If there’s one verse that has been misconstrued and used to pound on women to toe the line and prohibit them from any ministry that involves preaching, teaching and pastoring congregations, it’s Paul's words to his protégé Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:12 which says:
“And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.”
Taken out of context, Paul comes off pretty misogynistic.
But was Paul a misogynist?
Well, facts suggest otherwise.
Paul loved, adored and respected women.
Infact, he endorsed and worked with numerous women in ministry including Junia, Priscilla, Euodia and Syntyche.
He commended women in ministry, regarding them as equals and even called them ‘coworkers' (see Romans 16:3)
Paul believed that women were just as capable of expressing the gospel at the highest level as men.
In his eyes, there was no gender as pertaining to Kingdom affairs as expressed in his words in Galatians 3:28 where he says:
“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.”
All this suggests there’s more to Paul words in 1 Timothy 2:12 than meets the eye.
Now one serious mistake many believers make today when they read or study the Bible is take someone else’s medicine.
You see Paul’s words, though the inspired word of God, form part of a letter written to a specific audience (i.e. the church at Ephesus), with specific instructions on how to deal with specific issues that had been brought to his attention.
The same applies to quite a number of Paul’s directive in his letters.
Taking these specific instructions addressed to specific audiences and blanketly applying them to the church today is tantamount to taking someone else’s medicine.
It's attempting to force these passages to fit into a modern setting which is wrong because Paul was NOT addressing problems in TODAY’S churches.
These instructions are limited to those specific audiences and are not meant for all time or for universal application.
We need to be able to discern what from his numerous letters to the various churches at the time is meant to apply for all time and what was written to address specific situations they were going through at the time.
Now often when we read 1 Timothy 2, we jump right to verse 12 and fail to consider the verses that come before and after the verse, which goes against basic rules of hermeneutics (i.e. Bible interpretation) which include:
1) Reading a verse in its context (i.e. read the pretext and the post text) to understand what the writer is trying to communicate.
2) Considering the author and their intended audience.
3) Considering the cultural background at the time the words were written.
4) Considering the issue(s) they were wrestling with at the time.
5) Considering if there is any other verse(s) that support how you've interpreted a portion of Scripture. In short, we cannot establish doctrines based on singular verses. If how you interpret a verse or a portion of scripture is not supported anywhere else in the Bible, your interpretation has no legs to stand on and therefore cannot stand. Simply put, it's wrong. The bible says by the word of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established (see 1 Corinthians 13:1; Matthew 18:16). No one can bear witness of themselves (see John 5:31).
6) Considering the general tone of Scripture as a whole and whether how you’ve interpretated a portion of Scripture agrees with the general tone of Scripture as pertaining to the subject under study.
Now looking at the general tone of Scripture as pertaining to God using women, there's unequivocal evidence in Scripture that God and Scripture as a whole endorses the voice of women.
There are many influential women in the Bible cutting across the Old and the New Testament from Rahab to Deborah to Ruth to Esther to Mary Magdalene to Julia to Priscilla to the Elect lady in 2 John etc.
God speaking through prophet Joel says in Joel 2:28:
“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons AND DAUGHTERS shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.”
The events portrayed in Acts 1:14 and Acts 2:18 conclusively show that women are not to be silent in the assembly as both men AND WOMEN were praying in the upper room.
Moreover, tongues were distributed upon each and every one of them regardless of their gender and they all spoke in tongues.
So Scripture as a whole is clearly pro women in ministry which means that any interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:12 to the contrary is a misinterpretation of the word of God going by the rules of basic hermeneutics.
Now when reading the epistles, it's helpful to have an understanding of the background and culture of the recipients who the letters was originally written to.
In this case, it is helpful to have an understanding of the culture of Ephesus where Timothy was ministering as Paul’s envoy.
Ephesus for one was ground zero for Artemis worship.
Artemis was basically the city’s patron god.
Artemis worship was a female cultic religion with a ton of fanatical followers.
You can actually see them in action in the book of Acts when they get upset with Paul for threatening the business of their craftsmen who made a living thanks to the shrine of Artemis in that city.
A giant mob had risen against him and some other ministers chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” for two hours. (see Acts 19:24-34)
Understanding the religion of Artemis is important in understanding the words Paul wrote for the Christian women there.
Secondly, the city of Ephesus was a haven for Gnosticism.
Ephesus was one of the major religious centres back then so Gnostic teachings which were famous for infusing Christian and pagan beliefs ran rampant there.
Paul actually instructs Timothy to stay in Ephesus for this very reason. (see 1 Timothy 1:3-4)
Gnosticism was characterized by error concerning the Jewish law (1 Timothy 1:7); great attention to genealogies and fables (1 Timothy 1:4; 4:7; Titus 1:14; 3:9); blasphemy (1 Timothy 1:20); immoral practices (1 Timothy 4:2); forbidding marriage and eating of certain foods ( 1 Timothy 4:3); a denial of the resurrection of the body (2 Timothy 2:18) etc.
The prevailing theme of 1 Timothy is that of refuting false teachings.
With all this in mind, lets briefly go through this portion of scripture (1 Tomothy 2:8-15), shall we?
“I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” (verse 8)
The female-focused cult of Artemis taught female superiority and dominance over men. Gnostics taught that Eve received secret knowledge when she ate from the forbidden tree. She was called the 'Illuminator' and exalted as the 'bringer of life' to Adam. Rather than calling her act sin, it was exalted as superiority and taught that some women were mediators of this knowledge. That as Eve was mediator of this knowledge and passed it to Adam, men could learn this hidden knowledge only from women.
Paul counters this heresy starting from verse 5 by stamping the sole mediatorship of Christ and in verse 8, asks that all men pray with lifted hands directly to God without the need for any female mediator.
“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.” (verse 9-10)
The temple of Artemis was well known for its temple prostitutes.
Since women were viewed as superior to men in the Artemis cult, possessing secret divine knowledge, one of the ways they claimed to impart this ‘knowledge’ to men was through sex.
Paul’s instructions for how Christian women at Ephesus were to adorn themselves was a necessity in a city which boasted thousands of prostitutes.
Infact, sumptuary laws (laws regulating clothing, ornamentation, food, drink, and other forms of luxury) forbade any but prostitutes the adornment Paul forbids.
It was crucial for Christian women’s attire to set them apart from other ‘religious ladies’ (temple prostitutes) whose jewellery, clothing, braids etc was overdone as a pretentious display of wealth and luxury, designed to impress and attract sexual suitors.
Braids for example were considered seductive and some women even interweaved gold and pearls into their hair.
Now taking Paul's forbidding of hair braiding for example and applying it to today's church, as some churches do, is out of order because these days, it's simply a fashion trend.
Back in the day, how you dressed, braided your hair or accessorized was much more than a fashion statement.
“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. ” (verse 11-12)
One awesome thing about Paul’s words in this verse is his endorsement of women to learn.
We tend to focus on the silence and submission and forget about the learning.
But this is huge!
You see, back in Paul’s days, women were sadly regarded as second-class citizens.
Jews would actually thank God they were not born slaves, gentiles or women.
Their women hardly had any rights.
For example, they could not enter the main part of the temple, they could not speak in the assembly, and they certainly weren’t encouraged to learn.
Rabbi Eliezer, a religious Jew, made a statement that pretty much sums up the low view they had of women and he said:
“Let the words of the law be burned, rather than that they should be delivered to women.”
That’s how bad it was!
Letting women learn was considered a waste of time so Paul’s words are truly commendable given the situation on the ground.
Now as I mentioned earlier, Ephesus was a stronghold for feminine supremacy in religion which was propagated by the female-focused cult of Artemis.
Paul counters this false doctrine of some women falsely believing they are custodian of spiritual knowledge and automatically fitted to spiritual leadership by stating they needed to humble themselves and become students of the word of God first.
This is NOT Paul 'putting women in their place' as some would interpret it, but Paul is encouraging Timothy to discourage any new female convert from any false notions of female superiority that they may have carried over from their cultic background.
That women aren’t to lord over men any more than men are to lord over women (but still within the context of teaching).
“For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” (verse 13-14)
Now Gnosticism was characterized by an opposition to traditional Jewish scriptures, especially the first few chapters of Genesis.
These guys perverted the entire thing and Paul is basically setting the record straight and restoring God’s order.
Part of the Gnostic doctrine stated that Eve was created first, that Adam was the one that was deceived and not Eve and that Eve was perfect, sinless, and wise because she gained devine knowledge from eating from the forbidden tree.
Paul counters all three of these lies in verse 13 and 14.
“Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” (verse 15)
Now Paul is not saying that women cannot be saved unless they have children.
Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone. (see Ephesians 2:8)
Paul is again speaking against erroneous gnostic teachings that had infiltrated the church at Ephesus to the effect that childbearing had become sought of a taboo associated with a lot condemnation.
According to their gnostic teaching, to be spiritual one needed to be married to one’s god so marriage to a man was seen as defiling, as was the marriage bed.
They idealized virginity as true holiness.
Bearing children was considered an inferior, low class act for the ‘breeders’ and not for the truly spiritual.
These guys really put a premium on asceticism and so they preached celibacy and vegetarianism. (see 1 Timothy 4:3)
In short, they were pro celibacy and anti-marriage.
Infact, traces of their view of what makes a person holy and spiritual can still be seen in the mystique around nuns and convents.
Paul seeks to assure Christian women in Ephesus that getting married, having sex with their husbands, and getting children, does not defile them or jeopardise their faith.
That someone's spiritualness is not dependent on celibacy or remaining childless but faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
Paul's intent is to restore this womanly vocation of child bearing to its rightful place in contrast to the manner in which it was diminished in Ephesus.
By understanding the possible influences of Artemis and Gnosticism on the Ephesian church, Paul's words in 1 Timothy 2:12 definitely make more sense and vindicate him.
Paul had to restore balance and order.
I submit to you that if he was writing to a church in a city battling the reverse i.e. misogyny, where the men were lording over the women and putting them down, he would have stressed what they needed to hear the most for their deliverance from their just-as-wrong and false world view.
The bottom line is God is pro women in ministry and still uses women mightily even today.
Plus think about it, if only one half of the body of Christ can actively do ministry, then that means Jesus would be paralysed, right? But far from it.
So to all the precious women who feel led to preach (& teach), preach on preacher!
If God is for you, it doesn't matter who is against you!
To the men, an empowered woman does not mean a debilitated man so there is no need to feel threatened.
God still vests leadership on the men and it's in the absence of male leadership that alot of women have been forced to take up this responsibililty.
That said, it should be a joy to colabour with our women as God intented right from the garden.
God bless you.