I Permit Not a Woman...

"But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." 1st Timothy 2:12

At issue are the words “to teach” and “exercise authority.” That’s the only two things Paul addresses in this passage. That's an important distinction because many have used this verse to also prohibit women from leading prayer, reading Scripture, serving communion, leading worship, etc. None of those activities are addressed in 1st Timothy 2:12. The only way you can apply it to them is by saying that they somehow constitute exercising authority, but I don't see it. When someone leads prayer at our church they are not usurping anyone’s authority. The act of standing on stage and speaking words doesn’t equate to authority. When our men pass the communion trays I don't see that as some type of leadership role. It's an act of service. They're simply passing trays. The rest of the congregation does that as well it's just they are seated an pass them side to side instead of standing and passing them front to back. Again, I don't see anything here in 1st Timothy 2:12 that prohibits a woman from doing any those things. The only area of debate surrounds "to teach or exercise authority."

What exactly does Paul mean by that phrase? A lot of the discussion here centers around the question of what constitutes authority. The Greek word is authenteō. This is the only time that word is used in the New Testament and it can be taken either positively or negatively. In the negative sense it means “to domineer over.” Some believe that Paul is addressing a specific problem in Ephesus that relates to women domineering over men in their teaching. They point back to the immediate context of false teachers and say that women were obviously operating as false teachers and teaching in a domineering way and that’s what Paul is trying to address. That would make the command occasional and therefor not binding on all times. The problem is there's nothing in the context that suggests the false teachers were only women or that all of the women were teaching in this way. So how could silencing all women and only women solve the problem? Also, there’s good evidence that the word “authority” here is used in the positive sense where it simply means "to govern."

In that sense, Paul is not addressing the specific situation of “women teaching in a domineering way” (although that would certainly be forbidden of both men and women). Nor is Paul prohibiting women from any and all forms of teaching. What he’s addressing is “authoritative teaching.” Which means what? What constitutes “authoritative teaching” in the New Testament church? Or better yet, who provides that kind of teaching? You don’t have to look far to find your answer. Immediately after Paul gives his instructions to women he addresses the qualifications for elders or overseers. Again, the context is combating false teaching so the qualifications for those who will provide authority in the church is really important.

If you read those qualifications you’ll see that one of them is that an elder must be “able to teach” (3:2). That’s a qualification that’s not given for deacons. Then later in 1st Timothy 5:17 it says "The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." Thus you see that preaching and teaching is one of the primary functions of an elder in the New Testament church. Then in Titus 1:9 he writes that elders must be "holding fast to the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict." Another primary function of elders, closely related to teaching, it to protect the doctrinal purity of the church. Why is that an important qualification for church leadership? Read Titus 1:10-16. Once again the context is false teaching. Thus, I see the activities of "teaching” and “exercising authority” in 1st Timothy 2:12 as being directly related to the role of an elder. That’s what I think Paul is restricting here. I also see this as a binding command for all times because of v. 13-14 where he appeals back to the created order of things and the principle of male headship.

In short, I still come out on the complmentarian side of the debate but I don't think the passage prohibits women from teaching in any and all circumstances. As long as the teaching is done under the authority of the church's eldership and in the proper manner then I think she would be free to speak. I realize there are other complmentarians who've come to a different conclusion (i.e. women can't teach at all) and I respect their viewpoint. However, I think we can both agree that this passage does not prohibit women from participating in many of the other activities that they are often prohibiting from leading.