Part 2

002:004 who is willing for all mankind to be saved and come to a full knowledge of the truth.

002:005 For there is but one God and but one Mediator between God and men-- Christ Jesus, Himself man;

002:006 who gave Himself as the redemption price for all--a fact testified to at its own appointed time,

002:007 and of which I have been appointed a herald and an Apostle (I am speaking the truth: it is not a fiction), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

002:008 So then I would have the men everywhere pray, lifting to God holy hands which are unstained with anger or strife;

002:009 and I would have the women dress becomingly, with modesty and self-control, not with plaited hair or gold or pearls or costly clothes,

002:010 but--as befits women making a claim to godliness-- with the ornament of good works.

002:011 A woman should quietly learn from others with entire submissiveness.

002:012 I do not permit a woman to teach, nor have authority over a man, but she must remain silent.

002:013 For Adam was formed first, and then Eve;

002:014 and Adam was not deceived, but his wife was thoroughly deceived, and so became involved in transgression.

002:015 Yet a woman will be brought safely through childbirth if she and her husband continue to live in faith and love and growing holiness, with habitual self-restraint.

003:001 Faithful is the saying, "If any one is eager to have the oversight of a Church, he desires a noble work."

003:002 A minister then must be a man of irreproachable character, true to his one wife, temperate, sober-minded, well-behaved, hospitable to strangers, and with a gift for teaching;

003:003 not a hard drinker nor given to blows; not selfish or quarrelsome or covetous;

003:004 but ruling his own household wisely and well, with children kept under control with true dignity.

003:005 (If a man does not know how to rule his own household, how shall he have the Church of God given into his care?)

003:006 He ought not to be a new convert, for fear he should be blinded with pride and come under the same condemnation as the Devil.

003:007 It is needful also that he bear a good character with people outside the Church, lest he fall into reproach or a snare of the Devil.

003:008 Deacons, in the same way, must be men of serious demeanour, not double-tongued, nor addicted to much wine, nor greedy of base gain,

003:009 but holding the secret truths of the faith with a clear conscience.

003:010 And they must also be well-tried men, and when found to be of unblemished character then let them serve as deacons.

003:011 Deaconesses, in the same way, must be sober-minded women, not slanderers, but in every way temperate and trustworthy.

003:012 A deacon must be true to his one wife, and rule his children and his own household wisely and well.

003:013 For those who have filled the deacon's office wisely and well, are already gaining for themselves an honourable standing, and are acquiring great freedom of speech in proclaiming the faith which rests on Christ Jesus.

003:014 All this I write to you, though I am hoping before long to come to see you.

003:015 But, for fear I may be hindered, I now write, so that you may have rules to guide you in dealing with God's household. For this is what the Church of the ever-living God is, and it is the pillar and foundation-stone of the truth.

003:016 And, beyond controversy, great is the mystery of our religion-- that Christ appeared in human form, and His claims justified by the Spirit, was seen by angels and proclaimed among Gentile nations, was believed on in the world, and received up again into glory.