I recently picked up on Evangelical Times’ article and podcsst about women teaching and preaching. As I noted, the podcast doesn’t really offer us a Biblical case for the position and assertions taken. However, some people do, in the You Tube comments section attempt to have a discussion about what the Bible says.
One claim made is that it’s all very straight forward and simple, the Bible clearly commands that women cannot preach in 1 Timothy 2:12, therefore, those who do preach and those who listen to them lack the fear of God.
Another commentator reinforces this, arguing that Scripture is clear and that the doctrine of perspicuity means that we should take the plain reading of the text. It is worth noting that this isn’t quite what perspicuity means. Rather, when we talk about it, we mean that Scripture is clear, that it is has clarity. This means we are able to understand it but it doesn’t simply mean “take the plain meaning” because that risks a level of subjectivity. What seems plain to me may seem plain to someone else. It also does not mean that we are to be simplistic. Perspicuity still requires that we do the hard work of interpretation/exegesis. It means that we must allow for our nwn finite minds and the work of language translation. The doctrine allows for the fact that some parts of Scripture will be easier to understand than others. Finally, it does not remove the need for reading Scripture in context. This means that we should not read any passage in a way that would make it repugnant to or contradictory with any other part of Scripture.
So, when it comes to 1 Timothy 2:12, before leaping to insist that someone else is lacking in the fear of God, we need to check a couple of things. First we want to consider what the words translated “teaching” and “authority” mean. Then, secondly we need to look at what the rest of Scripture says.
Yes, 1 Timothy 2:12 seems to rule out women doing certain things that are linked to speaking and leading. However, there are other Bible passages that point to women taking prominent roles in the church and to speaking, especially in relation to prayer and prophecy. We need to consider those passages too in order to decide what practices are fitting in our churches.
With that in mind, a few years ago, I put together a discussion paper on men and women in leadership. It’s been updated a few times and is now available as an e-booklet. I share the latest revision here for your consideration.
Faithroots 