In places where women in leadership assisted in the spreading of the gospel, Paul encouraged it; where it might prove too disruptive or confusing, he discouraged it. (Notably, the most restrictive New Testament instructions regarding women in leadership appear in a letter to Timothy in Ephesus, home of the infamous Artemis riots.) In fact, in his first-century context, Paul would likely have been perceived as radically inclusive and egalitarian. For him, nothing mattered more than unleashing the gospel and moving out of the way any unnecessary cultural or religious obstructions that might
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