are keen to find a reference to Christ at 2:15, the parallel with 4:16 indicates that Paul is perfectly happy to speak of Christians working out their salvation and therefore there is no compulsion to find a reference to the birth of Christ in this verse. So what is the alternative? On the face of it, it looks as though Paul is saying that the normal way down the ages for women to exercise a godly life pleasing to God is within a family setting, which implies bearing and raising children—as long