The role of women in the church, and in particular the issue of the ordination of women, is a worldwide discussion point. Yet the issue of women’s roles in the church and society is not a new one. This makes it all the more remarkable that the progressive reading of biblical texts such as 1 Timothy 2:9-15 is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Recently it has been persuasively argued that radical egalitarianism regarding gender roles mirrors societal developments more than being the fruit of exegesis of the biblical texts. This article therefore considers 1 Timothy 2:9–15, presenting the most important arguments for excluding women from positions of authority in the church.