Pastoral Epistles: 1 Timothy 2:11-12 - Women & Leadership in the Church

This passage has created much fire. A woman must quietly receive instruction with submissiveness? A woman is not to exercise authority over a man and is to remain quiet? Has Paul been around any women? Is any member of your family a lesser family member? I hope not. But that does not mean that all people in the family have the exact same roles. What we have here is that common tendency to seek to make the Bible teach what we already believe. If we believe that there is no difference in role and function between the genders in the church and that the Bible is true, we have to figure out a way to make this passage say what we already believe. But what does it actually say?