Women Preachers?
The following are some thoughts shared in a recent e-mail exchanged with a female Wesleyan reverend.
Role Of Woman & Creation
It is incorrect to state that the responsibilities of man and woman are undifferentiated in Genesis 1 & 2. As indicated in my previous message, man and woman are equals; neither being inferior or superior, but the Scriptures clearly reveal the subordination of the woman to the man from the very beginning. Subordination is not inferiority, as many might characterize it. Christ is not inferior to the Father, but He is subordinate to the Father. The woman is not inferior to the man, but she is subordinate.
The subordination of woman to man in the marriage relationship was not a punishment resulting from sin, but rather is the structure which God intended for the family. The statement, "You desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you" (Genesis 3:16) is not a punishment imposed upon the woman, but a restatement of her God-given role. God gave the woman to man as "a helper comparable to him" (Genesis 2:18,20), she was given as his 'ezer, an aid or helper. Paul later describing the relationship of man and woman stated, "...woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for woman, but woman for the man." (1 Corinthians 11:7-9). He does not link his comments regarding their relationship to the sin in the garden, but to creation.
What else does the New Testament reveal about the relationship of man and woman? Was it God's purpose in the church to set right some perceived loss of equality due to the sin in the garden? Not at all. Again, there is no loss of equality; there is a distinction of roles, and always has been, right from the creation.
In Ephesians 5:22-33, Paul uses the relationship of a man and woman to describe the relationship of Christ and the church. Is he using a relationship which finds its origin in sin to establish the subordination of the church to Christ? Or, is he using the God ordained relationship of a man and woman to illustrate the relationship the church has to the Lord?
In Colossians 3:18, Paul wrote, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord." This is not what is fitting "because of sin, but it is the Lord's will. God's plan, from the beginning, was that a woman submit to her husband. She is the helper provided to him.
“Subordination is not inferiority, as many might characterize it.”
In Titus 2:3-5, the older women are to teach the younger to "...love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Once again, we see God's pattern for man and woman. It is not a result of sin.
In 1 Peter 3:1-6, Peter referenced an example for women to follow in Sarah, who among others descdrbed as "holy women who trusted in God" submitted "...to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord..." The submission of a woman to her husband is not characterized as a result of sin, but the will of God.
Paul, as he was writing to the Corinthians penned, "I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the heave of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." (1 Corinthians 11:3). Paul doesn't characterize the headship of man as aprt of a curse or a result of sin, but equates it with the headship of Christ and of God. Or, stated differently, he doesn't characterize the submission of woman as part of a curse or the result of sin, but equates it to the submission of man to Christ and of Christ to God.
Women In Spiritual Leadership?
It has been said that one of the most common mistakes in biblical interpretation involves building a doctrine around an isolated verse. Givenn all that is mentioned above, surely it can be seen that 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is not an "isolated" verse, nor that it contradicts the message of other passages.
Citing some isolated situations in Ephesus, many theologians claim that 1 Timothy 2:11-12 is otherwise contrary to what the Bible says about "women in spiritual authority." We've noted above several New Testament texts which speak of the role of women. It ought to be evident that 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is not an isolated text. Let us consider some women in the Bible who are often cited as examples of women in spiritual authority.
Some consider the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at Sychar to be an evangelist. The text makes no such suggestion. After realizing who Jesus was, she went inot the city and told the men of the city about Him; and they went out to hear him. Was it a work of evangelism? Absolutely. Did it make her an evangelist (in the most common usage of the world)? No.
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Are there women in the Scripture who are identified as being in positions of authority? Yes. Deborah (Judges 4:4), Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), and Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14) are all identified as prophetesses, and Deborah also as a judge (Judges 4:4). Why though, if God's will is for women to serve as spiritual leaders in the congregation of His people, do we not read of any Levitical priestesses? In fact, the law specifically revealed that it would be "Aaron and his sons" (Exodus 28:3-4) who were to serve as priests. God's design for the Levitical priesthood was that it would be of the men, not the women.
Of course, what took place in the Old Testament is really not the question, but rather, what the New Testament reveals, since we today are subject to the Law of Moses. Some will put forth Matthew 28:1-10 as evidence that Jesus commissioned the women who came to the tomb to anount His body as evangelists, for He told them, "Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me." They were sent to bear a message to His disciples, nothing more, nothing less.
Priscilla, Chloe, and Phoebe were all cherished servants in the first century church, but none are referred to as leaders in the church. Priscilla laboured with her husband Auqila, and the two of them privately taught Apollos the way of God more acccurately (Acts 18:26). Paul identified them as his helpers (Romans 16:3), and we find that they opened their home for the church to meet in (1 Corinthians 16:19). Chloe is mentioned just once, and all we know is that her family were aware of (and made Paul aware of) the contentions that existed at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:11). Phoebe was a woman in Cenchrea, identified by Paul as "a servant of the church" (Romans 16:1). Surely, if she was a "servant of the church", she was in some great position of authority, right? Thsi word can be used of one who serves as a deacon in the church (Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8), but that cannot be the use with regard to Phoebe, for a deacon must "be the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:12). The usage with regard to Phoebe is no doubt the common usage; simply one who serves another. We do not know the nature of her service; it would be presumptive to speculate upon it.
Some, in their attempt to justify women serving in positions of spiritual authority have concluded that Junia (Romans 16:7) was an apostle. In this text, Paul identifies Andronicus and Junia as his fellow countrymen and prisoners, and reveals that they were known to the apostles ("of note among"), and had been Christians before Paul was.
Conclusion
All humans are equal. Of course, that doesn't mean that all persons have the same responsibilities and duties. Husbands and wives are equal, but have distinct roles in their relationship (Ephesians 5:22-33). A difference in duties does not mean a difference in equality. Likewise, in the functioning of the local church, all members are equal (I am no more important than the 70 year old lady who sits in the second row). I happen to be the member who is preaching and teaching. My duties are different than her's, but we are equal in the Lord.