Are Women Permitted to Teach? (1 Timothy 2:12)

I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. (1 Tim 2:12) Oh dear. Don’t tell Joyce Meyer that women aren’t allowed to teach. Or my mum, my wife, or a gazillion other ladies who teach in church. They’re all sinning. They should stop teaching and be quiet. Paul said so. But wait a second. Paul endorsed several female teachers including Junia, Priscilla, Euodia and Syntyche. Was Paul confused about the role of women in the church? Or are we? What is Paul really saying? I want to offer a grace-based commentary of this troublesome passage and the surrounding verses. Credit where credit’s due, much of what follows was inspired by an essay on women’s service written by NT Wright: Let a woman learn… (1 Tim 2:11, NKJV) Whoa! Right there we should dip our hats to Paul the liberator of women. Consider the context. Under patriarchal Jewish religion, women had few rights. They could not enter the main part of the temple, they were forbidden to speak in the assembly, and they certainly weren’t encouraged to learn. The low view of women held by religious Jews is revealed in this [...]Image may be NSFW.
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