Dr Adrian Bury's blog
Christian theology, basic teachings, apologeticsOn Women in Ministry
With regard to our present subject, there are many differences of opinion. Some claim that in today’s culture, women are equal to men, and may be active in all ministries. Others, however, referring to certain Bible verses, insist that, “women should not speak in church” (1 Cor 14: 34), and do not allow them to do anything, apart from the washing up. So, whilst recognising that not everyone will agree with my conclusions, in this article I have attempted to give a comprehensive Biblical picture of ministry opportunities for women.
To start right from basics, we need to look at the difference between the old and new covenants. The old covenant, in the same way as many non-biblical religions, can be described as a cultic (or ceremonial) religion. The new covenant is universal and non-ceremonial.
In the OT cultus, God could only be approached through specific people (the priests mediated between man and God and the prophets vice versa) in specific ways (through the sacrificial system) in a specific place (the Jerusalem temple) and at specific times (the Sabbath and the festivals).
There were very strict rules as to who could be priests of Jahweh. They had to be Hebrew, of the tribe of Levi, the family of Aaron, male, between 20 and 50 years old, and have no physical defects (e.g. Numbers 4; 8: 24-25).
Interestingly enough, prophets and other “charismatic” i.e. God appointed and anointed leaders could be of any tribe and any age, and there are rare examples of them being women. Deborah was a prophet and a judge of Israel (Judges 4-5). Other female prophets are Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 15: 20); Huldah, who advised the leaders of Judah in the time of Josiah (2 Kings 22: 14 ff.; 2 Chron 34: 22ff.); Isaiah’s wife (Isaiah 8: 3) and Anna, at the time of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:36 ff.). Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elisabeth, her relative, both gave prophetic utterances which are recorded in the Bible (Luke 1: 39-55). We are told that Deborah and Huldah were married women, but they and not their husbands had the important ministries.
All this ceremonial religion completely changed under the new covenant. Now the way into God’s presence is open to all, as symbolised by the torn temple veil (Mark 15: 37-38). He can be approached freely, in any place (John 4: 19-24), at any time (Acts 2: 46; Col 2: 16-17; Rom 14: 5-6) and by any race (Acts 10: 44-46; Ephesians 3: 6).
(There is a minimal amount of ceremonial still under the new covenant, which consists of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These can be considered as initiation into the Christian community and the continuing sign of the new covenant. They are of course also symbols of spiritual truth and do not “work” automatically like ceremonies in pagan religions are supposed to do. Just a passing comment – I consider it unacceptable, that certain traditional church systems have made Christianity into just as much a cultic religion as the OT system ever was. There are the consecrated buildings, festivals and holy days, altars or holy tables, the sacraments which are supposed to work automatically, and a separate priesthood or leadership.)
The priesthood under the new covenant also changed. The Levitical priesthood is obsolete, and Jesus is now our permanent high priest in heaven (Hebrews 8: 1; 9: 15), thus being the one mediator between men and God (1 Timothy 2: 5). But all who approach God through Jesus are themselves priests. Peter says to “God’s elect, strangers in the world,” (1 Peter 1: 1), “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2: 9). John says, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father” (Rev 1: 5-6). This means that all believers are priests, as all have direct access to God through Christ and can act as mediators on behalf of others. We act as mediators when we pray directly to God for others, be they believers or unbelievers. There is no division between priesthood and laity under the new covenant. Women can pray just as well as men, as they are also priests (e.g. Acts 1: 14).
Besides being priests, all believers can also fulfil the role of prophet, i.e. be mediators in the other direction, between God and men (1 Cor 14: 29-31). Paul indicates also that women both pray and prophesy (1 Cor 11: 5). Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21: 8-9). On the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted the words of the prophet Joel, among which are the following, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy… Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2: 17, 18).
There is no restriction of race, sex or age on who can be a Christian, and therefore no such restriction on who are priests and prophets. “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptised into Christ Jesus have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3: 26-28). Paul stresses that even women are “sons,” as in the contemporary Greek and Roman culture, only sons could inherit. In Christ, we are all heirs of salvation.
We now come to the question of leadership in the church. What is the role of leadership, and who may be leaders? Also the question of who may minister, and is this the same thing?
My belief is that leadership and freedom to minister are not the same thing. The one passage which really deals in detail with what the worship service of the church should be like is 1 Cor 11-14. This shows that the whole body of Christ should minister in the church meeting under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, although different people have different gifts, callings and ministries. 1 Cor 14: 26 says, “What then shall we say brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” Paul is not just speaking to the men here, as the Greek masculine plural adelphoi includes both brothers and sisters, and Paul uses the address many times in the letter when talking to the whole church. He has indicated earlier that women may pray and prophesy (1 Cor 11: 5). If this is so, and if anyone may bring any of these contributions, including teaching (didaché), then a woman may also bring one.
Is there anything else on women teaching? Paul says to Timothy, “Continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation…” (2 Tim 3: 14-15). Compare this with 1: 5, which says, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” We learn from Acts 16: 1 that Timothy’s father was a Greek and apparently an unbeliever. It seems likely he received his earliest “teaching” from his mother and grandmother.
Titus 2: 3-5 says, “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. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind…” Here Paul instructs Titus to teach the women so they can then teach others.
Priscilla and Aquilla are mentioned 6 times in the Bible (Acts 18: 2, 18, 26; Rom 16: 3; 1 Cor 16: 19; 2 Tim 4: 19 – in the NIV, the names also occur in Acts 18: 19, but not in the Greek). In Acts 18: 26, we see that they heard Apollos preach, and then invited him home to explain to him the things of God more adequately, in other words, to teach him. We also see they later had a church in their house at Rome (Romans 16: 3-5). The interesting point is, that of the five times the two names occur listed together, four times Priscilla’s name is first. In the culture of the time, this is not a sign of respect for the weaker sex, but an indication that she was the more significant personage. Luke particularly is very careful when he lists names. For example, he writes “Barnabas and Saul” from the time the two set off on their missionary journey (e.g. Acts 13: 2), as Barnabas was the one who originally encouraged Saul to come to Antioch (Acts 11: 25-26). From the time that Paul strikes Elymas blind on Cyprus (Acts 13: 6-12), he becomes the spokesman, and from then on it is “Paul and Barnabas” (e.g. Acts 13: 42), with one or two exceptions where Barnabas is once again the more important person under the particular circumstances. The other point is, why is Priscilla mentioned at all if she was not significant? We know that some of the apostles had wives who travelled with them (1 Cor 9: 5), but they are never mentioned by name.
If we look at the greetings in Paul’s letters, we see that a significant number of the persons greeted are women. Particularly interesting, besides Priscilla, are Phoebe, a deaconess of the church of Cenchrea (Romans 16: 1 – the masculine form of the word is used in Greek, indicating she held the office of deacon, rather than just being a “servant”), and Nympha (Col 4: 15), who had a church in her house, and who is the only leader from her city of Laodicea to be mentioned. There is also Chloe, whose protégés are indicated as belonging to her as a group or church (1 Cor 1: 11). Paul also praises a household of God’s servants headed by a person named Stephanas or Stephana, a woman’s name, the feminine form of Stephen. (1 Cor 16:15-16). In Philippians 1: 1-4, we read about Euodia and Syntyche, “who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers,” surely indicating a ministry role involving public dispute, teaching or preaching.
The apostle John also addresses his second epistle to “the elect lady and her children” (v. 1) and includes a greeting from “the children of your elect sister” (v. 13). It is possible that these were women who had leadership roles in the first century church.
Romans 16: 7 says, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and were in Christ before I was.” We appear to have a female apostle here. There have been various attempts to avoid this conclusion, but they are principally based on the assumption that a woman cannot be an apostle. Some Bible translations have Junias, making it a masculine name (the Greek is in the accusative case, which is the same for both). The problem is, that the female name Junia is well known in Greek and Latin sources, but the masculine Junias does not occur. The other excuse is that the Greek could be translated, “well-known to the apostles,” so they were not apostles themselves. The case is not totally clear, but these alternative explanations all appear quite late in church history (from around the 13th century). Early church fathers like Origen and Chrysostom accept that Junia was a woman and she was an apostle. Andronicus and Junia could perhaps have been a husband and wife apostolic team. Total speculation, but I like the idea.
Bearing in mind all this evidence of New Testament practice, we need to deal with the difficult passages, which show an apparent contradiction. 1 Cor 14: 33-35 has, “As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to enquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” Taken by itself, this passage seems fairly clear. The Law referred to is probably Genesis 3: 16. Taken in context, however, if Paul is really saying that women are not allowed to make use of their vocal chords at all in a church meeting, then he is contradicting what he said about women praying and prophesying three chapters earlier (11: 5) as well as all he has said about body ministry up to this point. This is unlikely. If the Greek word laleo is translated “talk” instead of “speak,” (which is possible), then things become clearer. The word does not mean preach, teach, prophesy, pray, evangelise, but just speak, talk or even chatter.
In the Corinthian church at that time, the women and the men sat separately in the public meeting. The meeting was only allowed to take place in a public venue if it was open to outsiders, and even to inspectors from the city authorities, who kept an eye on things (these were known as “angels” – see 1 Cor 11: 10). Paul is therefore concerned that all should happen in reasonable order, and nothing outrageous go on – hence all his teaching on order in public worship. Paul in not telling the women they must not contribute to the meeting, as that would contradict his earlier comments, but that they should not chatter amongst themselves during the meeting, but rather shut up and pay attention. And if there is something they do not understand, they should not shout across the room to their husbands, but wait till they get home and ask them there.
1 Tim 2: 11-15 says, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” There have been various interpretations of this passage.
1. A woman may teach women and children but not men, as this would be in harmony with the passages in 2 Timothy and Titus. There are problems with this view, as this is not what the passage says. The two parts of the sentence are separate from each other. The Greek word order is: To teach, however, to a woman I do not permit, neither to have authority over a man. The verb “to teach” takes an accusative object, and the verb “to have authority over” governs the genitive. “A man” is in the genitive here, so it is not the object of “to teach.” Paul just says he does not permit a woman to teach. This, however, is then in conflict with the fact that women certainly can teach children and women, and also with the fact that Paul knew Priscilla was involved with teaching Apollos, and seems to approve.
2. A woman may teach privately, but not in the church meeting. This would harmonise with the cases of Timothy being taught by his mother and grandmother, Apollos by Priscilla, and younger women by older women. The problem is that the context of 1 Timothy 2 does not seem to restrict Paul’s instructions to church meetings. Some of the things may happen in meetings, but it seems to be more to do with general lifestyle. For instance, what sort of good deeds are women meant to be doing in the context of a church meeting (v. 9-10)? Another problem with both of the above is Paul’s reason for the ban. Eve was deceived, not Adam. So if women are more easily deceived, they should not teach. It does not make sense to take the risk of women teaching children and other women false doctrine, or even men privately, but not in the church meeting. After all, a teaching is easier to “judge” if it is given openly in a meeting (1 Thess 5: 21).
3. Paul’s instruction involves a total universal ban on women teaching anyone, and even speaking at all in the church meeting (the Brethren view). (This leads to the interesting situation, whereby female Brethren missionaries have planted churches “on the mission field” but they are not allowed to report on their work in the church meeting at home, as they are not allowed to “speak.”) This obviously conflicts with women praying and prophesying, and the above instances of them teaching women, children, and men privately.
4. One possibility I did not find in the commentaries would be as follows: “A women should keep quiet and learn in submission. I do not permit women to determine the teaching given by the church or to domineer over the men. After all, Eve was deceived, not Adam. Women are more easily deceived, so they should not be the ones to determine the direction or the vision for the whole church.” I do not know if there are Biblical problems with this. It would fit the order of creation, and harmonise with the idea that the man is the head of the household (which is clearly Biblical – Ephesians 5: 22-28; Col 3: 18-19). It does not mean, however, that women are never allowed to pass on what they have learned, or take part in a great variety of ministries. This would harmonise with the practices we have seen above. Within the context of a leadership team, women could even function as systematic Bible teachers.
5. Because Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach,” and not that God does not permit it, his ban is culturally conditioned and not necessarily universal. Paul is giving Timothy instructions on how he is to carry out his ministry in Ephesus (1 Tim 1: 3). The pagan religion of Ephesus was dominated by female deities. Remember the incident with the shrines of Artemis in Acts 19: 23-41? Because of this, there were a lot of dominant women teachers of false religion around. In order to avoid confusion, Paul therefore bans women from having a teaching role in the Ephesian situation. A possible problem with this, however, is that although Paul does not state specifically that his instruction is general (as in 1 Cor 14: 33), he does use the expression “in every place” in v. 8.
Another problem is with the word “have authority over” in v. 12. Unfortunately the Greek word is hapax legomenon (only occurs once in the Greek NT), so occurrences in other verses cannot be compared. It could mean that a woman should not have official authority over men, in the sense of being an elder, or it could just mean “domineer over.” In fact, there is no Biblical verse which indicates elders “have authority” over people in the church anyway. Jesus gave his followers authority over sickness and demonic powers (Matthew 10: 1), and to forgive sins (by preaching the gospel – Jn 20: 21-22). He also said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…” (Mark 10: 42-43). In the NIV, Hebrews 13: 17 has, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority,” but the Greek just has, “Be persuaded by your leaders and comply.” Paul tells the Corinthians that the authority he has received is, “for building you up rather than pulling you down.” (2 Cor 10: 8; 13: 10).
There are in fact several indications in the context of this passage that Paul is specifically addressing the issue of teachings originating in pagan worship being introduced into the church. “Stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain persons (the Greek does not say “men”) not to teach false doctrines any longer, nor to devote themselves to endless genealogies.” (1 Tim. 1: 3-4). The worshippers of Artemis (or Diana) claimed to be descended from the Amazons, and had the genealogies to prove it. “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (2: 9-10). There were temple prostitutes, known as “bees,” involved in the worship of Artemis, who would dress in the manner indicated in the passage. “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man.” (2: 12). The Greek word “güné” translated “woman” could also be translated “wife.” Considering the behaviour condemned, these could even have been unconverted wives of Christian men who were still devotees of Artemis (hence the comment on women who profess to worship God), and were introducing false teachings to the church. As mentioned above, the word “have authority over” only occurs once in the Bible, but it is used in later writings by Clement of Alexandria and John Chrysostom to refer to a form of sexual licence or seduction. This would also have been present in the worship of Artemis. “Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” (2: 13-14). Gnostic myths, originating in pagan thought, all taught that Eve was formed first, and received “secret knowledge” by partaking of the forbidden fruit. “But a woman will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (2: 15). The name Artemis has the meaning “safe” in the Ephesian language. She was a goddess of fertility, who was said to protect her devotees through the process of conception and childbirth. Paul is saying here, that a woman will be kept safe throughout childbirth by remaining true to the Lord, and does not need the help of Artemis at all.
If the above is valid, then Paul was simply addressing a specific problem in the cultural, historical situation, and there is no universal ban on women teaching.
By comparing the evidence from all the Bible passages looked at, it appears that Paul is trying to prevent the disturbance of church meetings by noisy, unruly women, and wishes those who teach false doctrines to be kept quiet, but he has no problem with the participation in meetings or ministry of god-fearing women who are advancing the cause of the kingdom of God.
We come to the question of ministry offices. I think we have to distinguish between eldership in a local church situation, and the five-fold ministries of Ephesians 4: 11. These are not necessarily the same people, though someone with the position of elder may well have a calling of the five-fold type, of course. It is never stated anywhere, for instance, that Paul had the position of elder in a local congregation. He is listed with the “prophets and teachers” in Antioch (Acts 13: 1), but they are not called elders. Once he started his mission trips, he was not the elder of any one congregation. Peter and John, however, do refer to themselves as elders (Peter 5: 1; 2 John 1).
If we look at Paul’s instructions for choosing elders, the condition, “the husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3: 2) 1, although this has been interpreted in various ways, does seem to exclude women. His instructions for deacons do include women (1 Tim 3: 11 – NIV has “their wives,” but the Greek just has “women, in the same way…”), and we have Phoebe as an example of a female deacon (Rom 16: 1). In general, elders have care of the spiritual side of a church, whereas deacons deal more with practical matters (based on Acts 6: 1-6, and the fact that an elder must be “able to teach” (1 Tim 3: 2) but this is not listed with the qualifications of a deacon). On the other hand, 1 Tim 5: 17 has, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (literal Greek, “those who labour in the word and teaching”). It would appear to be a logical conclusion from this, that there are also elders who do not preach or teach, but have some other function. Possibly administration? (1 Cor 12: 28).
It would seem women should not be elders, but the question arises, what is the function of an elder anyway? There are two words used in the Bible, one means “older” and the other means “supervisor.” I believe there is still a problem, that the “priesthood-laity” mentality as mentioned above still prevails in many parts of the church. It may be called, “priesthood-laity,” or “pastor-flock,” or even “ministry team-congregation.” I think it has become clear to many that the concept of the one-man-band pastor who does everything in the church is totally unbiblical. However, does replacing him with an eldership team that does everything really solve the problem? I do not think that the concept of an eldership team that “do the ministry” whereas everyone else is just bums on seats in any way fits the picture given in 1 Cor 11-14. If elders are supervisors, then they should supervise rather than do everything themselves. The whole congregation ministers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the leaders keep an eye on things to make sure all is done in good order.
An elder must be “able to teach” but this does not mean he is the only one who is allowed to teach. After all, how can new elders be appointed who are known to be able to teach, if they never teach until they are elders?
Compare this with the purpose of the five-fold ministries, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for the work of the ministry, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Eph 4: 11-12). These people are called to teach and prepare the whole body of Christ to minister, not to do all the ministry themselves. The writer to the Hebrews has this to say, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again” (Hebrews 5: 11-12). Ministry should not exist for its own sake, but should constantly be reproducing itself. The above verses have no gender restriction, incidentally.
In terms of the five-fold ministries, there seems to be no reason why women cannot be prophets (they could be under the old covenant, and there is no NT ban), evangelists (who are not generally systematic teachers – there are many examples of clearly anointed women evangelists in recent times, like Kathryn Kuhlman, and there is also the Biblical example of the Samaritan women spreading the news of Jesus in her town, which the Lord accepted – John 4: 39-42), or pastors (not in the traditional sense of one-man-band leader, which is an extra-biblical concept anyway, but someone who cares for and tends the “flock,” possibly involved with counselling. Women are probably better able to counsel other women that men are.). There is Junia as an example of a woman apostle, though perhaps she needs to be part of an apostolic team. There have been women church planters in recent times too, we just call them “missionaries” instead. A woman as a systematic teacher may have problems, but even this would not be the case if 1Timothy is just addressing the historical situation.
So, just to summarise, and indicate what my view is (at least for now!) A church should not be run by a “pastor,” but by a team of elders. Just as the man is the head of the household, also the elders of a church should be men. However, the elders should not do all the ministry in a church, but as Christians with greater maturity and experience, should supervise and co-ordinate the work of ministry. Women alone should not dominate church leadership, and should not provide the main direction or vision for a church or a movement. In terms of the five-fold ministry, which may be active either within a local church or inter-congregation, women should possibly not be systematic Bible teachers, but they may pass on what they have learnt. They may also be part of an apostolic team, and be evangelists, prophets and pastors. They may also be house-group leaders within the context of a larger local church.
Footnote:
1. Concerning the husband of one wife, the verse has been explained in several ways, e.g. he should have no wife apart from the church; he should have only one wife, and not several; he should not be single; he should not have been divorced; if his wife dies, he should not remarry…, but that is perhaps a subject for a further study.
Sources:
Fusselman, Douglas D., The Husband of One Wife, Online http://members.aol.com/SemperRef/husband.html
Guthrie, Donald, New Testament Theology, IVP, 1985.
Guthrie, Donald and Motyer, J. A, Ed., The New Bible Commentary Revised, IVP, 1970.
Ladd, George E., A Theology of the New Testament, Lutterworth Press, 1991.
McDonnell, Dianne D., Junia, a Woman Apostle, Online http://www.churchofgoddfw.com/monthly/junia.shtml
McDonnell, Dianne D., Paul and women, Online http://www.churchofgoddfw.com/women/paul&women.shtml
Riss, Kathryn J., Womens’s Ministries in the Early Church, Online http://www.godswordtowomen.org/katheryn.htm
Ryrie, Charles C., Teológiai Alapismeretek, Budapest, 1996.
Wallace, Daniel B., Junia Among the Apostles: The Double Identification Problem in Romans 16: 7, On line http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1163
The NIV Study Bible, Hodder and Stoughton, 1998.
