If someone asks me if women can serve in the ministry, my answer will always be: “Yes, of course!All believers are called to serve and serve one another.
But I would respond differently if the question was asked more specifically: “Is there a role within the ministry that women cannot fulfill?I would say that the New Testament clearly teaches that women should not serve as pastors (what the New Testament also calls supervisors). or elders). 2 It is clear in the New Testament that the terms pastor, supervisor, and elder refer to the same role (see Acts 20. 17. 28; Titus 1. 5. 7; 1 Peter 5. 1-2), and for the rest of this test, I will use the terms
- The basic text that says that women should not serve as elders is 1 Timothy 2:11-15.
- We read in verse 12: “I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man.
- “In this passage.
- Paul forbids women from engaged in two activities that characterize the ministry of the elderly: teaching and exercising authority; We see this in the qualifications of the office.
- Among others: the elderly must have the ability to teach (1 Timothy 3.
- 2;.
- See Acts 20.
- 17-34) and lead the church (1 Timothy 3.
- 4-5;).
- Women are forbidden to teach and exercise authority over men.
- So they should not serve as old women.
Has the commandment that women should not teach men or exercise authority over men be written to be current today?Many claim that Paul forbade women to serve as old women, because women in Paul’s day were illiterate and therefore did not have the ability to teach men. It is also argued that women were responsible for the false doctrine that disturbed the congregation for which Paul wrote the letter of 1 Timothy (1 Timothy 1. 3, 6. 3). According to this reading, Paul would support women to serve as “pastors” after being adequately educated to teach sound doctrine.
These attempts to relativize Paul’s ban must be dismissed as unsuccessful. Paul could easily have written: “I do not want women to teach or exercise authority over men because they are ignorant” or “I do not want women to teach or exercise authority over men because they are ignorant. However, what reason does Paul really give? for his mandate in verse 12? Paul’s reasoning for the mandate is found in the following verse: “Why was Adam formed first, then Eve? (v. 13). Paul says nothing about a lack of education or women promulgating false teachings. Instead, it appeals to the order of creation, to the good and perfect will of God in the formation of the human being. It is imperative to note that the reference to creation indicates that the commandment is an intercultural word, a prohibition that is binding on the church at all times and in all places. In giving this prohibition, Paul is not appealing to the fallen creation, to the consequences that concern human life because of sin. Rather, it bases the prohibition on the totally good creation that existed before sin entered the world.
The argument of creation cannot be dismissed because it is culturally limited. In addition, the New Testament contains many resources similar to the Order of Creation. For example, homosexuality does not agree with God’s will, because it is?Unlike nature? (Rom. 1,26), that is, who violates what God wanted when he made man as a man and a woman (Gen. 1,26-27). Jesus also teaches that divorce is not the divine ideal because in creation God made man and woman, which means that a man must be married to a woman. Until death do us part? (Mt 19. 3-12). Food should also be received with gratitude, because it is a gift from God’s creative hand (1 Ti. 4: 3-5).
In 1 Timothy 2. 11-15, Paul specifically bases his prohibition on women teaching and exercising authority, in the order of creation, that is, Adam was created first, then Eve (Genesis 2. 4-25). The account of Genesis is carefully calculated, and Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, helps us see the meaning of Eve created after Adam. Critics sometimes object that the argument is invalid as the animals were created before humans, but do not understand Paul’s point. . Only human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), and that is why Paul communicates the importance of God creating man before women, that is, man is in charge of directing.
Paul gives a second reason why women should not teach or exercise authority over men in 1 Timothy 2:14: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, fell into transgression. ?Paul’s argument here is not that women are more likely. “to be deceived more than men, because elsewhere he praises women as teachers of women and children (Titus 2. 3, 2 Tim 1. 5; 3. 14-15), which he would not recommend, if women, by their very nature, were subject to being It is likely that Paul was thinking again of the history of creation, because the serpent reversed the order created by deceiving Eve and not Adam (thus subverting male leadership) , although Adam was probably with Eve when temptation occurred (Genesis 3:6). Verse 14 teaches nothing about the fact that women have no education, deception is a moral category, while lack of education is corrected by education.
Eve’s deception cannot be attributed to intellectual weakness, but to her rebellion, to the desire to be independent of God. Also, the reference to deception here does not indicate that the women of Ephesus played a critical role in spreading false teachings, since the false teachers mentioned in 1 Timothy are all men (1 Tim. 1. 20). In fact, if women were forbidden to teach because they were advocates of false doctrine, we have the strange and highly unlikely situation that all Christian women in Ephesus were misled by false teachings. Rather, Paul’s point is that Satan’s temptation of Eve, rather than Adam, subverted male leadership as it tested and deceived the woman, even though Adam was present with Eve when the temptation occurred. In fact, although Eve was first deceived by the serpent, the main responsibility for sin fell on Adam’s shoulders. This is evident in Genesis 3, when the Lord first spoke to Adam about the sin of the first couple, and this is confirmed by Romans 5: 12-19, where the sin of the human race is attributed to Adam and not to Eva.
In short, 1 Timothy 2. 12 prohibits women from teaching or exercising authority over men in the church. This commandment is based on the order of creation and is confirmed by the reversal of roles that occurred in the fall. Therefore, it is not a cultural context or a limited prohibition that would no longer apply to today’s churches.
What we see about the roles of men and women in the rest of the scriptures confirms this reading of 1 Timothy 2: 11-15. The book of Genesis gives us six elements that demonstrate the responsibility given to husbands in the direction of marriage: 1) God first created Adam and then Eve, 2) God gave the commandment not to eat Adam and not Eve from the tree; 3) Adam appointed the “Woman” as appointing the animals, that is, their authority (Genesis 2:19-23) and 4) Eve is known as Adam’s help (Genesis 2:18); 5) The serpent deceived Eve and not Adam, thus subverting male leadership (Genesis 3. 1-6) and 6) God came to Adam first, although Eve sinned first (Genesis 3. 9, cf. Romans 5. 12-19).
Such a reading of Genesis fits perfectly with what we find about marriage in the New Testament. Husbands have primary responsibility for leadership, and women must submit to the direction of their husbands (Ephesians 5. 22-33; Colossses 3. 18-19). ; 1 Peter 3:1-7). The invitation to a woman to submit is not based on mere cultural norms, as a woman is invited to submit to her husband as the Church is invited to submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:22-24). Paul refers to marriage as a “mystery. ” (Ephesians 5. 32), and the mystery is that marriage reflects Christ’s relationship with the Church. Men’s mandate to serve as pastors (not women) therefore corresponds to the biblical standard of male leadership and authority in marriage.
It is important to note that a different role for women does not mean that women are inferior, women and men are also created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), they have equal access to salvation in Christ (Go. 3:28), and co-heirs of the great salvation that is ours in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3. 7) Biblical writers do not defame the dignity, intelligence, and personality of women, we see it more clearly when we recognize that As Christ submits to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:28), women submit to their husbands. Christ has the same dignity and courage as the Father, so his submission cannot be understood as a sign of his inferiority.
The text of 1 Timothy 2: 11-15 is not the only text that requires a different role for men and women in the church. In 1 Corinthians 14:33-36, Paul teaches that women should not speak in the church. does not forbid women to say anything in the congregation, Paul even encourages women to pray and prophesy in the church (1 Corinthians 11:5). The principle of 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 is that women should not speak in this way about rebelling against male leadership or taking undue authority, and this principle corresponds to the teaching of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 that women should not teach or exercise authority over men.
Another text that points in the same direction is 1 Corinthians 11: 2-16. We have already seen that Paul in this passage allows women to pray and prophesy in the assembly. It is imperative to see that prophecy is not the same gift as teaching. These gifts are distinguished in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12:28). Women served as prophets in the Old Testament, but never as priests. They also served as prophets in the New Testament, but never as elders. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 11: 2-16 makes it clear that when prophesying they must adorn themselves in a way that shows they were subject to male leadership (1 Corinthians 11: 3). This is consistent with what we saw in 1 Timothy 2: 11-15. Women are not the leaders of the congregation and therefore should not be recognized as teachers and leaders. The fundamental theme in 1 Corinthians 11: 2-16 is not the adornment of women. Scholars are not sure, in this case, whether the adornment described represents a veil or a specific hair style. Such an adornment was necessary in Paul’s day because it meant that women were subject to male leadership in the church. Today, the way a woman wears her hair, or if she wears a veil, does not mean that she is subject to male leadership. Therefore, we must apply the principle (even without applying the cultural practice of the time) in today’s world: women must be subject to male leadership, manifested by not serving as shepherds and teachers. of men.
The scriptures clearly teach the unique role of women in church and at home. They are equal to men in dignity and courage, but they play a different role in this journey on earth. God has given you many different gifts with which you can serve. church and the world, but they were not created to serve as pastors; The Lord did not give his commandments to punish women, but to serve him joyfully according to his will.
_________________________________________________
VISIT THE SITE