Women in Leadership? Paul says, “NO!”

At some point in our journeys, some of us have to wrestle with the fact that our gifts do not conform to traditional roles. I loved…and still love…to teach and preach. I saw numerous examples of women in ministry and leadership positions in the Bible. I was encouraged by the stories of women actively involved and commissioned in each of the 5-fold ministry gifts. My next step was to understand the prohibitions of women in leadership we find in the Bible.

As in all the church of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. ESV

If these verses are taken literally and at face value, women would not be permitted any verbal expression in the church. Not too many churches, even those that do not permit women to teach or preach, practice this verse in such a restrictive manner. Those quoting these verses to show that women should not preach are indicting themselves if they permit women to speak at all.

There are several problems with a literal interpretation. First of all, these words contradict those written earlier in the letter. 1 Corinthians 11 assumes that women will pray and prophesy in a public worship setting. Earlier in chapter 14, Paul urges everyone to come prepared to contribute and all his suggestions for contributions involve speaking, even teaching(14:26) He does not restrict this to men. Secondly, the phrase “as the Law says,” causes a certain difficulty because the law actually said no such thing. Paul, as an expert in the Law and a former Pharisee would have known this. Anyone familiar with Paul’s letters would know that he consistently, often polemically, warned them to not go back to the Law. Can we really believe that in this instance Paul is resorting to the Law?

To understand Paul’s teaching, one must look at the cultural and contextual settings in which we find it. The letter was sent to a church Corinth, a city that was a major crossroad for travel and commerce, even rivaling Athens as the center of Greek culture. While the major god was Aphrodite, she was not the only god the Corinthians worshipped. In fact, the city was a smorgasbord of religious cults. Many of them involved loud, chaotic, frenzied worship. Spirituality was measured in decibel levels: the more noise and confusion, the greater the pleasure of the gods, and the more “anointed” the occasion. It is possible that some of the women were, in imitation of the pagan worship, working themselves into a wild, ecstatic, frenzy during worship. In this case, Paul was likely correcting them for their disorderliness, not for speaking.

IF Paul is actually encouraging women to be silent, they are not the only group to whom he encourages voluntary silence. He also encourages those who have a word of prophecy or a tongue to be silent as well. IF silence is the primary interpretation of this passage, it is to a specific culture who values loud, chaotic worship.

There is a strong consensus that these words are not actually Paul’s words, but he is quoting from the letter they had sent him. This fits with the flow of question-and-answer that we read throughout the book of Corinthians. This interpretation makes the most sense of Paul’s use of the phrase, “as the Law says.” But, because Paul does not acknowledge he is answering their question…unlike the other answers…some would argue that he is not addressing their question.

Paul’s use of a certain Greek symbols also suggests he may have been quoting from them and refuting it. It is a Greek symbol that is an “expletive of disassociation.” It is often translated ‘or.’ Paul uses it throughout Corinthians as an emotional rebuttal to express his disapproval of something. The closest English equivalent would mean, “What?!” or “Nonsense!” or “No way!!” When the men of Corinth say their women keep silent, Paul’s rebuttal is “Nonsense! Did the word of God originate with you?! What?! Has the word of God come to you only?!”(v. 36) Paul is actually refuting the teaching that women should be silent.

There are several other interpretations among scholars. Some have said women were shouting questions at their husbands across the room due to the segregation of genders. This is unlikely for several reasons. One, there is little historical evidence of gender separation. Two, most NT churches met in houses making segregation of genders nearly impossible. Another possibility is that women were interrupting the teaching to ask questions. Asking questions was a typical model of teaching. However it was impolite and dishonoring to interrupt with questions before studying or listening intently. In this case, the correction was not in the desire to learn or speaking, but in the disorderly manner of asking those questions.

These are the most probably interpretations of 1 Corinthians 14:33-34. In each interpretation, we see that Paul is not telling women they cannot speak in church. I find the second interpretation the most compelling…that the Corinthian leaders were silencing the women and Paul was rebuking them for it. Either way, when we view Paul’s teaching in light of a culture that viewed the education of women s a waste of time, we realize he affirms their education. When we view this passage in light of the historical context, we see his foremost concern is not that women not speak, but that the corporate worship be orderly, not chaotic or confusing.

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ESV

Paul is writing this letter to Timothy who was pastoring a church in Ephesus. One of the founding leaders of the Ephesian church was Priscilla(Acts 18:18-19) who, along with her husband Aquila, is credited with explaining the scripture to Apollos(Acts 18:26) Of the three times she and her husband are mentioned in Scripture, her name is listed first twice. This is significant in that culture. It is likely she was the more gifted teacher and did most of the teaching….of a man. It seems implausible that Paul would ban women from teaching in a church where a gifted teacher was a co-founder. Interestingly, Priscilla also help to found two other churches…in Rome and in Corinth.

Another implausibility is Paul’s reference to Eve. He implies that women are disqualified from teaching because of Eve’s deception. Eve, desiring to please God, was deceived into disobeying him. Her heart was to obey. Adam, on the other hand, knowingly and willfully disobeyed God. He had not the heart to obey. It is difficult to believe that Adam, despite his blatant, willful disobedience to God’s words is more qualified to teach that Eve who intended to obey but was deceived. Even if Paul is placing more blame on Eve, it does not mean all women are susceptible to deception and are therefore disqualified from teaching.

Let’s take a moment to look at the historical and culture context of Paul’s letter to Timothy. He was facing persecution from without and rampant false teaching from within, teaching that stemmed from the worship of Artemis. The temple of Artemis, located in Ephesus, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ephesus was a political and educational center with a large portion of its economy resulting from occult activities. It was in Ephesus that a silversmith named Demetrius raised a disturbance against Paul and his teaching because he feared the loss of business as people turned from the worship of their gods to the worship of the true God. He also claimed that the temple of Artemis would would lose its influence and the Artemis herself would be deposed.(Acts 19:21-41) The temple of Artemis loomed large in the ancient city of Ephesus; devotion to Artemis loomed large in the hearts and minds of the people of Ephesus. It was this devotion, along with various legends surrounding their history, that contributed to their belief that women were superior to men. The legendary Amazons, a tribe of fierce, warrior women, are said to have found the city of Ephesus. Theirs was a female-dominated society.

Paul is addressing a specific situation facing Timothy in the Ephesian church. We find a clue to this when we look at the grammar Paul is using, namely the nouns of address and their number. In verses 9 and 10, Paul is speaking of women, a general term in the plural: “Women should dorm themselves..with what is proper for women who profess godliness.’ But, in verse 11, Paul shifts to the singular: “Let a woman learn quietly…I do not permit a woman to teach…” It is very probable that a certain woman was spreading a false teaching about the superiority of women and Paul was instructing Timothy in how to deal with her. 

It is vital to understand the word ‘authority’ found in verse 12. The Greek word used here is a very specific term, authentain. This is the only usage in the New Testament and only the second usage in the entire Greek Bible. It is found rarely in Greek literature and other writings. The earliest meaning of this word was “murder.” It means a violent usurping of authority, not simply the exercising of authority. Paul is telling Timothy, in a culture that was strongly female dominated, that this certain woman is not to violently usurp authority or teach in a way that is domineering. Both of these would be the normative for followers of Artemis, but not the followers of God.

In verses 13-14, rather than blaming Eve and profiling all women, I believe Paul is actually correcting a false teaching that blended a Greek myth with the true account of the creation of man. According to Greek mythology, Artemis was born first and she then helped to deliver her twin brother, Apollo. This belief led the Ephesians to believe that women, because of their superiority over men, and the fact that they were born first, should assume the role of teacher. Paul, in his letter to Timothy…in those infamous words that have kept women from the role of teaching… is correcting that, but not for all women of all time…but for a specific culture in a specific time.