Here is 1 Timothy 2:11-14 (NIV):
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
One explanation I've come across says that this instruction was not meant to be applied universally, but instead applied to a specific time, place, and culture. So far, the best article I've been able to find on this matter is here (two sections called Has Timothy 2:9–15 Local or Universal Application? and the Conclusion section). Here are some relevant excerpts - comes from article The Argument of the Order of Creation in 1 Timothy 2:9-15 by Dr. Felix H. Cortez:
For Debate:The wider context of 1 Timothy suggests that women were probably the main propagators of false teachings in the church (1 Tim. 4:7; 5:13-14; cf. 2 Tim 3:6-7). The heresy’s aversion of marriage (1 Tim. 4:3) suggests that there were other teachings that were specially attractive to well-to-do Christian wives tempting them to shun home duties and seek a life of independence and liberation (5:11-15).
In the time of Paul had emerged in the Greco Roman world what has been called the “new woman”—affluent women who claimed for themselves the sexual liberty normally permitted to men. The literature of the time relates these women to the use of complex hairstyles, and the wearing of gold, pearls and expensive clothes. It is possible that well-to do Christian wives attracted by this emerging trend were in danger of rejecting the cultural norms of modesty. It is probable that what Paul is combatting in Ephesus and other places are the initial tendencies that later flourished in the heretical movements of the second century. Both the gnostic and the montanist—heretical movements of the AD second century—gave great prominence to women in their teachings and organization.
1. Is the above explanation valid or part of a scholarly consensus?
2. If it is accepted as the likely explanation, then why did the apostle Paul bring up Adam and Eve as a reason for the instruction? Isn't he saying that women should not be in authority over men because man was made first?
* I was going to post this in the theology section but decided not to since I'm also looking for a historico-cultural context for this passage.