Should Women teach or have authority over Men in the Church?

 

 

1 Tim 2:8-15

8          I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

9          I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,

10         but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

11         A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.

12         I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

13         For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

14         And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

15         But women will be saved through childbearing-- if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.  (NIV)

 

 

Teaching

Men?

James 3:1-2

1          Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

2          We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.  (NIV)

 

I Jn 2:27

27         As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit-- just as it has taught you, remain in him.  (NIV)

Women and Children

 

Older women are commanded to train younger women in the church.

 

Titus 2:3-5

3          Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

4          Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,

5          to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.  (NIV)

 

Women should also teach their girls and boys about the word of God:

 

II Timothy 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.   But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,”

 

Women’s Role

Silence in the Church

 I Corinthians 14:34-35 “Let the women keep silence in the churches: for   

it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.  And it they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”

 

I Timothy 2:11-12 “Let the women learn in silence with all subjection.     But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

 

I Peter 3:4 “Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the 

    sight of God of great price.”

 

What then?

I Peter

1Wives, 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, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, 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. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

 

I Timothy 5:2, 10, 13-14 “Entreat the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.  Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. Learn not to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.  I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”

 

 

 

Old Testament passages on women having authority over men:

Usually the case of Deborah the Judge is cited as a “proof scripture” for women having authority over men in the church.  Deborah was a leading figure in a political movement; not a church movement.  In the same way, if Hillary Clinton became president, that would not negate the scriptures above. 

 

If we want to involve the Old Testament, let’s look at how it portrays women having authority over men. It is always portrayed as a shameful judgment.

 

Amos 4:1-3

1          Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!"

2          The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.

3          You will each go straight out through breaks in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon," declares the LORD.  (NIV)

Esth 1:16-22

16         Then Memucan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, "Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes.

17         For the queen's conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, 'King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.'

18         This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen's conduct will respond to all the king's nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

19         "Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.

20         Then when the king's edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest."

21         The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memucan proposed.

22         He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, proclaiming in each people's tongue that every man should be ruler over his own household.  (NIV)

 

Isa 3:11-4:1

11         Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.

12         Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.

13         The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people.

14         The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.

15         What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

16         The LORD says, "The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.

17         Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion; the LORD will make their scalps bald."

18         In that day the Lord will snatch away their finery: the bangles and headbands and crescent necklaces,

19         the earrings and bracelets and veils,

20         the headdresses and ankle chains and sashes, the perfume bottles and charms,

21         the signet rings and nose rings,

22         the fine robes and the capes and cloaks, the purses

23         and mirrors, and the linen garments and tiaras and shawls.

24         Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-dressed hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, branding.

25         Your men will fall by the sword, your warriors in battle.

26         The gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

 

 

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