It would be fair to say that this is currently one of those passages that give women hives. Because it contains the phrase submissive to their own husbands. Which is politically incorrect: submission can only be in popular books and films that verge on the pornographic, it cannot be in real life. Instead you must be, strong, independent, yet not in control: the dissonance between the puritanical and Pharisaical academic social activists and the celebration of raw sex on the street is now impossible to ignore.

But the women do not want to submit but to Christ.

I have a general comment about this passage, It is about teaching sound doctrine and self-discipline. There are comments about common failings — starting with the older men and women (who would be leading their families) and moving down to the younger men, who get but one word — discipline.

But this is intolerable to our ears. Being sober and Godly is to be politically correct.

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves too much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

(Titus 2 ESV)

I was reading a novella yesterday — courtesy of a book bomb — and I had to stop. Because the hero was going around his friends, now in middle age, and telling them they had to go back to another world — to Narnia, if you will, but his friends and comrades were all tied down to this world and its troubles and could not look outside of the cell they had made. The truth last night was too much. (John C Wright has the felicity with words of an older generation: he is worth reading, as are his wife’s juvenilia).

We forget who we now are. We are not loyal to our nation, and certainly not to the ideologies of this age. We are on this world for Christ. To us, living soberly and upright is a political act. Doing good is evangelism, correcting error is reformation, and remaining within the human institutions we are put — and for Paul, that included slaves (mistranslated as bond-servants) remaining slaves — is our calling.

So let us not talk about freedom, and self discovery, as if we are alienated from each other. Let us scorn the myth we have the divine within us: God knows all and does not need to discover himself.

Instead let us be human. The best human we can be, where we are, with the family we have. That will annoy the SJW. That will be a witness. And that will renew the church.