A Woman’s Place!

1 Timothy 2:11-12- Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. NKJV

Times have changed since Paul wrote these words to the young pastor, Timothy! At that time, women relied on the men in their families for everything! As a lover of historical fiction, I know that women have made some tremendous gains in society, but in the church, there are many who still believe that a woman’s place is not in the pulpit! And if we take these words at face value, Paul seems to be stating that as a truth:

Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 

1 Timothy 2:11-12 NKJV

Before I address these verses, let me first address the ones prior to them:

 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 

1 Timothy 2:9-10 NKJV

Paul addresses the issue of the way the women adorned themselves, approving first of modesty in their apparel and then godliness in their character. Although modesty looked different for them than it does for us today, we still understand the concept of what is modesty and what is not.

At one time in our society, women had to be layered in cloth to be considered modest in their clothing. Pants were absolutely forbidden. Today, women can wear pretty much anything! And many of them do! But I believe Paul’s words of modest apparel and godly character fit in every society and period of time.

As for the braiding of hair and wearing jewelry, I believe it had more to do with the customs of the day than with the actual wearing of jewelry and braids in the hair. Yet, if I were to give any advice, it would be that when we are in church, especially leadership, we should lead by example and be modest in our clothing and appearance. Some items we adorn need to be relegated to the category of “not appropriate for church wear”! That’s for another blog!

However, I want to argue the point that the issue of women’s role in the church of Ephesus is simply not Paul’s view of women and their ability to teach or preach in the church, as some believe it to be! I remind you that Timothy was the pastor of the church of Ephesus. Ephesus was a city dedicated to the goddess, Diana. The Ephesians had a glorious temple erected in her honor there, which is one of the seven wonders of the world today. And the temple priestesses at that time were glorified prostitutes. Realizing all of this, I believe Paul was warning Timothy to not allow women to have a vocal and visible part in the ministry because of the problems it would create for the local church and for him. This was a historical point that Paul was making and it was specific to that location.

Why do I say this? I say this because Paul speaks highly of women and their service to him and the church in other places in the scriptures. In Galatians 3, Paul wrote:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:28-29 NKJV

Paul stated that in Christ we are all one and heirs according to the promise! Paul believed that all believers were the same in Christ. Paul did not believe that women were inferior to men and therefore, should not teach in the church. Paul validated women on several other occasions. In his pastoral letter to Titus, Paul wrote:

the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women 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.

Titus 2:3-5 NKJV

Paul told Titus that women were to be teachers of good things like how to love their families, how to be godly women, how to care for their homes, and what it meant to be obedient to their husbands. All good things! But you are thinking that they only taught women about how to be good Christian women! Wrong!

Pricilla was a valued teacher of the gospel, along with her husband Aquila. Paul met them in Antioch. When it was time for him to leave, he took Priscilla and Aquila with him to Ephesus, and they both began teaching. In the same church, he encouraged the women to be silent.

When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Acts 18:26 NKJV

Later, both Priscilla and Aquila pulled Apollos to the side to teach him a better way and to give him a clearer understanding of the gospel. In the book of Romans, Paul sends his greetings to both Priscilla and Aquila calling them his fellow workers, stating that they had risked their lives to save his, and mentioning the church they had in their home. This shows us that Paul had no problem with women serving in ministry or teaching others about the gospel.

There are other places in the Bible that speak of women serving in the kingdom of God. Philip is mentioned in the Bible as having four daughters, all of whom were prophetesses. Women followed Jesus and the disciples to help with the ministry, and Paul gave thanks to Euodia and Syntyche who assisted him in the gospel. Wherever you turn in the New Testament, you are likely to run into women serving in the kingdom.

Women are a prominent part of the body of Christ today, as they were in its beginnings. Women were valuable in the spreading of the gospel and the work of the ministry! Each woman has to decide the role the Holy Spirit is leading her to in the kingdom of God! And then she needs to work it with all of her might!

Paul certainly addressed the issue of women in the Ephesus church, but this verse is not a good argument to keep God from placing a call on their lives and using them for His glory! Neither is it a strong enough verse for men to keep a dominant, non-inviting attitude over women as they forbid them to work in ministry! Wonderful Jesus!