1 Timothy 2:11-15 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
Paul is instructing Timothy in how the church needs to behave in God's house. Having first addressed men in general, Paul turns his attention to the women of the church in public worship. The women members of the church are not to be preachers, they are to listen and learn in subjection. Women cannot be preachers and women cannot be pastors. Not because women don’t have the ability to teach but because it is not their place in God’s designed order. It is not becoming and God did not create women to hold such a position in the church. For a woman to stand up and teach the congregation is to go against the command to learn in silence, the command to be in subjection, the command not usurp authority over the man. Twice Paul says that the woman is to be in silence. I don’t apologize if that offends you, but I hope that if it does offend you, that you would prayerfully consider why that would be the case? This is a hard saying for the modern ear, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
This passage also does not mean that a woman can never teach anything to anyone ever or that women can never teach Biblical things. Godly women will be teachers of good things and teach younger women in practical godliness (Titus 2:3-4). Women are to be teachers in the home, training their children in the Word of God. Woman are to be teachers in their circles of influence, where providence has placed them in their day to day lives. Women can be teachers of the ungodly in evangelism just to name a few. The women in John 4 left the well and told the men of the city about Jesus. We are all to instruct each other in the public singing of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col 3:16). The arena of teaching to which Paul is instructing Timothy is not in world at large but rather the gathering of God's people in public worship. The reason why women are not to teach comes from the broader issue of women and the created order, but the prohibition against teaching is for the public worship service and how women ought to behave themselves in God's house. Paul's very clear instruction here is regarding public worship and women are not to be teachers. It cannot be more plainly stated.
Teachers of any sort in any context are given a measure of authority when they teach. Whether it be teaching in the home, on the job site, or in the lecture hall, the teacher will have authority from the platform they have been given to instruct others. I have had to train people in my job and I was given a measure of authority to instruct new employees in business practice. I did not have the power to hire or fire, or give raises or discipline. I did not even have the power to make up my own rules or way of doing things. I was commissioned to train the new hire in company practice. I did have the authority given by the company to say "this is how you must do your job". Teachers have an inherent authority because they have (or should have) mastered a subject. When Jesus was called “master" in Matthew 22:36, they were not referring to His Lordship but that is the word for teacher in that context. A teacher is one that has mastered a subject and has been given a platform to teach, and with that comes authority to speak and be heard on a topic.
When a church calls a person to be their teacher, they are calling an individual into an office and position of authority over those they instruct. Timothy has to rightly divide the Word of truth and pay attention to doctrine – his words carry weight because of the position he holds. As a teacher in God’s house, that office has authority because those that submit themselves to a church are submitting themselves to the teaching of the Word. Timothy does not have power to change the Word, but he stands before the people to declare what God has said and with that, comes the authority of a man of God that must be listened to. That is also why teachers will be held to a higher standard of by God.
Women usurp this authority given by God to the men of the church by teaching men in the church. For a woman to stand up and preach, she is taking an authority that God did not give to women and putting the men under her in subjection to her Words. Please notice, this is not a men versus women issue. The men in the congregation who are listening to God's Word are also under the authority of the Word preached, not just the women. All people who hear the Word are under its authority. But the tool (the preacher) is to be a man, not a woman. Women preachers usurp the created order by making the man subordinate to the woman's instruction. It is rebellion to have men sit at the feet of a woman to receive instruction from God's Word in God's house, and it shameful when it occurs. There are no two ways about this passage and we may disagree with Paul, but we cannot misunderstand him. Women are not to be set up as preachers or set themselves up as pastors in the church. Period. End of story. No women preachers. If you are thinking "what about Priscilla and Aquila teaching Apollos!" please re-read the second paragraph and try again. And while we are at it, Paul was not talking about Sunday School because there was no such thing as Sunday School. That is another topic for another day. When the church met, they met together, all assembled in one place for public worship so this is what I'm talking about as well - the gathered meeting of God's people for public worship.
Next time, we’ll see that it has nothing to do with knowledge or ability, value or worth. We live in a culture right now that literally doesn't understand what physically makes a man a man and a woman a woman, so I am not surprised that people do not understand or want to understand roles of men and women.
Paul is instructing Timothy in how the church needs to behave in God's house. Having first addressed men in general, Paul turns his attention to the women of the church in public worship. The women members of the church are not to be preachers, they are to listen and learn in subjection. Women cannot be preachers and women cannot be pastors. Not because women don’t have the ability to teach but because it is not their place in God’s designed order. It is not becoming and God did not create women to hold such a position in the church. For a woman to stand up and teach the congregation is to go against the command to learn in silence, the command to be in subjection, the command not usurp authority over the man. Twice Paul says that the woman is to be in silence. I don’t apologize if that offends you, but I hope that if it does offend you, that you would prayerfully consider why that would be the case? This is a hard saying for the modern ear, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
This passage also does not mean that a woman can never teach anything to anyone ever or that women can never teach Biblical things. Godly women will be teachers of good things and teach younger women in practical godliness (Titus 2:3-4). Women are to be teachers in the home, training their children in the Word of God. Woman are to be teachers in their circles of influence, where providence has placed them in their day to day lives. Women can be teachers of the ungodly in evangelism just to name a few. The women in John 4 left the well and told the men of the city about Jesus. We are all to instruct each other in the public singing of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col 3:16). The arena of teaching to which Paul is instructing Timothy is not in world at large but rather the gathering of God's people in public worship. The reason why women are not to teach comes from the broader issue of women and the created order, but the prohibition against teaching is for the public worship service and how women ought to behave themselves in God's house. Paul's very clear instruction here is regarding public worship and women are not to be teachers. It cannot be more plainly stated.
Teachers of any sort in any context are given a measure of authority when they teach. Whether it be teaching in the home, on the job site, or in the lecture hall, the teacher will have authority from the platform they have been given to instruct others. I have had to train people in my job and I was given a measure of authority to instruct new employees in business practice. I did not have the power to hire or fire, or give raises or discipline. I did not even have the power to make up my own rules or way of doing things. I was commissioned to train the new hire in company practice. I did have the authority given by the company to say "this is how you must do your job". Teachers have an inherent authority because they have (or should have) mastered a subject. When Jesus was called “master" in Matthew 22:36, they were not referring to His Lordship but that is the word for teacher in that context. A teacher is one that has mastered a subject and has been given a platform to teach, and with that comes authority to speak and be heard on a topic.
When a church calls a person to be their teacher, they are calling an individual into an office and position of authority over those they instruct. Timothy has to rightly divide the Word of truth and pay attention to doctrine – his words carry weight because of the position he holds. As a teacher in God’s house, that office has authority because those that submit themselves to a church are submitting themselves to the teaching of the Word. Timothy does not have power to change the Word, but he stands before the people to declare what God has said and with that, comes the authority of a man of God that must be listened to. That is also why teachers will be held to a higher standard of by God.
Women usurp this authority given by God to the men of the church by teaching men in the church. For a woman to stand up and preach, she is taking an authority that God did not give to women and putting the men under her in subjection to her Words. Please notice, this is not a men versus women issue. The men in the congregation who are listening to God's Word are also under the authority of the Word preached, not just the women. All people who hear the Word are under its authority. But the tool (the preacher) is to be a man, not a woman. Women preachers usurp the created order by making the man subordinate to the woman's instruction. It is rebellion to have men sit at the feet of a woman to receive instruction from God's Word in God's house, and it shameful when it occurs. There are no two ways about this passage and we may disagree with Paul, but we cannot misunderstand him. Women are not to be set up as preachers or set themselves up as pastors in the church. Period. End of story. No women preachers. If you are thinking "what about Priscilla and Aquila teaching Apollos!" please re-read the second paragraph and try again. And while we are at it, Paul was not talking about Sunday School because there was no such thing as Sunday School. That is another topic for another day. When the church met, they met together, all assembled in one place for public worship so this is what I'm talking about as well - the gathered meeting of God's people for public worship.
Next time, we’ll see that it has nothing to do with knowledge or ability, value or worth. We live in a culture right now that literally doesn't understand what physically makes a man a man and a woman a woman, so I am not surprised that people do not understand or want to understand roles of men and women.
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