The Apostle Paul makes his point clearly known to Timothy when he writes, “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:12).
The role of women in the New Testament Church has been a matter of controversy since the days of the apostles.
Prior to the Day of Pentecost, the contribution of women in the ministry of Jesus was one of support.
- Caregiving (from birth to age 30; and then in death) Luke 2:7-14; John 20:1
- Emotionally (Luke 7:36-50; Mark 15:40-41; John 19:25-27)
- Hospitality (Luke 10:38-42)
- Financially (Luke 8:3)
- Evangelistically (the woman at the well; the resurrection witnesses) John 20:18; Matthew 28:18 – 20
When the New Testament Church began to grow, new tensions emerged.
One major point of controversy was whether or not, when the Church gathered for worship, women should be allowed to teach men in the assembly.
This issue is still being debated in the Church in the 21st century.
There are some thoughtful arguments in favor of allowing women to teach, which are to be taken seriously, and not simply dismissed.
Argument: A Biblical Precedent
A woman named Priscilla, along with her husband Aquila were a Jewish couple who met Paul in Corinth. Like Paul, they were tent makers and shared his trade. In the course of their friendship, they assisted Paul in his missionary work (Acts 18).
Beyond that, Priscilla and Aquila instructed an eloquent preacher named Apollos on the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection, the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the mystery of the church containing both Jews and Gentiles.
“Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So, he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:24–26, NKJV).
Argument: The Universal Distribution of Spiritual Gifts
Each person has received a gift to serve others.
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
The gifts of God are for all the people of God.
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10, NKJV).
The Holy Spirit has bestowed on women spiritual gifts, including the ability to effectively communicate the Word of God.
Billy Graham famously said he thought the best preacher in his family was his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz.
In 2013, Rick Warren, a former pastor of Saddleback Church in California, published an article: “Why I Changed My Mind on Women in Church Leadership.”
Warren has concluded that women should be ordained as pastors because women are given by the Spirit the gift of teaching.
Rick Warren believes women should be allowed to teach, baptize, and make disciples, emphasizing that the Great Commission applies to both men and women. Warren argues that if women are to fulfill the Great Commission, they must be permitted to take on roles traditionally reserved for men, including teaching.
Argument: A Theological Perspective
Christian theology does teach the essential unity of the saints, and the neutrality of those who are in Christ.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal. 3:26 – 29)
Augment: It is a Practical Matter
When women missionaries go to some tongues and tribes, and converts are won to Christ, it is a matter of practicality that women teach men since they are like children in the faith.
Argument: Cultural Confusion
If women can sit on Church Boards, participate in Church Councils, be ordained as Deaconesses, handle the finances of the Church, serve as ushers, lead the congregation in prayer, organize major Church events, lead home Bible studies where men are present, if women can engage in missionary enterprises, and evangelism, why should they be excluded from teaching men when the Church gathers officially?
The selective exclusivity seems arbitrary and unfair. A sense of unfairness can produce strong feelings of resentment, rejection, and anger.
While understanding these arguments, and taking them seriously, there are strong Biblical arguments for maintaining the standard that women are not to teach men in a formally Biblical setting.
Argument: The Simplicity of Scripture
There are some passages of the Bible that are so plainly written, it is amazing how the text can be challenged. “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” is not ambiguous.
Nor is 1 Corinthians 14:34: “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the Law also says.”
Also, Genesis 3:16: “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
This rule is positive, explicit, and universal. There is no ambiguity in the expressions; and there can be no difference of opinion, one would suppose, in regard to their meaning. The sense evidently is, that in all those things which he had specified, the women were to keep silence; they were to take no part.
[The Apostle] had discoursed of speaking foreign languages, and of prophecy; and the evident sense is, that in regard to all these they were to keep silence, or were not to engage in them. These pertained solely to the male portion of the congregation. These things constituted the business of the public teaching; and in this the female part of the congregation were to be silent.
They were not to teach the people, nor were they to interrupt those who were speaking.
—Johann Georg Rosenmuller
It is probable that, on pretense of being inspired, the women had assumed the office of public teachers.
Consider Revelation 2:20: “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”
Argument: It is the Known Will of God
If it is believed that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16), then the words of the Apostle, addressed to Timohty, do not reflect his opinion or human preference. The words convey the will of God the Holy Spirit— women are not to teach men.
Argument: A Reason is Given
The text explains the Divine basis why women are not to teach men. That reason goes back to the Garden of Eden, and the Creation Mandate.
Something cataclysmic happened that Day in the Garden. The reverberation of Eve’s transgression transcended the centuries to be mentioned by the Apostle Paul, with the results continuing to this present hour.
A person might smile at such a concept and think it naïve.
A person might believe that what happened in the Garden of Eden is being overstated.
A person might want to say that what Eve did in the Garden was not as bad as it is being presented by Paul.
To such a line of reasoning we can only say that Fallen Men do not see the horror, and the consequences of an action, as deeply and throughly as God.
According to the Creation Mandate, the woman was to be a helpmate for man. She was not to denigrate him, nor he her.
Matthew Henry writes, “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.”
When Eve gave the fruit of the Tree to Adam, he should not have eaten.
But then, Eve should not have offered Adam the fruit, thereby reflecting an attitude of trying to exercise authority over him that was not authorized by divine design.
It is this failure to understand God’s attitude of proper authority that is the basis for so much emotional reaction against women teaching men.
Because of the Fall, women tend to look at men as unworthy to teach them, and to have authority over them.
The spirit of Eve lives to whisper in the soul, “I do NOT have to be silent and listen quietly to a man when the Word of God is taught, and I KNOW so much more.”
“Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
So, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” (Gen. 2:4-6).
As a side issue, such a reaction is understandable because many men, like Adam, do abandon their Creation Role.
Nevertheless, step by step, God is teaching His Church to go back to the basics and get it right.
It is not a matter of who has more knowledge, better verbal skills, greater intelligence, or the ability to communicate, etc. It is a matter of how God intended men to act. They were to be the spiritual leaders of the woman (wife), as Christ is the head of His bride, the Church. The idea of a Role Reversal plagued the relationship between Adam and Eve, and works havoc in the Church to the present hour.
It does no good to speak about male chauvinism, or use other pejorative terms. It is a matter of setting things in order, which Paul wanted Timothy, and Titus to do (Titus 1:5).
The author of Hebrews understood the importance of understanding Biblical order and authority and listed it as a FOUNDATIONAL tenant of the faith (Heb. 6:1-3).
Argument: The Lord Jesus Christ Has the Right to Arrange His Church
Some theologians write about Regulatory Principles with respect to the Church and Christian living. I believe there is merit to this concept. There are principles that should guide and regulate the Church so that God’s work is done God’s way.
The idea of women not teaching men in a formal setting is a Regulatory Principle, which Jesus has the right to establish. The Church has the responsibility to submit to the known will of the Lord, obey what is plainly stated, and be blessed because gospel obedience honors Jesus. Jesus said,
“If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
The Collected Works of Stanford E. Murrell 