Book review: St Paul: The Misunderstood Apostle

TP O’Mahony is not convinced by an attempt to rehabilitate St Paul, the most authoritative figure of the early Christian church.    

SAINT PAUL is a favourite target of feminists — they regard him, not unreasonably, as the man who sowed the seeds of misogyny in the early Church, a misogyny that was to take root and blossom down the centuries, and persists today, most obviously in the exclusion of women from positions of power and authority, particularly in the Catholic Church.

In support of their case, feminists invariably cite First Timothy 2: 11-15: “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. For I do not allow a woman to teach, or to exercise authority over men; but she is to keep quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and was in sin. Yet women will be saved by childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with modesty.”