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Pastor's Note: Women in Ministry By Tom Petter Scripture is Our Guide The first question raised when discussing women in ministry is: what about the texts that prohibit women from public speaking, teaching and preaching? (1 Timothy 2:11-15 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. See The Gospel Coalition Commentary online for a summary of the issues). In the orthodox Protestant tradition, we view the Scripture as authoritative (our final appeal), inerrant (without error), normative (our boundaries) and sufficient to "make the man of God complete, equipped for every good work (anthropos as generic for both men and women, 2 Timothy 3:17). We are bound by conscience and the Word of God to seek the Scripture diligently to inform all our practices. We will not be swayed by the wind of cultures to fit the teachings of the Bible into current worldviews and ideologies. "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity" We recognize these are difficult texts to deal with. We should always have a posture of humility when interpreting passages of Scripture that are hard to understand. The Bible is true and inerrant, but our own interpretations aren't always accurate! This is why certain topics are conversations, and we should not be legalistic and hard-headed about our conclusions. We humble ourselves and recognize we need the Holy Spirit to guide us to understand the literary, grammatical and historical contexts to determine meaning. If it's a hard text to figure out, we seek to find its meaning also with what Scripture says elsewhere. Summary Since this is a longer and more detailed blog, here is the gist: Can women teach? Yes, women can teach Scripture, but Paul issues a strong command against a particular teaching that was present in Ephesus, the context of 1 Timothy. This command for women not to teach men has universal implications: a woman can never teach just because she is a woman, as if she possesses special spiritual insights and powers over man. Paul goes back to the origins of the creation of man and woman (Genesis 2-3). Both Eve and Adam are "transgressors" and left to themselves have "enmity" (Genesis 3:15) against each other. But Paul reminds us that Eve was the first transgressor, not Adam. The original signature (primeval) temptation of man is to lord it over woman and others ("he will rule over you," Genesis 3:16) with violence if necessary (Cain murders Abel in Genesis 4). The primeval temptation for woman is to "desire," which is the same word used for Cain's "desire" for sin: "Sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is to have you, but you must rule over it" (Genesis 4:7). This "desire" translates into the deception Eve fell for when tempted by Satan to eat of the fruit and to become a transgressor (read Genesis 3). Adam also ate of the fruit but because he was created first, he becomes the primary "transgressor" and causes the entire human race to fall into sin. Paul makes it clear the guilt lies with Adam in Romans 5:12-14, but Eve is equally guilty, which is the point Paul makes in 1 Timothy 2. Both man's and woman's signature temptations are of course interchangeable since it boils down to wielding control over others, but biblical wisdom holds: man must control the urge to lord it over others and his desire/craving for power (including by violent means; how many wars have been started because of man's ego?). Woman must also bring her desires under God's control. Teachers, Leaders and Writers of Scripture: Mostly Men and a Few Women It is a fact the prophets and apostles who wrote Scriptures (see 1 Peter 1:10-12 and 2 Peter 1:21) are men and that leaders in Scripture are men (Covenant mediators Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the 12 tribes of Israel, David's kingship and his descendants, Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant, the 12 Apostles and the writers of the New Testament). Nevertheless, the Scripture also describes several women who rise up to teach, write Scripture and lead both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Examples are well known: Deborah is both prophet and judge, a dual role only Samuel shares in the early days of Israel (Judges 4:1-5; 1 Samuel 7:6, 16-17). In her call, Israel (in the Hebrew, "all the sons of Israel") go to her for "judgment," which is Bible-speak for Scripture-informed guidance (Judges 4:5). She co-authors a song of victory against the Canaanites and Sisera (with Barak, Judges 5). Huldah was a contemporary prophet to Jeremiah at the time of King Josiah of Judah (late 7th Century BC). She prophesies the demise of the kingdom of Judah, codified in writing in 2 Kings 22:14-20. Other composers of Scriptures include Hannah who writes a poem celebrating the birth of Samuel and prophesying the coming Messiah-Anointed King David. Mary's Magnificat mirrors Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1-10; Luke 1:46-55). Luke makes a point to emphasize women in his account of the life of Jesus. Acts 2 proclaims the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon men and women. Priscilla and Aquilla teach Apollos (Acts 18:26). Paul has female "co-workers" (see the list in Romans 16). Here is the dilemma: on the one hand, Paul's prohibition against women speaking in public cannot be cancelled or ignored from the record (1 Timothy 2:11-15), which is a routine tactic of feminist-liberal interpreters. On the other hand, we cannot cancel from the record that a few women do in fact write the Scripture, rise to prominence and play significant roles in redemptive history. Is there a way to bring these two realities together, a stern prohibition against women teaching men and the presence of women leaders in Scripture? A Summary of the Texts Regarding the Universal Prohibition on Women Teaching (1 Corinthians 14:34-35; Timothy 2:11-15) First Corinthians 14 is the 'easier' text to handle. The Gospel Coalition Commentary (online and free) on 1 Corinthians does a fine job explaining what it is the women were doing (prophesying indiscriminately in public worship) and why Paul silences them and their practices as a universal principle. The prohibition in 1 Timothy 2 is more complicated, and convictions are entrenched about what the text means for today's context and what Paul intended to say. What is the nature of the prohibition? What is it that Paul demands? The context of Ephesus where Timothy is ministering is helpful. In 1 Timothy 1:6-8, Paul mentions "certain persons" who are spreading false teaching. The historical context from Acts is another clue as to what was going on at the time. The goddess worship of Artemis in the temple of Ephesus attracted worldwide appeal. Artemis was "magnificent...whom all Asia and the world worship" (see Acts 19:27). Practices included profoundly immoral rituals (check out what Artemis looked like). To add to the mix, women in Ephesus dressed provocatively and flaunted their wealth, acquired through the lucrative profits gained from the temple economy (Acts 19:23-27). Paul says Christian women should behave very differently and be "respectable, with modesty and self-control" (1 Timothy 2:9). Specific Commands to Women in 1 Timothy 2 With this context in mind, Paul gives a succession of commands to women in general: "let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness" (1 Timothy 2:11), which gives them permission to learn but with the clear expectation of an attitude of teachability without a sense of superiority nor loudness. We might say, 'don't be a know-it-all and a loudmouth.' With this premise in place, Paul delivers the central charge: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather she is to remain quiet" (2:12). This is a categorical prohibition that leaves no loophole. A female person can learn but cannot "teach" nor have "authority" (in the sense of domineering or controlling) over a man. Paul doesn't stipulate a public or private setting though the chapter does suggest public worship. The reason for this 'no-exception' command comes next. It's enshrined in the record of Creation in Genesis 1-3. Here Paul affirms the primacy of Adam and what we call primogeniture: all the blessings and privileges given to the first born: "for Adam was formed first, not Eve" (2:13). But more to the point, it was in fact Eve who was "deceived,” not "Adam" (1 Timothy 2:13; see Genesis 3:1-6, with the emphasis on "the woman"). She became a "transgressor" (2:14; Note that Adam is not off the hook either, see Romans 5:12-21). If Eve was deceived and is a transgressor, Paul argues, then a "woman (in the singular) can't teach nor exercise authority over a man; she is to keep quiet" (2:12). The reasoning makes sense: why would you have someone who is a deceiver teach anyone? Furthermore, why would someone who came second in the lineage (Eve) receive the patrimonial blessing and authority over the firstborn (Adam)? Paul here is restoring the 'pecking order' of the beginning of creation of humankind as male and female (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:18-25). Adam is the source of Eve in their interdependent relationship. Adam is also the recipient of primordial authority and receives the blessing of the first born, not Eve. Biblical Authority Defined Before we continue with Paul's line of argument in 1 Timothy 2, it's important to remind ourselves that authority from a biblical perspective is never a means to lord it over others, but rather a privilege and responsibility to serve others, as Jesus corrects the disciples’ definition of authority (Mark 10:42-45). If you are craving authority and power as the disciples were, you will be in for a big surprise. Jesus's kind of authority and how we exercise it is defined for us: death to self and sacrificial service to others! More on this definition of authority below. Redemption of Eve The final point Paul makes in 1 Timothy 2:15 seems to confirm what he's had in mind so far. He appeals to both the archetypical "woman" who "will be saved through childbearing" and all her followers "if they (plural) continue in faith and love and holiness and self-control." So, Paul concludes where he started in his admonition to women with the idea of "self-control" (2:9). Self-control in the worship of Artemis didn't exist and this sort of reckless craving of appetites for sexual gratification, attention, affluence and gaudy appearance also translated into reckless and irresponsible teachings. The Nature of the Prohibition As with every difficult text in Scripture, we need to tread with caution, hold our interpretation humbly and be open to having our minds changed. It is the Bible that is authoritative and inerrant, not our interpretation of it. Let's begin with what we can say without question: the prohibition stands across time and cultures about a woman teaching a man and is very real. But what is less clear is the nature of the prohibition that applies to all times and cultures. Paul seems to confront and debunk a universally held false belief that women in general were more spiritually enlightened than men. They bragged about it and openly taught this heresy in public, flaunting their special spiritual knowledge over man, just because of their womanhood. Paul shuts the door on this false teaching. Instead, Paul commands women can in fact grow in Christ and learn but it must be done in a posture of humility and discretion, “let a woman learn quietly in all submissiveness" (1 Timothy 2:11). In other words, just as you shouldn't flaunt your wealth and draw attention to yourself (2:9), do not parade your knowledge as if you were superior. Be humble and learn in submissive attitude and put on display a "respectable" appearance "with modesty" and, in a highly sexualized culture, "self-control." Paul here echoes Proverbs 31 ("a woman of worth, who can find?") where he defines authentic feminine beauty as "godliness" and "good works" over undue fascination about outward appearance (1 Timothy 2:9; Proverbs 31:10). Restoring the Record of Creation The command for "a woman not to teach or exercise authority over a man" (1 Timothy 2:12) is directly tied to the order of Creation ("for Adam was formed first, not Eve," 2:13). By appealing to the Creation account of man and woman (Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-2), Paul tears down the entire goddess worship system that puts a female first in the order of Creation as the source and authority. At the center of Paul's prohibition is the false teaching that "the woman" as the archetype somehow has authority over men based on Eve's special insights (and after her every woman, including, presumably the goddess Artemis). Acts 19:34 offers a window into the fanaticism of Artemis's worshipers when a huge crowd gathered in Ephesus's theatre and “for about two hours they all cried with one voice ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.’” This distorted view of Eve and the resulting perception of women is the corrective that universally stands for all times and cultures. Women do not de facto carry any special powers over men. In fact, in primeval terms, it was the exact opposite: Eve was deceived! What is construed as special spiritual insight is pure deception! This is why women who believe in the primacy of woman over man can't ever teach man under any circumstances; they are teaching demonic lies (Satan says to Eve: if you eat of the tree, you will "know good and evil," Genesis 3:4-5). Paul will have none of that in Ephesus or anywhere else for that matter. From Eve to Mary Nevertheless, the archetypical woman represented by Eve is redeemed from her deception and "she (singular) will be saved through childbearing." Women (plural) are "to continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control" (2:15). Here interpretations can easily go off the rails and infer that salvation for women will come if they bear children. This is decidedly not the case, since salvation is apart from any works, including raising children (Ephesians 2:8-9). Instead, Paul seems to create a connection between Eve who was the archetype of deception and Mary ("she") who was the bearer of the Savior, by the Holy Spirit. This is a difficult text to interpret so we should hold our opinion lightly. Nevertheless, what remains clear is the prohibition Paul puts before all generations: we don't put a goddess on the throne. Instead, we worship God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Women in Ephesus and through all times can't ever claim the mantle of primogeniture and its inferred source and authority. This belongs to the first man Adam, not the first woman. Mary brings the Savior into the world born of the Spirit, but it is the Second Adam Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the patrimonial blessing, that saves us, not Eve or Mary or any other goddess (Romans 5:17 ;1 Corinthians 15:45-49). To replace the worship of the preeminence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit with female categories is the heresy Paul has in mind. Our Patrimonial Blessing from the Father in Christ, the Son of God This heretical worship produces no inheritance (which is at the heart of the patrimonial blessing). By faith in Jesus, we, both man and woman, receive the full blessing and the glorious inheritance of the first-born (Ephesians 1:18). Galatians 3:26-29 states clearly: "For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith...there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus...heirs according to promise." In Christ alone we are the full beneficiary of the patrimonial blessing of the inheritance of a first-born son (which is the precise meaning of primogeniture). This inheritance is glorious, "imperishable... and kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). To be sure the redeemer came "born of woman" (Galatians 4:4), but we have received our inheritance as "sons" by adoption and thereby have been given the right to call God "father" (Galatians 4:4-7). Christ alone has earned on our behalf the full patrimonial blessing of righteousness, holiness and glory in our place when He died and was raised from the dead (Romans 3:22; 4:25; 1 Corinthians 1:30, and so on). God the Father says, "This is my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11). In the Son of God, our Father is Heaven is pleased with us, male and female, and we receive the Holy Spirit with whom we are sealed for the Day of Redemption (Ephesians 4:30). However, before we rush to concluding that God is male only (swinging the heretical pendulum the other way), humankind as male and female are bearers of the image of God in the creation account (Genesis 1:27). God is Spirit (John 4:24) and reveals Himself in the richness of biblical imagery as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He also cares for us as a mother nurtures her children (Deuteronomy 32:18; Isaiah 42:14; 66:13; Matthew 23:37, and so on). We can't cancel God's feminine attributes any more than we can cancel his masculine attributes. Both a Contextual and Universal Application Thus, it seems we need to take into consideration the context of the prohibition of false teaching in Ephesus, but without dismissing the universal force of the command. Proponents of the context of goddess worship and the primacy of Artemis in Ephesus have Acts on their sides. There are also considerable extra-biblical documentary sources and cultural background material on goddess worship in Ephesus and elsewhere in the Greco-Roman world. However, the contextual arguments lose their persuasive appeal when the universal dimension of the prohibition is not taken seriously. The primacy of Adam stands forever. We can't go back to the Genesis account and rewrite it to make the text say something that it doesn't say. In other words, it's not enough to say, 'Oh, it's part of the First-Century heresy and nothing really applies today.' This would be true if Paul didn't appeal to the archetypal woman "Eve." But he does! Clearly there is something harking back to creation that Paul wants us to preserve, a commandment that applies beyond the historical context of Ephesus. The proposal here offers a sort of via media and argues that women who are anchored in the teachings of Creation-Redemption through the primacy of the First-Born of God – the Second Adam, Jesus Christ – can in fact teach men (if they have the spiritual gift of teaching). But if women promote the teaching that they somehow possess innate special spiritual powers over men with unique insights that men can never have, then the application of the text stands for all times. The Heresy of the Primacy of Women in History and Today To be clear, there are far more heresies spread by men than by women both in the Bible and through church history. Man's primeval sin of control and unchecked power over woman is reflected in brutal stories of patriarchal abuses of power, violence and cruelty following the fall of Adam and the resulting curse ("he shall rule over you" Genesis 3:16). If you can stomach it, read Judges 19 as a horrendous account of men's depravity. This sort of behavior is roundly condemned in biblical law which views women as a protected class. Nevertheless, a primeval temptation for women also exists. In the First Century, goddess worship was Artemis, Diana for the Romans, and Isis and Hathor in Egypt. These all derive from the fertility goddesses Asherah in ancient Israel, Ishtar in Mesopotamia and their antecedents in the earliest recorded history (look up the "Munhata Lady" of Neolithic times and you will understand). This false perception of human identity morphs according to culture and keeps appearing through history: today's gender confusion is one example, as is secular ideologies that promotes autonomy rather than the blessings of biblical interdependency between male and female (1 Corinthians 11:11). The rejection of the primacy (source and authority) of man is also a typical expression of the same temptation. It may be outright (organized religions that favor women in roles of authority) or perhaps more subtle through manipulation. The undue elevation of Mary in some Christian worship is also a manifestation of the same problem. We pray to the Father in Jesus's name and to no-one else. We don't need a female mediator to pray to our Father. As Paul says in the same context of Christian worship in 1 Timothy 2:5, "for there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ" (and we could add the interpretation: 'and it's not a female mediator'). True Authority As a final thought, for anyone who misconstrue spiritual power, authority, and brags about special spiritual insights, Jesus offers a brutal reality check: your primeval "authority" is for you to lead the way Jesus went to the cross (Mark 10:45). There is no earthly glory and ranking in that posture! Philippians 2:3-8 defines this authority: humility, self-emptying and sacrificial service, even unto death if need be. This is the mindset we should all have, men and women. In 1 Timothy 2, women are targeted. In Ephesians 5:25 men are targeted. Paul essentially shuts down the primeval temptation of men to lord it over their wives in marriage or, by implication in any circumstances.