Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 8/7/2009

Question
1.During our Wednesday nite business meeting, we elected a woman to teach Adult Sunday School class.  It was brought up that according to I Timothy 2:12 a women is to be silent in church.  We are Missionary Baptist in Louisiana. The Missionary Doctrinal Statement states "We believe that there are two divinely appointed offices in a church, pastors and deacons to be filled by men whose qualifications are set forth in Titus and I Timothy. Should the woman step down and be silent in church.  What was or who was Paul writing to in scripture?  What does this scripture mean?  I would appreciate it I could get an answer before Sunday, I'm afraid some feeling are going to hurt if we don't resolve this matter.
Your sister in Christ,
Sandi


Answer
Women in church leadership
Blessings and thank you for your question.

The apostle Paul’s view of women in ministry, as defined in Scripture, is neither restrictive nor exclusive.

1. Paul had women on his ministry team. The Bible clearly records the names of the women who served as deacons, pastors, prophets and apostles in the New Testament church. They include Priscilla, Phoebe, Euodia, Syntyche, Nympha, Traephena, Traephosa, Philip’s four daughters and Junia (see Rom. 16:7)—a female apostle who spent time in prison with Paul. (Her Roman name was always listed in early biblical manuscripts as feminine until the 13 th century, when some translators decided to change the gender.)

2. Paul supported these female ministers fully. Fundamentalists claim that Paul pushed women to the back of the church and muzzled them, but that is far from the truth. He traveled with Priscilla and her husband, Aquilla, and the Bible says Priscilla taught the man Apollos and launched him into ministry (in other words, her ministry was not just to other women; see Acts 18:24-26). Paul said of Phoebe the deacon, “I commend to you our sister,” instructing early Christians to back her (Rom. 16:1-2, NASB). He praised Traephena and Traephosa as “workers in the Lord,” obviously because they labored diligently to expand Christ’s kingdom (Rom. 16:12).

And when Euodia and Syntyche experienced friction in their relationship, Paul did not order them to get out of the ministry. Instead, he told his colleagues in Philippi to “help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel” (Phil. 4:3).

3. Paul’s restrictions on women were not universal. Bible scholars have varied interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:12, which demands “silence” of women. Many agree that Paul was dealing with a specific situation in Ephesus in which a woman or a group of women were teaching heresy. So this verse is an example of Paul using his apostolic authority to curb the spread in Ephesus of false teaching (see 1:3–7) that apparently was becoming popular among some women who had not been properly instructed (see v. 11).

If Paul had believed in a blanket prohibition of women in ministry, he never would have supported Priscilla, Phoebe or any woman in a leadership position. He would, however, have expected illiterate and untrained women to adopt a submissive attitude while learning God’s Word.

** Paul shared Jesus’ view of gender equality. Paul allowed women to preach and prophesy in church meetings (1 Cor. 11:5) because he believed the gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed to people regardless of race, class or gender. He made this clear when he told the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” (Gal. 3:28).