IN SUPPORT OF WOMEN TEACHERS, PREACHERS, AND THEIR AUTHORITY
The obstinate and dogmatic voices in this current ongoing debate are interesting. This is my primary conflict with the likes of John MacArthur. I can respect his reformed theology for what it is, but I cannot respect his doctrinaire approach to anyone who doesn’t hold to it. Intellectual piety that borders on superiority is not the same thing as holiness, reformed or not.
I must say that I am surprised by the number of women who openly condemn other women for daring to preach, or as they say it, “hold authority over a man.” In one sense, I can applaud their willingness to submit to what they believe to be the Word of the Lord, even if it means the loss of their voice and suppression of their gifts. If done in true purity of heart, God will no doubt reward them. However, that some women support MacArthur’s view no more settles the matter than if some men support him.
To simply say that there is no Biblical evidence for women teaching and exercising their Holy Spirit given authority to preach to everyone including men is to be near-sighted at best and dishonest at worst. Major denominations have found sufficient Biblical support for it. For every position paper condemning the practice, there is one that encourages it. Simply put, many including myself, believe that if all the facts were known, 1 Timothy 2:12, the pillar used against women, would hold a nuanced meaning different than its basic interpretation.
But, let us not take my word for it. Let us go to scripture and real-world application where we find the following:
Women may have God ordained authority to judge a nation (Deborah, Judges 4-5), save a nation (Esther, the book of Esther), and birth a nation (Sarah, Genesis 21) but not teach a man?
Women may have the Spirit of God poured out upon them as equal to men (Joel 2:28, Acts 2) yet not teach a man?
Women may receive the living water of conversion, declare the true Gospel of Christ, bring a city to repentance, and yet not teach a man? (John 4)
Women may prophesy saying “these are the words of the Lord” in the presence of men (1 Corinthians 11:5) and yet not teach a man the meaning of what they prophesied?
Women may shepherd and lead churches in their homes (Apphia: Philemon 2, Lydia: Acts 16:15, Nympha: Colossians 4:15) but hold no authority over men to guide those churches?
Women may hold the office of deaconess, be a servant of the church, be received in a manner worthy of the saints, instruct men in what assistance they may need, but not teach men in the ways of the Lord? (Romans 16:1-2)
Women may be of note among the Apostles, be an apostle themselves, be imprisoned for the Gospel, and yet not teach a man? (Junia, Romans 16:7)
In the city of Ephesus, Timothy’s city by the way, Priscilla, a woman, can hear a man named Apollos teach, pull him aside, instruct him in the more perfect way of Christ, and then release him to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to possibly write the epistle to the Hebrews, but have no authority to teach a man? (Acts 18:24-28)
If we insist on being dogmatic on this issue, there are even more real-world applications that must be addressed:
Can women instruct men one-on-one? Can they mentor men?
Is there a point where a mother’s authority ceases to be relevant in the lives of her sons? How is that reconciled to “honor your father and mother?” (Exodus 20:12) Is there a time limit on a mother’s honor so that she holds no authority over a man?
At what point is a woman preaching or exercising authority over a church? Is it when two or three have gathered? So, should women be utterly silent, and offer no opinions in the presence of two or more men? Even if those men are uneducated in the ways of the Lord and infant in their devotion?
Do men, by virtue of being men, hold more authority at the very moment of their conversion than does the female saint of fifty years? Do they have more to offer just because they are men?
What should women do in the absence of good, qualified, men? Should the teaching of the Word be forbidden until a man of good quality arises? Should a people remain in ignorance waiting for a man while qualified women sit silently by?
I could go on and on but the simple summation of the conversation is this: in order to form a doctrine based on 1 Timothy 2:12, then there must be enough information to answer these questions and more and then to reconcile those answers to the early church’s approach to women, led by Paul himself. Mr. MacArthur, it seems Paul found ample evidence for women pastors, perhaps you should…