Two weeks ago, a woman at our church delivered one of the best sermons I can remember. It challenged and encouraged me in more ways than one. And this isn't the first time she's preached a phenomenal message.
Another thing you need to know, I'm very naive and oblivious to the bulk of Christian controversy. I brought up how much I enjoyed the sermon to a breakfast group I'm in. To my surprise, the others didn't feel the same. In fact, I was met with opposition. This led to a very difficult, but necessary, discussion regarding women preachers. Here's the problem:
"I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor." - 1 Timothy 2:12-14 ESV
I had never paid close attention to this passage before. Seemed counter to everything I thought about the way Jesus and Paul talked about women. But there it was, nonetheless. It seems like Paul is saying women are gullible and can't be trusted with the truth of scripture.
I began asking questions and researching in every direction. I looked for podcast episodes. Looked for blog posts. Sought advice from men and women I respected and came to my own conclusion.
Below is how I got there. I'm going to be using the ESV because it's a common translation used to state the opposite of my viewpoint. It's also my favorite and the translation I read most often.
These are the questions I took to scripture:
Figured the easiest way to answer this question is to look at prominent women in the Bible. It is well known that throughout history, women were less valuable than men. Here are some examples that show women in a more positive light.
"Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun." - Judges 4:4-6 ESV
Deborah was a judge in Israel. That means she was the leader of the country, made the decisions, and settled the disputes. It also points out that she quotes God and delivers it as fact to the men of the day. Safe to assume that, occasionally, she wasn't deceived.
"So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me..." - 2 Chronicles 34:22-28
Huldah was a wife and prophetess. She interpreted the words of the Lord which were given to the King Josiah to act on. She was highly respected, favored, and trusted by God. She was not deceived.
“Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.” - Exodus 15:20 ESV
Miriam was the sister of Aaron and Moses who was also a prophetess and helped lead the Israelites. And while she kinda messed up her standing in the end, the Bible is clear that the Lord spoke through her. She wasn't deceived.
"Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”" - John 20:17 ESV
Mary Magdeline was unclean and untouchable by the standards of the day, but Jesus sought her out. He valued her input on the team and gave her influence in his circles. In fact, she was the one that announced to the rest of the disciples that Jesus was risen. She wasn't deceived.
"Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately." - Acts 18:24-26 ESV
Priscilla was the wife of Aquila, and together, were leaders in the Ephesian church. They gave instruction to other preachers, including a prominent evangelist named Apollos. She was not deceived.
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.” - Romans 16:1-2 ESV
Servant in this passage can also mean deaconess which is the known role of Phoebe in the early church. Paul praises her and tells the Romans to do whatever she asks. She wasn't deceived.
Through these stories, I can assert that women are valuable and capable of leading. God can trust them with important insights.
This question comes up a lot when reading difficult passages in the Bible. It's worth mentioning. There are things written we must take in context according to the culture of the day. One place we see this is James giving instruction to the gentiles:
“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”” - Acts 15:28-29 ESV
In this passage he forbids them from eating meat sacrificed to idols. But then Paul circles back around in his letter to the Corinthians and clarifies:
“Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.” - 1 Corinthians 8:4-8 ESV
This was an important rule for early Christian gentiles so Luke didn't leave any wiggle room. But Paul made sure to let the more mature Christians in Corinth know that food is not a huge deal. In other words, 'don't get hung up on it.'
So we can assume some of Paul's instructions are for cultural purposes. Other passages are universal, no matter the time or place.
Tithing is a perfect example. The Bible describes tithing as important before the law (Gen. 14:20, Gen. 28:22), during the law (Lev. 27:30), and after the law (Matt. 23:23). Since the message never changes, it's clear that tithing is a universal command to the people of God.
Some instructions are cultural and some are universal. We need to take a closer look at the ones that are cultural to understand their meaning.
Something that stood out to me about this passage from the first time I read it was how out of place it seems. No other scripture mentions rules for women like this one. And while one time is enough for us to call it important, this one in particular seems to be in conflict. So universal is a stretch. But it can't be irrelevant or false. So why is it in there?
Well, what do we know about the time and place. Paul is writing to Timothy who is leading the Ephesian church in modern day Turkey. Ancient Ephesus is most known for the Temple of Artemis, the virgin, hunter goddess, an equal to the male gods. The belief was that women lost their power and independence with their virginity. So they looked to her for strength. In fact, the city was synonymous with Artemis so much so that it earned the title "Servant of the Goddess". So it's not a stretch to assume the population in Ephesus put women on a very high pedestal. And when you throw in Gnosticism (more on this later), it makes for a very "progressive" society. It is likely Paul's warning against powerful women is cultural.
The answer here is actually pretty simple once you understand the context. There were odd religious ideas circulating through Christianity and Judaism known as Gnosticism. The main difference being salvation came from a form of spiritual enlightenment. Gnostics believed the Old Testament Yahweh was actually an evil God of materialism. And among other ideas, believed some false things about Genesis. They taught that Eve was superior to Adam, preceded his origin, was not deceived, and was without sin. Look at this warning from Paul in chapter 1:
"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions." - 1 Timothy 1:3-7 ESV
Here are some references from ancient Gnostic text.
So Gnostics were teaching heresy. But how do we know this had anything to do with the heresy Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy? Well, his final warning is in chapter 6:
"O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you." - 1 Timothy 6:20-21 ESV
The Greek word for knowledge here is gnōsis. 100 years later, church leaders denounced Gnosticism as heretical with a letter: "On the Detection and Overthrow of the Falsely-called Gnosis"
Paul mentions Eve and the Genesis story to correct common false narratives and idols.
The typical compromise is that of course women can lead, just not in the most senior roles. Those jobs are reserved for men. This argument has nothing to do with 1 Timothy 2, but instead chapter 3. It describes the qualifications for overseers (elders) and deacons. Titus 1 says something similar. They only mention "husband of one wife" and other gender-specific language. It doesn't mention females, so elders and deacons must be men only. If that's the case, women shouldn't serve in any leadership roles inside the church. That includes any ministry who may have male volunteers on their roster. Not a lot of consensus there.
A more popular school of thought is that women can be deacons but not elders. Most believe Phoebe was a deacon. But why stop at deacon? How is it that 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are only about men if Phoebe was a deacon?
A friend helped me with this one. A closer look at 1 Timothy 3:11 in the ESV shows a footnote. Their wives likewise can also be translated wives likewise or women likewise. "Their" is not in the original text. It was inferred.
Changes the meaning entirely. Now there's room for the section about deacons to include women, qualifying Phoebe. And if deacons can be women, it's even less likely that the other passages are restrictive. This isn't even necessary for my original argument. Just an interesting side note that further shows scripture being open-handed.
But okay, for the sake of the original discussion, let's just say women can't be elders, but can be deacons. How could men be under the authority of a woman? The response is "of course, because they are technically under the authority of an elder."
Then why can't women also teach under the authority of an elder?
Let me be clear, everything in church should happen under the authority of an elder. Teaching and leading yes, but also serving, praying, and prophesying. Roles typically held by women. So of course, if a woman is teaching or leading, it should be under the guidance of the elders. Like every other team.
This is how we can read books or listen to podcasts from female teachers. This is how we can learn from Beth Moore and Joyce Meyer without compromise. The point made most often is that women can teach and lead. But not in front of an assembled church body. In other words, the pulpit on a Sunday is off limits. Except that's nowhere in the text. The only possible clue I've seen is from a footnote in the ESV study bible. But it doesn't give a reason for this distinction. There's a couple problems here.
In verse 8 it says in every place. This means whatever Paul is about to say will apply to any situation, not just at a Sunday morning 11:15 service.
Furthermore, churches back then looked waaaay different. The most common form of church was in houses. This is how we justify Priscilla instructing Apollos. Most will say she pulled him aside. So does that mean once a house church grew to a certain population, the women could no longer teach? Or is it ok because there was no auditorium?
This one is silly. When does a boy become a man? Was the teaching valid at 17 and 364 days but then becomes invalid on their 18th birthday? Should I ignore wisdom from my grandmother? Women are easily deceived right? So why should she be allowed to deceive other women and children?
Some would say if you treat certain passages as more relevant than others, it's a slippery slope. Couldn't it lead to affirming homosexuality and pre-marital sex?
It's not the same thing. Nowhere in the Bible does it allow for any form of sex outside a marriage between and man and woman. It in fact prohibits it throughout the Old and New Testament. We're talking about a single verse in Timothy. Given the Bible in its entirety, the unfamiliar tone calls for a deeper look.
For me, this falls in the category of "open to interpretation". We don't fully know Paul's intent when he wrote it. We can only infer using guidance from the Holy Spirit and other passages in the text.
My goal is writing this was not to win an argument. There's even a good chance my motive is selfish. I felt compelled to wrestle this one to the ground. Maybe I simply want to justify my admiration for certain women. I do like to argue, maybe I'm just being contrarian. On my best day, I'd like to think it's this:
I can't look at my wife and daughter, knowing the God that I know personally, and say, "God loves you so much and has gifted you to do amazing things. But you'll never be able to trust what you study in the Bible without a man's approval first." In fact, I think that's a pretty harmful take.