|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
September 1
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
We have spent several days trying to understand what Paul is teaching in these verses. There can be legitimate differences of opinion between people who both love the Lord and hold to a literal interpretation of what the Bible says. However, I want to draw your attention to another passage of Scripture that we have not looked at yet which may give some additional insight into Paul's teaching on the subject of women's positions in the church.
I Timothy 2:11-12 says,
"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."
We see some principles here that are similar to what we see in I Corinthians 14, but there is no mention of tongues or prophecy. Thus, we don't have to wonder if these regulations are limited to dealing with certain spiritual gifts only, or apply in all church situations. Paul opens by writing that women should "learn in silence". The first thing we see is that ladies are supposed to learn, just like men are. The fact that someone was female does not mean that she was to be left ignorant of the Scriptures. Women were to be taught, and they were to allow themselves to be taught. But they are to be "silent" while doing so. The word translated "silence" here is not the same word that is translated "silence" in I Corinthians 14:34. That word meant "to hold your peace", or to not speak. The word here does not mean an absence of sound. It means "stillness", and carries the idea of a quietness of spirit. It is the same word that is used in I Peter 3:4 where women are commended for having a "meek and quiet spirit". The issue here is her attitude. She is not to be trying to teach the class, she is to be willing to learn. She is to do this "with all subjection". This is the same word that is used in I Corinthians 14:34, where it is translated "obedience". There it seems that she is to be in subjection to her husband. Here in I Timothy the husband is not mentioned, so Paul is saying that she is to be in subjection to the authority that God has established within the church.
Paul then writes that he does not allow a woman "to teach, nor usurp authority over the man". The verb tense for "teach" indicates that this is the continuous action of being a teacher. Does this mean then that a woman can not have any teaching responsibilities in a church? Not at all, for the next phrase clarifies this. She is not to "usurp authority" over men. The word means "to domineer, govern, have mastery over". In church, women are not to make authoritative statements over men, and they are not to be leading men. Certainly there is a place for women to have the responsibility of teaching other women, or children. But God has placed men in a position of leadership in the church.
John MacArthur summarized these verses in I Timothy this way:
"He is saying 'I want a woman to learn in silence with all subjection'. Now, her silence is the silence of not being the teacher and her subjection is the subjection of not being the authority. She is not to have authority. She is not to be a teacher. She is not to be a ruler in the church. That is the prohibition that the apostle gives us. Rather than a woman being the teacher and the ruler, she is to be in silence and subjection. There’s no way that you can come up with anything else and do any justice to the text. So, women in the church are not to be at any position where men are subordinate to them. And I say again, please, this doesn’t mean women can’t pray, can’t teach, can’t speak out for God. It doesn’t mean they can’t ask questions in a proper environment where questions are invited. It does mean in the public worship of the church these things are set down as God’s standard."
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
