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New Testament Passages Concerning Women - Part One of Two
Introduction
Based on a number of passages in the New Testament, some Christians assume that women must be silent in church or that women are not allowed to hold certain positions or perform certain duties in church or in ministry. But these are all wrong assumptions as we'll see in this series when we examine numerous statements and commands in the New Testament concerning women. "But Women Will Be Saved through Childbearing"
"And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved [sozo] through [dia] childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety." (1 Timothy 2:14-15)Many Bible commentaries point out that this is a very difficult passage to understand, and there are quite a few interpretations of what Paul might have meant here. Paul used the Greek word sozo ("saved"), which has several meanings:
In 1 Timothy 2:14-15 (above), notice that Paul made the "But women will be saved through childbearing" comment immediately after reminding us that Eve was the first sinner. Some Bible commentaries suggest that since the extreme pain of giving birth is due to the curse that God placed on all women because of Eve's sin (Genesis 3:16), perhaps Paul was concerned that his readers would worry that women are cursed and therefore they cannot receive salvation. In this interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:14-15 (above), Paul was attempting to comfort women by explaining that they can receive salvation even though they must experience the effects of the curse from Eve's sin, which is why he began that sentence with "But" (NIV) or "Nevertheless" (NKJV). By starting that sentence with "But" or "Nevertheless," he was directly connecting his comment about women being saved through childbearing with the fact that Eve was the one who was deceived. This is likely to be the correct interpretation based on comparing what Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:14-15 (above) with what he said in 1 Corinthians 3:15. Notice that he used the same two Greek words sozo and dia in the same order in both passages: "And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved [sozo] through [dia] childbearing" (1 Timothy 2:14-15)In 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (above), Paul was saying that all Christians will receive rewards or suffer loss in heaven, based on our earthly works of obedience (see section #12 in my article called Cheat Sheet). He said that when the fire tests our works, some people will have the painful experience of escaping through (dia) the flames, but it won't prevent them from being saved (sozo). He used the same two Greek words, and in the same order, as in 1 Timothy 2:14-15 (above), so in 1 Timothy 2:14-15 (above) his most likely meaning was that women might have the painful experience of going through (dia) childbearing, but it won't prevent them from being saved (sozo). So the idea is that just as a person can receive salvation even though going through the painful flames (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, above), a woman can receive salvation even though she is cursed because of Eve by having to go through pain during childbearing (1 Timothy 2:14-15, above). As we can see, 1 Timothy 2:15 ("But women will be saved through childbearing") is a difficult verse to understand. The important thing to recognize here is that Paul was not teaching that women will receive salvation (i.e., be allowed into heaven) based on whether or not they have given birth because that would contradict the clear teaching of Scripture on how to receive salvation (see my article called How to Receive Salvation). Must Women Have Long Hair or Cover Their Heads?
"Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice - nor do the churches of God. In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it." (1 Corinthians 11:4-18)Some of these statements are difficult for us to understand, but a number of Bible scholars agree that this passage needs to be viewed in the context of the culture in which Paul lived, as in these examples: "11:4...In the culture of Paul's day, men uncovered their heads in worship to signify their respect for and submission to deity. When a man prayed or prophesied with his head covered, he failed to show the proper attitude toward Christ.When we come across passages that we don't understand or we don't like, it would be very convenient to say that those passages were only valid in the first century and they don't apply to us today. But we need to be careful because that approach can easily lead us into error. Still, there's no doubt that some New Testament passages don't literally apply to Christians today. For example, in Romans 15:30-31 the apostle Paul urged people to pray that he would be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, but there's no point in praying for Paul today because he's been dead for almost two thousand years. Therefore, certain New Testament passages don't apply today as they did in the first century. As we can see in the above quotes, there's some agreement among Bible scholars that in Paul's culture it was appropriate for a woman to physically have a covering over her head during public worship. There are different opinions about whether a woman's long hair was sufficient as a covering, or whether all women (or just married women) had to wear cloth over their heads, but there's general agreement that this was based on the social customs of Paul's time. For example, notice what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:6 (above): "If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head." (1 Corinthians 11:6)Paul said that a woman should cover her head if it's a disgrace for her to have her hair cut or shaved off. It was a disgrace in Paul's culture for a woman to have her hair cut in this way (see the Bible commentary quotes above), but this is not a disgrace in modern Western culture. Therefore, many Bible commentaries agree that Christian women today don't need to obey first-century social customs concerning hair length or a physical "covering." Notice that in 1 Corinthians 11:5 (above) Paul said that women should be "covered" when they pray or prophesy, which refers to public prayer or public prophesying in church (according to many Bible commentaries). In 1 Corinthians 11:16-18 (above), Paul specifically placed his instructions in the context of church services, which demonstrates that women are allowed to pray and prophesy out loud in church. This helps shed some light on another difficult passage concerning women's roles and actions in the church, which we'll look at next. Must Women Be Silent in Church?
"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two - or at the most three - should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet [sigao] in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop [sigao]. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations [ekklesia] of the saints, women should remain silent [sigao] in the churches [ekklesia]. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)On the surface, it sounds like Paul was commanding all women to be completely silent in church (verses 34-35, above). But is that really what Paul was saying? Should women be totally silent from the moment they enter the church until they leave the church? Are they not allowed to verbally greet anyone? Are they not allowed to manage their children while in church? Are they not allowed to have women's group meetings in the church building? Are they not allowed to say anything at all within the church building? Or was Paul saying something else? To answer these questions, recall that Paul had earlier said that women are allowed to pray and prophesy out loud in church (1 Corinthians 11:5, in the previous section), and therefore Paul could not have been commanding all women to be totally silent in church in verses 34-35 (above). This "silence" means something else. In the above passage, notice that Paul said that everyone has gifts that can be used in church services, and he said that anyone can speak a message in tongues or give a word of prophecy in church as long as it's done in an orderly and considerate manner (verses 26-33). Paul did not exclude women from exercising their spiritual gifts in church. Then Paul said that if anyone (whether a man or a woman) is publicly speaking in tongues, then that person should "keep quiet" if no interpretation comes forth (verse 28). "Keep quiet" is the NIV's translation of the Greek word sigao, which means "to keep silent...hold peace," according to Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary. This is the same Greek word that Paul used in verse 30 when he said that a prophet (whether a man or a woman) should stop speaking when another prophet receives a word from the Lord, and it's the same Greek word that Paul used when he said that women should "remain silent" (verse 34). So in order for a church service to be orderly, there are times when men and women can exercise their spiritual gifts, and there are times when men and women need to be silent. Now let's compare verses 34-35 (above) in several different versions of the Bible. Notice that the 1984 NIV had the phrase, "As in all the congregations of the saints," at the beginning of a sentence (unlike the other translations below): "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches" (1 Corinthians 14:33-34 NIV - 1984 edition)In the above quotes, the 1984 NIV had the phrase, "As in all the congregations of the saints," at the beginning of a sentence, but the other translations have that phrase at the end of a different sentence. The location of that phrase is significant, because if the NIV were correct then this command for women to be silent would be a universal command for all churches, but if the other translations are correct then this would be a command that was originally written to the Corinthian Christians concerning their assemblies (their church services). There are several indications that in this passage the 1984 NIV was not as accurate as the other translations, as we can see when we compare the NIV with Young's Literal Translation: "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations [ekklesia] of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches [ekklesia]" (1 Corinthians 14:33-34 NIV - 1984 edition)There are two things to notice in the NIV and YLT versions above:
Bible commentaries tend to say that Paul was writing to the Corinthian Christians in order to bring correction to their disorderly church services, as 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 (above) describes. As part of this correction, Paul said that wives should stop creating disturbances during the service. Bible scholars have pointed out that in the first century it was rare for a woman to be educated as we'll see in a moment, and it's been suggested that men and women might have been segregated on opposite sides of the room during church services in the first century. Therefore, if married women had questions about what the preacher or teacher was saying, especially if they raised their voices to ask their husbands across the room, then this would create a disorderly atmosphere in the service. Paul was trying to correct such disorderliness in the Corinthian church by saying that wives should ask questions of their husbands at home, and he said that such disorderly behavior was "shameful." With all of that in mind, here are some things that Bible commentaries say about that passage: "Let the women keep silence in the churches...It may be that even this prohibition was due to the circumstances that existed in Ephesus, where Timothy was, and in Corinth, and would not apply everywhere. If so, it applies wherever similar circumstances exist, but not elsewhere. Both were Greek churches. Among the Greeks public women were disreputable. For a woman to speak in public would cause the remark that she was shameless. Virtuous women were secluded. Hence it would be a shame for women to speak in the church assembly. It is noteworthy that there is no hint of such a prohibition to any churches except Grecian. Wherever it would be shameful, women ought not to speak." (The People's New Testament commentary, 1 Corinthians 14:34-36, emphasis added)For all of these reasons, the weight of evidence shows that Paul was not commanding all women to be silent in church, but instead he was bringing correction to the church in Corinth for their disorderly services. Some of this disorderliness was brought about by married women who were creating disturbances by trying to ask questions of their husbands during the service. After saying that wives should ask these questions of their husbands at home, the next thing Paul said was that it's disgraceful for a wife to "speak" in church: "If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman ["a wife"] to speak in the church." (1 Corinthians 14:35)If we simply look on the surface and take this verse at face value, then we might be tempted to say that women must not speak at all in church. But we've already seen that women are allowed to speak in church, so we must look deeper in order to properly understand this verse. By recognizing that there are several different Greek words (with different shades of meaning) that can be translated into English as "speak," this helps us discern the proper meaning of this verse. For example, here's what one Greek dictionary of the New Testament says: "Paul says that it is shameful or vile for wives to speak in church and cause confusion. The word for "speak" is lalein, the inf. of laleo (2980) which in the context of 1 Cor. 14 means to speak in such a way as to cause confusion, in contrast to lego (3004) which means to speak intelligently and understandably...If a wife has a question which she needs to have clarified, she must not ask in church and embarrass her husband, but she should ask her husband at home. It should be borne in mind that at the time of Paul's injunction, it was rare for a woman to be educated. Neither should a wife speak in church in such a way as to usurp authority (authenteo [831]) over her husband (1 Tim. 2:11, 12)." (The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, aischron, emphasis added)So when Paul said that it's disgraceful for wives to "speak" in church, the Greek word in this context specifically means, "to speak in such a way as to cause confusion." Paul was concerned about orderliness and peace in church services, he was not commanding wives to be totally silent in church. Therefore, if a husband and wife are sitting together in a modern church service, and if the husband and wife occasionally whisper to each other, then they're not violating Paul's command because they're not speaking in such a way as to cause disturbances or disorderliness in the service. Similarly, in some churches it's customary for people to occasionally say things like "Amen!" or "Preach it, pastor!" during the pastor's sermon. Since these interjections are accepted and perhaps even expected, they're not causing disturbances or disorderliness (because they're encouraging the pastor rather than disrupting the flow of the sermon), so they're not violating Paul's command. The Outward Appearance
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God." (1 Timothy 2:8-10)Notice that Paul was addressing all men everywhere (verse 8, above), which shows that he was not limiting these instructions to a specific local situation. Then Paul began verse 9 with the Greek word hosautos, which means "likewise" (Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary). For example, here's how verse 9 is translated in other versions of the Bible: "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array" (1 Timothy 2:9 KJV)So Paul addressed all men "everywhere" and then he addressed women "likewise," which indicates that his remarks are general principles for the entire Church body. In this passage, Paul said that "women who profess to worship God" should focus on their outward good deeds above their outward appearance, as this Bible commentary describes: "The context requires that we understand these directions as to women, in relation to their deportment in public worship, though the rules will hold good on other occasions also.So Paul was not saying that women cannot dress nicely or that they cannot accessorize, but rather that it would be wrong to overdo it by calling attention to their bodies or their wealth by the way they dress (which demonstrates pride). Notice that the apostle Peter echoed Paul's instructions: "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (1 Peter 3:1-4)Again, we should focus more on outward good deeds (which come from our inward beauty) rather than trying to call attention to our bodies or our wealth by the way that we dress. Here's another passage concerning the clothes that people wear: "A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this." (Deuteronomy 22:5)This issue is not mentioned in the New Testament, nor are there any other commands of this type in the rest of the Old Testament. Bible commentaries provide various opinions on why this was detestable to God, such as this being a magical practice in the ancient Middle East intended to weaken or harm one's enemies, or that based on certain evidence this practice was perhaps connected with the worship of false deities. But no matter what the reason was, this command was given under the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was completely canceled at the cross (see my article called Covenants, Dispensations, and the Ten Commandments - Part Three), and therefore no one today is required to obey Deuteronomy 22:5 (above). Are Women Allowed to Be Deacons?
"Deacons [diakonos], likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons." (1 Timothy 3:8-10 NIV - 1984 edition)In verse 8 (above), the 1984 NIV said that deacons must be men. However, the Greek word for "men" does not appear in this verse in the ancient Greek manuscripts. For example, here's how this verse is translated in other versions of the Bible: "Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre" (1 Timothy 3:8 KJV)So the 1984 NIV provided a misleading translation by saying that deacons must be men (this has been corrected in the 2011 edition of the NIV). In verse 8 (above), the word "deacon" comes from the Greek word diakonos, which means "deacon, minister, servant" (Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary). Here are some ways that this Greek word is used in the New Testament: "and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants [diakonos] who had drawn the water knew." (John 2:9)The above passages demonstrate that household servants are "diakonos," and rulers are "diakonos," and Jesus is a "diakonos," and Paul and Apollos were "diakonos," and servants of the devil are "diakonos," and so on. This Greek word is most often used in the sense of "servant," and in fact the function of a deacon (diakonos) is to serve in the local church. Notice that the above passages are not referring to the office of a deacon because they're not using the word diakonos in the context of a local church. Now let's compare what Paul said about "deacons" and about "women" or "wives" in this passage: "Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things." (1 Timothy 3:8-11 NKJV)There are several things to notice in the above passage:
For all of the above reasons, a number of Bible commentaries argue that Paul was referring to "deaconesses" in verse 11, as in the following examples: "11 - their wives - rather, "the women," that is, the deaconesses. For there is no reason that special rules should be laid down as to the wives of the deacons, and not also as to the wives of the bishops or overseers. Moreover, if the wives of the deacons were meant, there seems no reason for the omission of "their" (not in the Greek). Also the Greek for "even so" (the same as for "likewise," 1 Timothy 3:8, and "in like manner," 1 Timothy 2:9), denotes a transition to another class of persons. Further, there were doubtless deaconesses at Ephesus, such as Phoebe was at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1, "servant," Greek, "deaconess"), yet no mention is made of them in this Epistle if not here; whereas, supposing them to be meant here, the third chapter embraces in due proportion all the persons in the service of the Church. Naturally after specifying the qualifications of the deacon, Paul passes to those of the kindred office, the deaconess. "Grave" occurs in the case of both. "Not slanderers" here, answers to "not double-tongued" in the deacons; so "not false accusers" (Titus 2:3). "Sober" here answers to "not given to much wine," in the case of the deacons (1 Timothy 3:8). Thus it appears he requires the same qualifications in female deacons as in deacons, only with such modifications as the difference of sex suggested. PLINY, in his celebrated letter to Trajan, calls them "female ministers."" (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, 1 Timothy 3:11, emphasis added)So according to various Bible commentaries, Paul was probably referring to female deacons in 1 Timothy 3:11 (above). In fact, two of the above commentaries point out that Pliny referred to "deaconesses" in a letter to the emperor Trajan. Here are some translations of a portion of Pliny's letter to Trajan sometime between AD 111 and AD 113: "Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses." (Westminster CollegeThese quotes show that the governor Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan concerning two women whom he had questioned about Christianity. According to these and other translators, Pliny said that the two women were called "deaconesses," which would indicate that they were female deacons in their local church. Now consider an illustration in which I travel to your town, and I visit your church. Imagine that I'm carrying a letter of introduction written by my pastor, saying that I'm a deacon of the church in my town. This would indicate that I'm functioning in the office of a deacon (diakonos) in my church. With that in mind, take a look at the following passage: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a diakonos of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me." (Romans 16:1-2)In the above passage, a lady named Phoebe was traveling to Rome, and the apostle Paul wrote some words of introduction for her, saying that she was a diakonos of the church in Cenchrea. This is exactly the same as the illustration in which I traveled to your town with a letter of introduction from my pastor, saying that I'm a deacon at my church. Therefore, it's reasonable to conclude that Phoebe functioned in the office of a deacon at her church. Someone might argue that Phoebe was simply a servant, and that she didn't hold the office of a deacon, but the above passage doesn't make such a distinction. The essential definition of the office of a deacon is that a person is a diakonos in the local church as we saw earlier, and the above passage specifically describes Phoebe in this way. Based on what we've seen so far, the weight of evidence supports the view that women are allowed to hold the office of a deacon. However, it's important to be thorough when we study the Bible, and here's a verse that casts doubt on this view: "A deacon [diakonos] must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well." (1 Timothy 3:12)This is interesting because Paul seems to have endorsed Phoebe as a faithful and committed deaconess of her church, yet in the above verse Paul stated that deacons must be married men who manage their children well. So can women be deacons, or can't they? If we take 1 Timothy 3:12 (above) literally, then a deacon in a local church must be a man, and he must be married, and he must have children, and he must manage his children and his household well. Since the apostle Paul was unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:7-8), this would mean that the apostle Paul, who referred to himself as a diakonos in 1 Corinthians 3:5 and who wrote virtually half of the New Testament, was not qualified to function as a deacon in a local church. This hardly makes any sense. Granted Paul was called to be an apostle and not a deacon, but it seems beyond reason that he would be unfit to serve as a deacon in a local church. For example, Paul frequently described himself as a servant, and he often described the ways in which he served the saints (e.g., Romans 1:1, 9, 7:6, 15:8, 17, 25, 31, 1 Corinthians 3:5, 4:1, 2 Corinthians 4:5, 6:4, 11:8, 13:4, Galatians 1:10, Ephesians 3:7, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:23, 25, 2 Timothy 1:3, Titus 1:1). Since Paul had a servant's heart and served the saints in every way possible (the word "saint" in the Bible essentially refers to a holy or righteous person, including all Christians as in 1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV and Philippians 1:1 NKJV - Easton's Bible Dictionary  ),
is it reasonable to believe that he was
unfit
to be a servant in a local church (a deacon) simply because he was not married? Yet this is what we must assume if we take 1 Timothy 3:12 (above) in its most literal sense.
Consider that male-oriented statements were Paul's usual style of writing, such as the following in the 1984 NIV: "because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons [huios] of God." (Romans 8:14)In the Greek, Paul usually spoke of "sons" (huios) and "brothers" (adelphos), but the 2011 NIV tends to use gender-neutral translations of those Greek words such as "children" and "brothers and sisters" because that's how we naturally interpret the above statements. In the majority of male-oriented statements that Paul made, we don't take them completely literally. In fact, in English we tend to speak in the masculine form as well, without meaning it completely literally. For example, imagine that you hear someone say, "If a Christian commits a sin then he should repent and confess his sin and God will forgive him." When we hear statements like this, we interpret such statements to be referring to men and women, just as we interpret Paul's statements above to be referring to men and women. Paul used the Greek word for "son" (singular or plural) numerous times in his letters, but he never used the Greek word for "daughter" (singular or plural) except on one occasion in a quote from the Old Testament (2 Corinthians 6:18). He used the Greek word for "brother" (singular or plural) numerous times in his letters, but he never used the Greek word for "sister" (singular or plural) unless he was speaking of specific women (here are all of the references: Romans 16:1, 15, 1 Corinthians 9:5, 1 Timothy 5:2). The only other time he used the Greek word for "sister" was when he was discussing both a husband and a wife, whom he referred to at one point as "the brother or the sister" (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). Paul used the Greek word for "man" or "husband" (singular or plural) numerous times in his letters, but he never used the Greek word for "woman" or "wife" (singular or plural) unless he was addressing issues that specifically concerned women or wives (such as the passages we've looked at). Apart from these instances, Paul always used the masculine form when writing about anything pertaining to both men and women. Since Paul primarily wrote in the masculine form, 1 Timothy 3:12 (above) would be Paul's way of saying, "If a deacon is married, then he or she must be a one-woman man or a one-man woman, and if he or she has kids then he or she must be able to manage his or her children and his or her household well." Notice how awkward that sounds, which is why we rarely use "he or she" in English. Instead, we tend to use "he" (or a modern gender-neutral term) when we're referring to men and women in general, just as Paul did. For all of these reasons, the weight of evidence shows that women are allowed to serve as deacons in the local church. Are Women Allowed to Be Elders?
"From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them:...Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." (Acts 20:17-28)According to the above passages, elders were overseers and shepherds of the church, and they directed the affairs of the church, and some of them were the preachers and teachers in the church. Here are some of Paul's qualifications for an elder ("overseer"): "Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap." (1 Timothy 3:1-7)In the above passage, Paul described some qualifications for an "overseer" (which comes from the Greek word episkopos, meaning "bishop, overseer," according to Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary). In another passage, Paul gave similar instructions using the terms "elder" (presbuteros) and "overseer" (episkopos) interchangeably: "To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless - not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it." (Titus 1:4-9)A number of Bible commentaries point out that the words "elder," "bishop," "overseer," "leader," and "pastor" all refer to different facets of the same office. For example: "In 1 Tim. 3:2 and Titus 1:5, 7, an elder denotes the dignity of the office, and episkopos, bishop or overseer, denotes its authority and duties (cf. 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:1, 2, 4)." (The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old and New Testaments, Dr. Spiros Zodhiates, episkopos, emphasis added)So the words "elder," "bishop," "overseer," "leader," and "pastor" all refer to different facets of the same office. Some of the elders were the preachers and teachers in their churches, as the following verse describes: "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching." (1 Timothy 5:17)Here are some things that Bible commentaries say about the above verse: "Especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. The class we call preachers, or pastors." (The People's New Testament commentary, 1 Timothy 5:17-20, emphasis added)In order to determine whether or not women are allowed to be elders, let's take a look at most of the qualifications that Paul listed in the above passages:
Notice that all of the above qualifications are gender-neutral, meaning that they can apply equally well to men and women (in Part Two we'll examine the issue of women being allowed to teach). Now let's look at the remaining qualifications that Paul listed, concerning marriage and children: "Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife,...He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)" (1 Timothy 3:2-5)This is essentially the same thing that Paul said about deacons, which we looked at in the previous section. If we take these passages literally then we're saying that every elder, bishop, overseer, leader, pastor, preacher, and teacher must be a man, and he must be married, and he must be a "husband of one wife" or a "man of one woman" (both interpretations are possible based on the Greek text according to Bible commentaries), and he must manage his family well, and he must have children, and his children must obey him with proper respect, and his children must be Christians, and his children must not be wild and disobedient. The apostle Paul was unmarried as we saw earlier, so if we take the above passages literally then we're saying that the apostle Paul was unfit to be an elder, bishop, overseer, leader, pastor, preacher, or teacher, which is completely unreasonable given the fact that Paul was arguably the greatest Christian leader, preacher, and teacher after Jesus ascended to heaven. In the section on deacons we saw that apart from instances when he was specifically addressing women, Paul always used the masculine form when writing about anything pertaining to both men and women. Therefore, the above passages are the qualifications for an elder written in the masculine form of speech, just like the same type of qualifications for a deacon are written in the masculine form of speech. So the spirit of what Paul was saying is "if an elder is married" and "if an elder has children." The Greek word presbutis is the feminine form of the Greek word for "elder," so Paul could have used this word in the above passages to indicate that women are allowed to be elders, bishops, overseers, leaders, pastors, preachers, or teachers. But Paul didn't use that Greek word in the above passages, nor was he in the habit of using the feminine form of other Greek words to include women in his comments. Instead, he spoke of "sons" or "brothers" (for example) even when his meaning was clearly "sons and daughters" or "brothers and sisters" as we've seen. The fact that Paul didn't use the feminine form of the Greek word for "elder" in the above passages doesn't actually tell us anything. In the entire New Testament, the only place where the feminine form of the Greek word for "elder" is used is in Titus 2:3: "Likewise, teach the older women [presbutis] to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children" (Titus 2:3-4)In the above passage Paul used the feminine form of the Greek word for "elder," but it's referring to "elder women." That passage has nothing to do with the office of an elder, and Paul used the feminine form here because he was specifically speaking of women. We've seen that Paul always wrote in the masculine form (except when specifically addressing women), just as we often do today. Therefore, his male-oriented statements are not always meant to be taken completely literally, unless the context requires it. For all of these reasons, the weight of evidence shows that women are allowed to hold the position of an elder, bishop, overseer, leader, pastor, preacher, or teacher in church or in ministry (in Part Two we'll examine the issue of women being pastors or teachers). There's not a shred of scriptural evidence that women are not allowed to hold any of those positions. Continue on to Part Two. For the glory of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who came in the flesh, was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. Dave Root home page and email: https://www.vividchristianity.com "Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3) "Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist - denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22-23) "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God." (1 John 4:15) "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3) "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist." (2 John 1:6-7) "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) |
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| All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (R). NIV (R). Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. (Emphasis added.) |