 29, Paul appears to remind the audience that he himself risks joining those who have fallen asleep in Christ on a regular basis:

1 Corinthians 15:30-31 ESV | Greek

30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

“Eve” is not an actual person.
Now, someone might object to this conclusion, countering that ancestors and descendants are used interchangeably in Genesis, such as with the story of the mother of Jacob and Esau: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided..." (Genesis 25:23a) However, Paul uses "she" and "they" interactively here (with the "if" of the conditional clause), not interchangeably.

In Conclusion

Even though “Adam and Eve” in Genesis (γένεσις, the word for “genealogy” or “generations” in Matthew 1:1) are not historical, they “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17) In other words, these authoritative stories should be used for good works “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” (1 Timothy 1:3-11).

Select the following resource to learn more about the stories in Genesis (“generations”):

St. Paul on the “Toldot” in the Bible: Titus 3:9-14 // 1 Timothy 1:3-11
on the Non-Historicity of Biblical “Generations” and the Necessity for Biblical Repentance.