The whole of life must be brought under the control of Jesus Christ. And in order for the whole of life to be brought under the control of Jesus Christ, the whole of life must be brought under the control of the whole of Scripture. Jamaican Pastor (emphasis mine)
Teaching truth is loving. Teaching error is unloving. Mark Dever
I hate false doctrine. False doctrine takes away what is precious. False doctrine ruins people's lives. Most importantly, false doctrine leads to disobeying God's Word and justifies disobedience to God. It justifies sin and belittles the glory of God. It steals joy. But on the other hand, doing doctrine, life, and church God's way is always what brings the most delight, joy, and satisfaction. As John Piper says, God gets the glory, and we get the joy! If you truly love women, you will desire to teach them what God says about their God-given role in the church, and you will hate all false teaching that contradicts God's clear Word to them.Genesis 3:1: "Did God actually say . . . ." Satan
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. Yet she will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. 1 Timothy 2:11-15
Notice the context after the command: God does not ground or base that command on any other reason than the very order and fabric of creation and the fall of man at the very beginning. The “For” in verse 13 gives the ground or basis or reason for God’s command. Why does God say women are not to teach or to exercise authority over men? Because Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived but Eve was. Ligon Duncan captures well the meaning of verses 13-14 here:
In other words, Paul says that the reversal of roles that is contemplated when the all male qualified teaching office is violated in the church is precisely the same circumstance that we see played out in the Fall of man where Adam abdicated his responsibility as the covenant keeper and Eve started a chain that led to the fall of man. So, this is his rationale for women not teaching or exercising authority in the public assembly.
In his very helpful article, "Why Did Satan Target Eve?", David Mathis writes:
Perhaps the most puzzling question here for many Bible readers is, “What does Paul mean that Adam was not deceived?” Isn’t all sin deception in some form, as in Hebrews 3:13, “the deceitfulness of sin”? And in saying “Adam was not deceived” in 1 Timothy 2:14, is Paul implying that women are more easily deceived than men?
The answer lies in seeing verses 13–14 as one main argument, not two separate ones. Adam was formed first (verse 13) and yet it was the woman who sinned first. It’s not that Adam didn’t sin (he most certainly did), or that he wasn’t deceived (at some level), but that he wasn’t deceived by the serpent. She was the recipient of the serpent’s deception; then Adam listened to her voice (Genesis 3:17). Which speaks to the serpent’s path: he approached and deceived Eve first, rather than approaching the man.
Of course, we do have much we can say about the differences in men’s and women’s nature corresponding to God’s design. But that’s not what’s in view here. God laid down an order in creation, and Satan subverted that order and it led to the fall. And in it, both man and wife are at fault. As Ray Ortlund writes, “Eve usurped Adam’s headship and led the way into sin. And Adam, who (it seems) had stood by passively, allowing the deception to process without decisive intervention — Adam, for his part, abandoned his post as head. Eve was deceived; Adam forsook his responsibility” (Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 107).
Were there specific differences in Eve that Satan sought to exploit? Her nurturing and empathetic strength? Was she more vulnerable in some way to the devil’s deception? Whether she was or not, that is not Paul’s point here. Satan subverted God’s order, but now God’s order endures, and redemption will come on God’s terms, not Satan’s. Readers might bring their own senses of what attendant male and female strengths and weaknesses may or may not have been relevant, but what is clear and striking is that God worked one way: man to woman. Satan worked the other way: woman to man.
The fundamental reason that women should not serve as pastors is communicated here, and so the argument from creation cannot be dismissed as culturally limited. Moreover, the New Testament contains many similar appeals to the created order. For instance, homosexuality is not in accord with the will of God because it is “contrary to nature” (Rom. 1:26); that is, it violates what God intended when he made human beings as male and female (Gen. 1:26-27). Similarly, Jesus teaches that divorce is not the divine ideal since at creation God made one man and one woman, signifying that one man should be married to one woman “till death do us part” (Matt. 19:3-12). So, too, all food is to be received gratefully since it is a gift from God’s creative hand (1 Tim. 4:3-5).
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 1 Timothy 2:11
Yet she will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. 1 Timothy 2:15
Many egalitarians have tried to dispute God's clear command in verse 12 (to see discussions on the words "epitrepo" and "authenteo" see Andreas J. Köstenberger here and Lane Keister Part 1 here; Part 2 here; Part 3 here; Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism; and Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15). But notice how God's Word in verses 11 and 15 are in total harmony and agreement with the command in verse 12 and even clarify its meaning. Verse 11 states that women are to learn quietly with all submissiveness - so not to teach or exercise authority over a man. And verse 15 states that women will be saved, not by a teaching ministry to men in the church, but through childbearing - they will be saved through living out the Biblical role that God has given women, not in the sense of being justified, but in the sense of being sanctified and finally being glorified. In Men And Women In The Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction, Kevin DeYoung helpfully explains verse 15:
If we understand that "salvation" in the New Testament does not necessarily mean justification, we can make more sense of the verse. Most of us read "salvation" and think of giving our lives to Christ and getting saved. But salvation has a much broader scope in the New Testament, covering the entire life of the Christian, not just a single definitive moment of faith and repentance. Elsewhere, we are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), not as meriting favor with God, but as a striving for Christian obedience. This is the sense of salvation Paul has in mind when he says that women will be saved through childbearing.
Giving birth is one of the ways in which a woman demonstrates obedience to her God-given identity. Instead of casting off all order and decency, a godly woman embraces her true femininity in dressing modestly, learning quietly, bearing children, and continuing in faith, love, and holiness. Understandably, some women will not have children because of medical reasons or singleness, but in so far as it is possible, childbearing is one of the unique ways in which a woman can accept, in obedience, her God-given design (Pages 86-87).
John Piper has a helpful interpretation of verse 15 as well. God's Word is very clear on this matter. Women are to learn in quiet submission, not to teach or to exercise authority over men, and give themselves to the role God has assigned them (childbearing) as they pursue Christ in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control. Women should not be pastors.
Dr. R. Albert Mohler and others have spoken clearly on the meaning of "Pastor" according to God's Word:
Mike Winger made an excellent video on the interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 here, where he exposes so much of egalitarian scholarship for the lie that it is.
1 Corinthians 14:33-35
As in all the churches 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. 1 Corinthians 14:33-35
The context of these verses concerns conducting the corporate worship of the gathered church in a way that is decent and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). Many modern, complementarian interpreters believe women are allowed to prophesy in the church gathering because of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. Those who hold this view understand Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 to be restricting women from the authoritative interpretation of prophecy or teaching: women are not allowed to speak in an authoritative way in the interpretation of prophecy, to teach what those prophecies mean, or to teach God's Word at all. Other complementarians believe women are not allowed to prophecy at all in the church assembly, but only in other, more private settings. They argue 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 makes this abundantly clear. In either of these interpretive views, the central point is the same: women must remain silent, meaning they are in no way to teach or to exercise authority over men in the gathered church assembly. Notice God’s ground or basis for this command: the end of verse 34 says: “as the Law also says.” This command is not a cultural command. This command is given because God’s Holy Word, the Law, teaches this. Notice also this was not a command specifically for the church in Corinth. According to the end of verse 33, this was a command “As in all the churches of the saints.” This is not a cultural command for one specific church. This is a universal command for all the churches of the saints. God could not have been more crystal clear. These verses are in complete harmony and agreement with what God says in 1 Timothy 2: women are not to teach or to exercise authority over men in all the churches of the saints. Women should not be pastors.
Dr. Tom Schreiner interprets 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 differently. In his extremely helpful commentary on 1 Corinthians, he writes:
It is more plausible to suggest that the women are not allowed to judge prophecies. Such a reading fits with the call to submit and the references to the law. By judging prophecies, women were arrogating an authority which was not proper. Despite the attractiveness of this view, it is not clear in the text that the speech prohibited relates to judging prophecies. Paul forbids speaking in general and gives no clue that judging prophecies is specifically in view.
We need to look for a clue in the text which informs us about the nature of the speaking that is prohibited. We see in verse 35 that wives are told to ask their 'husband at home'. It seems fair to infer, therefore, that wives were asking disruptive or challenging questions and interrupting the congregational meetings. They were not free to speak in this way, for a wife's public disagreement with her husband in the ancient world would be viewed as humiliating and would dishonor him. (Page 297)
Even in this interpretation, Dr. Schreiner points out that there is a different role given to wives because of the creation order, and they should honor and respect their husbands by not disagreeing with them in the public church assembly. This too supports the teaching of 1 Timothy 2 and the different roles God has assigned men and women. Even in marriage, God has assigned an authoritative role to husbands. In the home and in the church, God calls qualified men to lead. Women should not be pastors.
1 Timothy 3:1-7 And Titus 1:5-9
There are only two places in all of Scripture that give the qualifications for pastors/elders (1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1), and there we see qualifications written for men:The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:1-7
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you - if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:5-9
Again note, these are the only two places in all the Bible that God gives us qualifications for elders/pastors, and it is evident that all of these qualifications are for men and men only. Women should not be pastors.
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God . . . For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-9
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . . . Ephesians 5:22-25
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Colossians 3:18-19
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives - when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Peter 3:1-7
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ . . . . Ephesians 4:11-12
. . . it is undoubtedly the case that teaching and prophecy in the early church were not identical kinds of speech. As we will see later, elders do not need the gift of prophecy, but they must be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2). Likewise, the first pastors may or may not have been prophets, but they certainly were teachers (1 Tim. 4:11; 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:2; Titus 1:9; 2:1-10). Teaching - passing on the apostolic deposit while explaining and applying Scripture - was authoritative instruction in a way prophecy was not. (Pages 60-61)
In a very instructive article ("Why It Is Important Not To Conflate Prophecy And Teaching In Discussions About Women Preaching") Denny Burk further explains the difference between prophecy and teaching:
. . . we have to understand what the difference between prophecy and teaching is. The gift of prophecy consists in spontaneous utterance inspired by the Spirit. Prophecy therefore consists of divine revelation. The gift of teaching, however, is different. Teaching does not consist in new revelation but in instruction based on revelation that has already been given.
This difference between teaching and prophecy is crucial because the gift of teaching is not merely passing along information from one person to another. The gift of teaching in Paul’s writings has a certain content and mode. The content of the gift of teaching is the authoritative apostolic deposit, which is now inscribed for us in the New Testament (Col. 2:7; 2 Thess. 2:15; 1 Tim. 4:11; 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:2). This teaching therefore is done in the imperative mood. It contains explanation, but it also includes commands and prohibitions. For that reason, it is always authoritative because it instructs people what they are to believe and to do.
1 Timothy 4:11, “Command and teach these things.”
2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
It is very clear that when Paul has the gift of teaching in mind, he is thinking of instruction given with imperatives and commands. As Douglas Moo concludes, “teaching always has this restrictive sense of authoritative doctrinal instruction.”
That is why Paul issues the prohibition that he does in 1 Timothy 2:12. Women must not teach men. Why? Because of the order of creation (1 Timothy 2:13). The role of leader in the first marriage was Adam’s. His leadership was established in part on the basis that God created him first (a principle of primogeniture). The order of creation establishes male headship in marriage (cf. 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:23), and a woman teaching and exercising authority overturns this order. After all, how can a wife submit to her husband if she is telling him what to do when she preaches? Avoiding this potential conflict is the reason why Paul bases the gender norms for teaching upon the gender norms for marriage.
This also explains why Paul commands women to be silent in 1 Corinthians 14:34-36. Paul is not commanding absolute silence, or else he would be contradicting his allowance of female prophesying in 1 Corinthians 11:5. No, Paul is specifically commanding female silence during the judgment of prophecies. What happens if a husband prophesies, and his wife is a prophet as well? Is the husband supposed to be subject to his wife during the judgment of prophecies? Are husbands and wives supposed to suspend male headship during corporate worship? Paul’s answer to that question is a clear no.
Paul does not want anything to happen during corporate worship or in any other setting that would upset the headship principle that he so carefully exhorted his readers to obey in 1 Cor. 11:2-16. For that reason, Paul enjoins women to refrain from the judgment of prophecies. He’s not commanding an absolute silence on the part of women. Indeed he expects them to be praying and prophesying. He does, however, command them to be silent whenever prophesies are being judged. And the women are to do so out of deference to male headship.
Notice that the explanation in verse 34 indicates that headship is indeed the issue: “The women… should be in submission…” The Greek word translated as “submission” is the same one from verse 32. A woman cannot be subject to her husband while simultaneously expecting him to submit to her judgments about his prophecy. To avoid this conflict, Paul says that while women may prophesy, they may not participate in the judgment of prophesies. In this case, the judgment of prophecies is tantamount to teaching, which Paul absolutely prohibits in 1 Timothy 2:12.
What is the bottom line here? The fact of female prophecy in the Old and New Testaments is no argument in favor of female teaching/preaching. The gifts of prophecy and teaching are distinct in Paul’s writings, and Paul therefore regulates them differently. While Paul allows women to prophesy in the presence of men, he does not allow them to teach men (1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34-36). This feature of the New Testament’s teaching about gifts and ministry is lost whenever the gifts of prophecy and teaching are conflated. This is a confusion that careful readers of scripture should wish to avoid.
God used a lot of folks in the Scripture as conduits to speak to His people that were not taken to be role models for how the offices of the church were to be operated. For instance, Balaam, the enemy of God's people was used to prophecy to God's people. And friends, without being offensive to my dear sisters in Christ, let me remind you that Balaam's ass was also used to prophecy to the people of God. He used a donkey to speak His word to Balaam. So, God can use anything He wants to prophecy, and is may or may not have any implication whatsoever with regard to the issue of office in the Church.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Titus 2:3-5
They are to teach other women. They are to teach children. They are to evangelize as seen in other places in Scripture. They are to encourage their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. But nothing about Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet contradicts 1 Timothy 2 or 1 Corinthians 14. Women should not be pastors.
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. Galatians 3:28
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ . . . Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Ephesians 6:5, 9
Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is the same as if her head were shaven. 1 Corinthians 11:4-5
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her . . . . Ephesians 5:22-25
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:24-26
First, it is likely that Junia (iounian in Greek) is a man, not a woman [See Esther Yue L. Ng's persuasive article: "Was Junia(s) in Rom 16:7 a Female Apostle? And So What"] Second, "outstanding among the apostles" suggests that Junia was held in esteem by the apostles, not that she was an apostle. Third, even if Junia was a woman and was an apostle, it is not clear that she was an apostle like the twelve. Apostle can be used in a less technical sense as a messenger or representative (2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25) (Page 112).
With the cases of both Deborah and Junia, people seem to be searching the Bible for one or two exceptions to the rule and then make that exception the rule, which they should not do. This is begging for evidence to support their false view. God has established a clear pattern of male leadership in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. All the covenant heads in the Bible were men (Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Jesus); All the priests in the Old and New Testaments were men; All the kings of Israel were men; Jesus was a man; God is overwhelmingly referred to in masculine terms (Father, for example); All of Jesus’ disciples were men; All the writers of the books of the Bible in which we know who the authors were, were men. All the examples of elders/pastors mentioned in the Bible are men. The six deacons chosen in Acts 6 were men. Husbands are the heads and leaders of their homes. From Genesis to Revelation, God has established a deep pattern of male leadership in His Word. He has set it up this way, and to turn away from this in His church is to turn away from God’s command and pattern. And this pattern is what is best for both men and women. This is how women will experience the most joy, peace, and satisfaction - by doing what God has commanded - by using their gifts of teaching and leadership in the ways that God’s Word commands and allows. God’s way is always best. And it is what most glorifies Him. As I wrote before, we get the joy, and He gets the glory! This happens when Biblically qualified men do what they are called to do: be faithful pastors. But women should not be pastors.
Objection #12: Jesus gave the great commission to all people, so women can be pastors
It is true, Jesus did give His great commission to His apostles who were there in His presence and, in a sense, to all of His disciples who would follow Him in the future through the work of His Church because His promise is to be with them until the end of the age.
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20
Obviously, all of His apostles who were there in His physical presence would not be alive on earth until the end of age, so the command is for those in His Church who would come after the apostolic age. How should we understand this great commission as it pertains to women pastors?
First, Jesus gave this great commission to His Church. Just as He gave the keys of the kingdom to His apostles (Matthew 16 and 18), and that authority would be passed on to His Church (Matthew 18:15-20), so too this great commission was given to His apostles and was passed on to His Church. The apostles are the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:19-21), but the Church is Jesus' ordained means to carry out God's purposes on earth during and after the apostolic age. Jesus gave this great commission to His Church, and it is to be carried out and accomplished in all the ways God's Word instructs in the rest of the New Testament. Jesus tells us His Church is to make disciples, baptize, and teach. And God's Word tells us all the appropriate ways these commands are to be accomplished by His Church. Part of that instruction that governs Christ's Church, as we've seen above, is that women are not to preach to men in the church, and they are not to be pastors.
Second, all of Jesus' disciples are to go and make disciples of all nations in all the appropriate ways that men and women are called to do this according to the rest of the instruction given in the New Testament. Nothing being called for in the great commission can contradict anything else in the New Testament because God does not contradict Himself. Women are to make disciples by doing evangelism to both men and women. Women are to make disciples by teaching other women (Titus 2). Women are to make disciples by teaching and evangelizing children. Women, like Elisabeth Elliot was, are called to make disciples of all nations by being missionaries - but Elisabeth would not preach to men in the church, even after her husband, Jim, was speared to death, because God's Word forbids it. Women are to carry out the great commission in all the ways the rest of the New Testament allows, but the New Testament restricts preaching in the church and pastoring in the church to qualified men. Women should not be pastors.
Note: Sister Michelle Lesley has a helpful discussion here on this very matter.
A Serious Matter
This is a very serious matter. I've walked out of a church because a woman was preaching the Sunday morning sermon. I went to the bathroom and stayed there until she was done. I've had to speak to the pastor of a church that rented our building from us for their church service, and they eventually left because they were allowing women to preach the Sunday sermon. It is a serious sin to disobey God’s clear commands. And there is not a clearer command in the Bible than those found in 1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:33-35. God will hold me and you accountable for what we believe, allow, practice, and tolerate.Pastor/theologians in the early church and the great Reformers, like Martin Luther and John Calvin, understood that women should not to be pastors. Women pastors is a more modern twisting of Scripture, which I think is primarily due to the sinful feminist movement, and the church wanting to look more like the culture than simply obeying the clear commands of Scripture.
Women have done almost everything men have, and have done it just as well. The significant exception to that generalization is that, until the very recent past, the “office” of teaching and of the sacramental ministry, with the jurisdictional powers this implies, has been reserved for men. Of course, there have been historical anomalies, and there have been sects and peripheral groups that accepted women preachers who may also have offered the eucharist. Yet, in its broad central tradition and practice, the church - East and West and in a multiplicity of cultural and social settings - has consistently maintained that to men alone is it given to be pastors and sacramental ministers (Page 343) . . . The evidence shows that the Pauline statements against women speaking in the church were consistently upheld. Contrary practices were regarded as innovative and opposed to the truth and were, by ecclesiastical discipline and censure, excluded from the church. The practice of the early and medieval church was followed without question by the churches of the Reformation, both Reformed and Lutheran, and by virtually all other communions until the most recent past (Page 350).
God's Word is clear. Church history is clear: women should not be pastors. Many churches in America that allow women pastors are deeply plagued with other, more serious errors - like the full acceptance of the transgender movement and homosexuality.
- The American Baptist Churches USA allowed female pastors in 1985 and failed to uphold discipline for churches with homosexual members in 1999.
- The ELCA ordained women in 1970 and practicing homosexual pastors in 2009.
- The Episcopal Church USA allowed female pastors in 1976 and homosexual bishops in 2003.
- The PCUSA allowed female pastors in 1956 and then openly homosexual pastors in 2011.
- The United Methodist Church allowed female pastors in 1956, allowed for homosexual unions by failure to discipline in 2014, and there is currently a conservative exodus from the denomination that is expected to change their policy to allow homosexual ordination in 2024. Kevin McClure
Ignoring clear prohibitions in the Bible helps set a trend that undermines Biblical authority (as Wayne Grudem argues).
What Women Can And Should Do
In the book, (again, read it free at this link!) Recovering Biblical Manhood And Womanhood: A Response To Evangelical Feminism, John Piper gives a great list of all the ministries the Bible does call women to be involved in at the end of his excellent first chapter called, "A Vision Of Biblical Complementarity". On page 70 you find this list:
Kevin DeYoung has a great section in his book, Men And Women In The Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction, where he lists ministries women can and should do. He writes:
Before I touch on some of the activities reserved for men, let me stress many of the things women can do. Women can minister to the sick, the dying, the mentally impaired, and the physically handicapped. They can share their faith, share their resources, and open their home to strangers. They can write, counsel, mentor, organize, administrate, design, plan, and come alongside others.
They can pray.
They can serve on committees of the church. They can come alongside the elders and deacons in difficult situations involving women or those needing a woman’s perspective. They can minister to single moms, new moms, breast cancer survivors, and abuse victims. They can bring meals, sew curtains, send care packages, and throw baby showers. They can do sports ministries, lead women's Bible studies, teach systematic theology to other women, and plan mission trips. They can teach children. They can raise their kids to the glory of God, and they can embrace singleness as a gift from God.
I pray for women who love to cook and quilt and work in the nursery. I pray for women (not the male elders, but women) to counsel almost-divorced wives and mentor young ladies and teach the Bible and good doctrine to other women (oh, how we need women who love the Bible and good doctrine!). Women can help widows; they can care for those struggling with the remorse of abortion; and they can show the glory of the gospel in racial and ethnic reconciliation. And they can do all of the above cross-culturally in unreached places and with the unwanted peoples of the world. In other words, there are ten thousand things women can be doing in ministry. Pastors especially need to make this point abundantly and repetitively clear.
I trust the reader can tell that this is not mere throat clearing to get on to my real point about all the things women can’t do in the church (in fact, there are many things woman can do - from incubating human life to caring for other women - that men can't do). In both of the congregations I’ve had the privilege of serving as senior pastor, I've ministered alongside godly, capable, strong, humble, smart, kind, gifted, complementarian women. I've learned from them and benefited from their ministry on staff, in prayer, on committees, and in dozens of informal - but no less important - ways.
What about the boundaries then? For starters, the offices of the church are reserved for capable, qualified men. The very nature of the office of elder/pastor/overseer is one of teaching and authority, which precludes women from holding this office. With my understanding of polity, the office of deacon is reserved for men as well, but I understand some churches do not accord any authority to deacon, nor do they have the high view of office that Presbyterians do. Women should not preach in our worship services nor teach men. The principle of 1 Timothy 2:12 is clear enough, but the application takes a lot of wisdom and wrestling, and even complementarians may apply the principle differently. It would be nice if there were no gray areas of biblical obedience, but there are. We must find ways to argue for our application of complementarian principles without being argumentative.
Women can teach a children's Sunday school class. That seems clear to me; they teach their own kids, after all. What women should be doing with teenage children and older gets less clear. The question is, when does a boy become a man, or when is he no longer under his parents' authority but on his own? In our culture the transition time for this seems to be after high school, usually in college. Again, I realize there is ambiguity here, and some of you may feel that this is just splitting hairs, but this is the sort of thinking we have to do when applying biblical principles to real life. It seems to me that the older a boy gets, the more important it is for him to be instructed by men. He will be more receptive and more likely to grow into mature manhood this way. I wouldn’t have a problem with women teaching high schoolers, but even then, I would not think it wise if a woman was the main teacher on a weekly basis. I would believe this more strongly for students in college.
Sunday school and small groups are two areas where complementarians often disagree on how to apply their principles. My basic rubric is to think about Paul's two categories in 1 Timothy 2:12 - teaching men and exercising authority over men. While these categories easily map on to the eldership, it’s striking that Paul’s argument is first of all about function and activity, not office and ordination. Paul’s prohibitions lead me to think that the regular teaching in mixed Sunday-school classes and the regular leading of a mixed small group should be done by men. Of course, there are all sorts of possible variables at play - the topic, the way the content is delivered, who else might be leading or teaching - but as a general rule we have men teach the mixed adult classes at our church and men (or couples) lead mixed adult small groups.
I believe godly women can pray or share in a church service, provided they are not taking up responsibilities that most people in that context would associate with pastoral duties. I believe godly women can serve on task forces and committees, provided those bodies do not exercise de facto (or explicit) authority over men in the church or in the broader network or denomination. Finally, I believe that in all of this the most important message is not what women cannot do but what men must do. Almost every pastor will tell you that the women in his church are more spiritually minded, more interested in reading their Bibles, more eager to grow in their faith, and more open to serving in the church. No doubt, many times where women have ventured into areas of teaching and authority reserved for men, they did so not out of a rebellious heart but because men had already relinquished their God-given mandate to spiritually lead, protect, and provide. It is all too common for the reversal of the garden to play out in our churches. Yes, women bear responsibility in that reversal, but, as we saw with Adam, God holds men ultimately responsible.
I’m convinced that in most cases if men behave and lead as godly, humble, self-sacrificing biblical men, then women will happily live and flourish in the responsibilities God has designed for them. The biblical burden of this chapter, this first section, and really this whole book, rests primarily with men. Complementarianism is often caught before it is taught, and men are the ones who do the most to make complementarianism look like catching the flu or winning the lottery. So, guys, let's not make the heartbeat of our message, "Women, sit down," when it should be, "Men, stand up." (Pages 94-98)
Amen! May men stand up and get this issue right! I've heard someone compare God's teaching on women in ministry to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden: God told them they could eat of all the trees in the garden, but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He gave them all the trees to eat from except one. It's the same in women's ministry: God has given a plethora of ways women are allowed to teach the Word of God and lead and serve in women's ministry, but He has made one restriction - the office of pastor is not to be held by women.
Conclusion
Whether women should be pastors or not is such an important matter that our brothers who founded the Together For The Gospel conference made getting the roles of men and women right in the home and in the church a requirement for getting together for the Gospel because they "deny that any Church can confuse these issues without damaging its witness to the Gospel." Read the whole affirmation and denial, article 16 here:
We affirm that the Scripture reveals a pattern of complementary order between men and women, and that this order is itself a testimony to the Gospel, even as it is the gift of our Creator and Redeemer. We also affirm that all Christians are called to service within the body of Christ, and that God has given to both men and women important and strategic roles within the home, the Church, and the society. We further affirm that the teaching office of the Church is assigned only to those men who are called of God in fulfillment of the biblical teachings and that men are to lead in their homes as husbands and fathers who fear and love God.
We deny that the distinction of roles between men and women revealed in the Bible is evidence of mere cultural conditioning or a manifestation of male oppression or prejudice against women. We also deny that this biblical distinction of roles excludes women from meaningful ministry in Christ’s kingdom. We further deny that any Church can confuse these issues without damaging its witness to the Gospel.
Mark Dever says that to hold the position that women can teach and exercise authority over men is a serious undermining of the authority of Scripture and ". . . when the authority of Scripture is undermined, the Gospel will not be long acknowledged." This is a serious matter.
Christian friend, as followers of the LORD Jesus Christ, we are not merely to tolerate God's Word or begrudgingly obey Him saying: "Yes, God said it, but I don't like that He said it, and I wish He never said that part about women not being pastors." No. We are to delight in every part of God's Word as sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103) and as better than thousands of pieces of gold and silver (Psalm 119:72). We delight in every commandment because we know that God knows what is best for us, He is good, He is loving, and His way brings us the most joy and satisfaction as we glorify Him.
If we trust and love God; if we love His Word; if we love His Gospel; and if we love women and want what will bring them most joy, satisfaction, and delight, then we will seek to obey God's clear commands about women in ministry and help others to do so as well. May God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth concerning this matter, and may He give us eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to understand what the Spirit says to the blood bought church of Jesus Christ for the glory of God the Father. For Jesus' sake I ask for this. Amen!
Resources For Further Study
1. May Women Serve As Pastors? by Thomas Schreiner
2. 50 Crucial Questions: An Overview Of Central Concerns About Manhood And Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem
3. What's The Difference: Manhood And Womanhood Defined According To The Bible by John Piper
4. Designed for Joy: How the Gospel Impacts Men and Women, Identity and Practice by various authors
5. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism Edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem
6. Other resources from Desiring God on Biblical manhood and womanhood
7. The Council On Biblical Manhood And Womanhood
8. Is it Biblical for Women to be Pastors or Elders? by Costi Hinn
9. Only Men May Be Pastors by Tom Hicks
10. Why I Am a Complementarian by Colin Smothers
11. Why I’m Complementarian by Gavin Ortlund
12. Charles Spurgeon, Women’s Ministry, and Female Preachers by Alex DiPrima
13. 9 Marks Journal: Complementarianism: A Moment of Reckoning
14. Gender Roles In The Church, a sermon by Mark Dever
15. Thinking and Living Biblically in a Gender-neutral Society – 19 Objections to Complementarianism by Ligon Duncan
16. The Charles Simeon Trust equips both men and women to better teach God's Word.
18. A discussion with John Piper, Ligon Duncan, and Greg Gilbert at T4G on Complementarianism
19. Evangelical Feminism And Biblical Truth: An Analysis Of More Than 100 Disputed Questions by Wayne Grudem
20. Women In The Church: An Interpretation And Application Of 1 Timothy 2:9-15/Revised by Andreas J. Köstenberger, Thomas R. Schreiner, S.M. Baugh, Denny Burk
21. Women in the Church: A Response to Kevin Giles by Andreas J. Köstenberger
22. Thomas Schreiner reviews Man and Woman, One in Christ by Philp Payne and Zachary Garris reviews the same book as well.
23. These articles from Christ Over All are helpful.
24. Denny Burk's analysis of Rick Warren's approach to Saddleback Community Church being disfellowshipped by the Southern Baptist Convention for having female pastors
25. A chapter-by-chapter critique/review in Eikon of the third edition of Discovering Biblical Equality.
26. 9 Marks At 9 Discussion On Pastor: A Gift Of An Office
Note: I have made numerous updates to this post since its original publication. Last update: 30 June 2023
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