I posted a whole article on why Paul was likely speaking for that time period, to those women and that church. Here it is again.
5 WAYS THE BIBLE SUPPORTS WOMEN PREACHING
Bible exegesis 101 requires us to look at what comes right before and right after this passage to help us understand what it means. Isolating 1 Timothy 2:12 is taking the Bible out of context.
1. Paul’s word’s in 1 Timothy 2 were most likely about specific women in Timothy’s church being unruly, not all women in the church throughout all times.
Paul (the one who wrote that passage) says in 1 Timothy that he doesn’t permit a woman, who is learning, to
‘usurp authority’ over a man. Which is quite different than saying she can’t teach or have any authority over men.
Usurping authority is to steal away or to take what isn’t hers rightfully. Sort of like overthrowing a legitimate government so you can have more power. It’s not right for men or women to do that. Most scholars believe it is applying to the
specific situation in the church where specific women who were uneducated, were also disruptive (and usurping the actual leaders).
However, if we choose to believe that the Bible always provides universal statements, then we need to be consistent and apply the same logic to the rest of the passage.
1 Timothy also says a woman/women shouldn’t braid our hair or wear gold( no wedding rings) pearls, or anything expensive (most likely to church). That we are to sit in silence in the church. So no “Sunday best” clothes allowed, especially if it comes with jewelry. Also no female greeters, worship leaders, or choir members. Plus no women reading scripture or giving announcements.
Again, we either need to be consistent and remove women from all of the roles mentioned in church (and make sure they dress really plainly while we’re at it), or we need to acknowledge that those instructions were most likely geared toward a few specific women who were being intentionally disruptive.
2. The Bible’s instructions around preaching and using other gifts to lead in the Church are explicitly given to men AND women.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul tells the “brothers and sisters” to instruct, reveal, and prophesy to one another. When Paul and other New Testament writers give instructions to Christians about preaching and leading in the Church, they use phrases like “all of you” or “every one of you”. Which absolutely includes women!
1 Cor. I would that
ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied
1 Cor. - 26 What then shall we say,
brothers and sisters? When you come together,
each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
1Cor 14:31For you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
Peter- Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Eph- 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The Bible’s original text offers a lot of clarity that translations do not.
Growing up none of us used an original manuscript to learn the texts and very, very few people are fluent in the original languages, the cultural context all of these letters were written in, and the way the church has shaped our understanding for centuries. So we rely on those few experts to translate the passages and teach us as much as possible.
All that to say that there are thousands of Biblical scholars who are familiar with those sources who teach that the ban on women in the church is a human mandate, not a divine one.
4. God gives us several examples of female leadership (over men and women) in the Old and New Testaments.
- Deborah was an Old Testament judge, meaning she led Israel before they had a king (Judges 4-5). She was known for wisdom, spiritual insight, and success in battle. And as an important aside, there is ZERO indication in scripture that her role was assumed because there were no qualified men willing or able to lead. God called her uniquely, just as he called the other judges.
- Anna was a prophet who dedicated her life to praying, praising, and teaching in the temple. She was also one of the first people to meet Jesus as an infant, and recognized and proclaimed his divinity (Luke 2:25-38).
- Huldah was an Old Testament prophet who was a trusted source for interpreting and understanding scripture. She was even sought out by the king of Israel to teach his men about the meaning of prophecies from God (2 Kings 22:11-20).
- Priscilla was part of the church in Ephesus, and co-lead with her husband in teaching and evangelizing (Acts 18:24-26).
- Phoebe was a deacon in a formal position of leadership at a church near Rome. Paul praised her for leadership and impact, and asked the rest of the church to follow her instructions and aid her in her ministry work (Romans 16:1-2).
- Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ followers throughout his ministry, and was the first person to see him after his resurrection. She is also the one who received the first call to preach the good news of his resurrection.
5. The first preachers of the gospel were women.
When Jesus was coming to earth, the first people to know and share about his arrival were his mother, Mary, and her cousin, Elizabeth. Women. When Jesus was in the early stages of his earthly ministry, one of the first proclaimers (which is the literal translation of the word preacher) was the woman at the well in Samaria. And when Jesus resurrected after his death, the ones who were instructed to share about his resurrection were women. Jesus directly told Mary Magdalene to go proclaim (preach) the good news to his male disciples. Did you catch that? It came straight from Jesus!
Make no mistake – it’s not just because the women happened to be there when the men weren’t. Jesus appeared out of thin air to his followers multiple times before he ascended into heaven. He absolutely could have gone straight to the men and given them the instruction to preach. But he didn’t – he chose women.
I thought that was a good article to get a real discussion going. Annnd y'all have fun, I'm out.
