The Role of Women in the Church part 1
Peter Ditzel
One of our readers asked this question: "What is your position on
women teaching in the church or even speaking in church (e.g. praying,
prophesying, etc.)?"
This question, in one form or another, has been bandied about by
churches for a long time. Churches find it difficult to answer for a
couple of reasons. Some are too influenced with non-biblical concerns
(such as contemporary ideas about the role of women in society). Others
are not using sound exegesis (allowing the Bible to interpret itself) to
examine the relevant Scriptures. There is more to this question than
pointing to a couple of Bible verses and drawing a conclusion that has
little to do with the Bible. There are several Scriptures that must be
honestly examined even if it means flying in the face of political
correctness.
Of the pertinent New Testament Scriptures that address this subject, the
hardest to be understood is found in 1 Corinthians 11. But a principle
of biblical interpretation is that unclear Scriptures must be understood
in light of clearer ones. Therefore, we will begin with the clearest.
In his instructions to the church at Corinth, Paul said, "Let your 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 if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at
home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church" (1 Corinthians
14:34-35). Notice that in this one passage alone, Paul says in three
different ways that women are not to speak in church. First, he says,
"Let your women keep silence in the churches." Second, he says, "it is
not permitted unto them to speak." Third, he says, "it is a shame for
women to speak in the church." This repetition carries great force.
I will occasionally check a passage in the Revised English Bible,
not for literal accuracy, but as a sort of paraphrase/commentary because
its modern language is so direct. Notice verses 34-35 in this version:
"As in all congregations of God’s people, women should keep silent at
the meeting. They have no permission to talk, but should keep their
place as the law directs. If there is something they want to know, they
can ask their husbands at home. It is a shocking thing for a woman to
talk at the meeting."
Who can argue in the face of such plain language? Well, some will, of
course, but Paul anticipates this in the verses that follow. Going back
to the King James Version, we read, "What? came the word of God out from
you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet,
or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you
are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be
ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to
speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order"
(verses 36-40).
Paul’s mentioning of prophesying and speaking in tongues brings us to
context. The command that women are to be silent in church is at the end
of a number of commands that Paul gives concerning conducting the public
worship decently and in order. I won’t quote all of chapter 14 (you can
read it for yourself), but I will summarize beginning with verse 26.
Apparently, the Corinthian church, unlike the other churches, was
allowing anyone, at anytime during the meeting, to do certain things
that he then lists. They were singing (individually, not
congregationally). They had "a doctrine"—were teaching, they were
speaking in tongues, they were bringing a "revelation" of knowledge or
prophecy to the church, they were interpreting tongues, and they were
judging what was spoken (verse 29).
In the verses that follow, Paul gives instructions on how to correct
this chaotic situation. Basically, the remedy is that one person should
speak at a time, not more than three people should be allowed to speak
in one service, and women should be silent. Concerning the women, from
this context, we see that their silence means that they are not to sing
in church outside of congregational singing (no "special music"), they
are not to teach, they are not to speak in tongues, they are not to
bring a revelation, they are not to interpret a tongue, and they are not
to judge the speaking. Further, Paul says that if the women "will learn
anything," obviously meaning if they have a question about something
said, "let them ask their husbands at home" (verse 35). "Husbands" is
translated from andras, literally meaning "men." So, the
silence of women also means that they are not to ask questions in
church.
Now we must ask, Upon what grounds does Paul base his instruction that
women are to keep silent in church? This is what he says: "They [women]
are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law" (verse 34).
Paul appeals to the law. But what does he mean by "the law"? There is no
specific Old Testament law that says women are to keep silent. Paul’s
use of the word "law" here does not refer to specific commands. He must
be using "law" in the same way that it was often used, to mean the first
five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch (see, for example, Matthew 12:5;
Luke 16:16; Acts 13:15). In other words, there is something in the first
five books of the Bible that Paul knows backs up his position concerning
women being silent in church. Precisely what Scripture he has in mind,
he reveals in another passage concerning women being silent in church.
In 1 Timothy 2:11-12, Paul instructs young Timothy, "Let the woman 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." The similarity
between this and 1 Corinthians 14 cannot be missed. Women are to learn
in silence with all subjection (the Greek word translated "subjection"
is directly related to the Greek word translated "obedience" in 1
Corinthians 14:34). But to whom are they to be in subjection? 1
Corinthians 14 relates women’s obedience to their being silent in church
and learning from their men at home. This passage in 1 Timothy relates
subjection to learning in silence (we can assume from 1 Corinthians 14
that this means listening in the meeting and asking their men at home),
not teaching, and not usurping authority over men. Next, Paul tells us
what specifically in the law supports his position.
"For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall
be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and
holiness with sobriety" (verses 13-15). As we suspected in discussing 1
Corinthians 14, Paul’s citing the law to back up his position is not a
reference to a command, but to a general statement of fact about the
Creation found in one of the first five books of the Old
Testament—Genesis.
Because of the creation order—Adam first, and then Eve, and because Adam
was not deceived but Eve was, women are to be silent in church and not
exercise authority over men. In Genesis 2:18-25, we read that Eve was
made to be a helper who was meet (fit) for Adam. Unlike Adam, she was
not made directly from the dust of the ground. She was made from a rib
God took from Adam’s side. She was made for Adam, and she was made not
entirely independent from Adam.
Paul next writes of Eve being deceived by the Serpent, Satan (v. 14).
Paul clearly says that Adam was not deceived, but Eve was deceived.
Some Greek manuscripts use the same word for "deceived" in both places
it appears in this verse. Other Greek manuscripts use a more emphatic
word for Eve’s deception: "And Adam was not [apatēthē—deceived
or deluded], but the woman being [exapatētheisa—thoroughly
beguiled or deluded through persuasion] was in the [parabasei—overstepping
or act of going aside]. Whether the more emphatic word belongs here or
not is debatable. But there is no question that Paul does use a form of the more
emphatic word when referring to Eve in 2 Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled [exēpatēsen] Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ."
It should be pointed out that neither of the above words for deluded or
beguiled are the word used to describe Satan’s deception upon the entire
world. When the Bible speaks of Satan’s deception of the world, the word
is planao, which means to cause to wander or go astray, to be or
let oneself be misled, to wander about. Adam and all the world since
(including, of course, women) have been deceived in this way. But Eve
was also beguiled (2 Corinthians 11:3).
But why should Eve’s being beguiled in the Garden of Eden cause Paul to
say that women should be silent in church? The answer must be that women
in general have a tendency to be more easily duped than men. Because of
this tendency, they are not to be teachers, or preachers, or hold an
office (which implies authority) in church. The Bible does balance
things out. The very fact that Adam was not duped, but sinned against
God fully knowing what he was doing, means that he was more culpable.
Adam is more responsible for the sin by which the world fell than Eve,
and, in fact, it is usually called "Adam’s sin."
Further, Paul goes on to say in 1 Timothy 2:15, "Notwithstanding she
shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with sobriety." This one sentence says much. Although Bible
scholars have often debated about the meaning of this Scripture, I
believe that interpreting it with 1 Corinthians 11:8-9, 11-12 gives as
good or better an understanding of it as any other: "For the man is not
of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for
the woman; but the woman for the man [this corresponds to 1 Timothy
2:13, "For Adam was first formed, then Eve."].... Nevertheless neither
is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the
Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the
woman; but all things of God." In other words, even though Eve was made
for Adam and was formed from his rib, men are born of women. This, I
believe, corresponds to "she shall be saved in childbearing" in 1
Timothy 2:15. And, Paul goes on to say, everyone is from God. Even
though woman is for man and from man, her husband is not her superior as
far as salvation. And God has indicated this in the physical realm by
having men born from women.
Nevertheless, to return to the main subject, we must remember that Paul
clearly states that women are to remain silent in church because of the
creation order and because Eve was deceived.
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