Hi Macrina,
Thanks for the detailed response. Don't worry about apologising for length, I'm famous for making long posts, lol. And thank you for your input, particularly about the Ephesus congregation having a Temple of Artemis (this was new knowledge to me). The teaching that Eve was created first reminds me of the
Alphabet of ben Sira, a 10th Century AD work which parodied the Jewish beliefs, and included the existence of a woman before Eve (Lilith) who was condemned by God because she was too "independent" and so God created a new submissive woman for Adam to dominate.
Of course, the only evidence of this Lilith being in Eden is from said parody (The Hebrew term is used once in Isaiah as a night-bird of some kind, perhaps a screech owl, and in Jewish mythology, Lilith is a night demon, but clearly neither relate to Adam and Eve).
Anyhow, back to the comments (sorry for the aside, lol). Considering the Temple of Artemis, and the possible emergence of a pre-Adamic Eve, it makes sense that Paul would confirm in 1 Timothy that Adam was created first.
However, the argument I have presented is not solely the fact that Adam was created first. Rather it has to do with the order of creation (of which Adam being created first is only the first sign of this), and how this is mirrored in other aspects of life (hence my use of Ephesians 5 to discuss the role of the husband/wife and Christ/church).
I guess I didn't completely explain this in my previous post, and I think I've clarified it in recent posts to other members, but if you haven't had a chance to read them, my commentary should be pretty clear. By the order of creation, God set Christ as the Head of the Church, and according to Ephesians 5, this order of creation is mirrored in the role of the Husband being the head of the wife (but both the roles of christ and church are also mirrored here, so take that into consideration). So if Christ is the head of our global church, and on an individual level, the husband is the head of the wife, on a localised level, who would be the head overseer of a local church?
I would submit that logic dictates a man should also fill this role.
Your thoughts are appreciated, and I hope you can provide further input into this insight. Thanks for the dialogue, it's been great
~ Regards, PA
edit: Gah, I can't wait until I reach 50 posts. Every time I quote someone who has a link in their post, I have to go back and delete it or else the system won't let me make my post, lol