In 1 Timothy 2 Paul tells Timothy that this job is for men only. Further he seems to go out of his way to stress that this is not a culturally specific prohibition but one built in since creation. (He does that by referring back to Genesis 1-3.)
This raises all sorts of issues.
e.g.
- how do we react to this when it is clearly so out of touch with all that culture holds as good?
- how do we handle it when people disagree over this issue? (Both in the local church and with other Christians.) In particular, how do we keep the bible central to our discussions when we disagree?
- how do we encourage women to be involved in ministry while obeying the principle expressed in 1 Timothy 2?
1 comment:
10 years ago at Bible College, I remember looking at that passage in 1 Tim 2 in our women's preaching group. What I was most struck by is the multitude of interpretations that were available: from women being allowed to be ordained and shepherd a congregation, to not being able to sing worship songs that were written by women ( the 2 extremes). At the end of the day, we were advised to consult our consciences in God, in line with the totality of the revealed Scripture and within the doctrinal positions held by the church or denomination we belong to in order to decide our position within the more mainstream and supported interpretations ( NOT the 2 above)
I think there is a strong place for ministry by women to women (incl preaching) in any church. And this could extend to children as well ( after all aren't mothers responsible for teaching their children as well as fathers - and remembering that Timothy himself, one assumes as a child, was taught in the faith by his mother and grandmother).
And there are many opportunities to serve the body of Christ in other ways, that is not a preaching ministry, where women can be involved.
Personally I think this is one 'issue' where today's strongly feminist culture does not do the women of God any favours in helping us to think through God's plan but rather can pressure us to modify or even sideline the issues because we are influenced by the thinking that a woman has to or ought to be able to do everything a man does. The ethos of ' equal but different' is a concept that seems quite foreign to our ( secular Western) culture?
OK rant over...
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