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Marital Expectations of Church Leaders in the Pastoral Epistles

Edmonton Baptist Seminary 11525-23 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6J 4T3 Canada

The pastoral epistles state that a person aspiring to church leadership is to be µ . The meaning of this phrase is disputed. Often it is understood to refer to the candidate's marital status. It is interpreted as excluding from leadership positions those who (1) are unmarried, (2) were polygamous, (3) had been divorced or (4) had remarried after being bereaved. None of these explanations is totally satisfactory. Preferable is the interpretation that the disputed phrase refers to the quality of being faithful to one's wife. This accords much better than the alternatives with both the immediate and broader literary contexts and with the historical context. The major objection which has been raised against this view is that it requires an unnatural interpretation of the language, but this objection is insubstantial.

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