Women’s Role in the Church (1): “Liberals, Complementarians and Egalitarians”
1 Timothy 2:11 (NIV)
“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over man; she must be silent.”
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (NIV)
“Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”
Women’s role in the church? Those on the opposite end of the theological spectrum may wonder, “Why is that even an issue?” For liberal denominations—characterized by seeing Scripture as less than authoritative (some are even hostile to it as evidenced by Episcopal bishop John Spong who entitled his book, The Sins of Scripture)—this has long been a settled matter. To them, the above two passages written by Paul show that he was a child of its time and it is through these patriarchal Scriptures that “powerful men in the early church ‘conned’ the world by propagating lies that devalued the female and tipped the scales in favor of the masculine” (The Da Vinci Code). Thus, in liberal churches, not only are women ordained to teach and preach, they can even become the head—like in case of the Episcopal Church where Katharine Jefferts Schori served as the first female Presiding Bishop from 2006-15.
As for conservative Christians to whom Scripture is authoritative for faith and practice, there are two camps whose views differ on the role of women in ministry: First, complementarians, interpreting 1 Timothy 2:11 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 as a one-off divine mandate that always binds over all churches, limit ordination to just men—yet they absolutely uphold women as equal to men—from teaching or preaching over men. For complementarians, who value the Bible highly as God’s Word, their position is the result of simply believing what it literally states.
Egalitarians, on the other hand, who highly value Scripture as well, take a different position, because they see in Scripture several women in public ministry—in a patriarchal world no less. Among them are Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4-8), Huldah (2 Chr. 34:22), Isaiah’s wife (Is. 8:3), and Priscilla (Acts 18:26-28). This biblical reality then opens three possibilities: First, it leaves the door open for exceptions in the future since there have been exceptions in the past. Second, the fact that God used women at all in a patriarchal society, however sporadic, foreshadows the expansion of the same pattern as civilization moves away from patriarchy. Third, biblical teachings that value woman (Matt. 5:31; Jn. 4:7-26) set in motion the social forces toward progressive elevation of women’s role in the church. This is like the teachings against slavery (1 Tim. 1:10; 1 Cor. 7:21) setting in motion the sociopolitical forces toward the eventual outlawing of slave trade, which, in the British Empire, occurred in 1807 (led by Christian parliamentarian William Wilberforce).
Nevertheless, egalitarians still need to deal with 1 Timothy 2:11 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, which I plan do in the next two blogs. For now, I need to point out something more important than the rightness of our position on the matter of women’s role in the church.
I belong to Acts Ministries International in which some pastors are complementarians and some egalitarians. We have had women missionaries who have planted churches abroad; and this past December one of our churches ordained two women as elders. It sure looks like a perfect recipe for heated arguments and dissension. Yes, we’ve had our lively discussions, and we continue to dialogue to explore the best way to serve together without allowing this or other non-essential matters to divide us. Why? We value unity because it’s valued by Jesus, who prayed “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me” (Jn. 17:22a-23). Reflecting on Christ’s call for unity, one complementarian AMI pastor writes: “I don’t personally affirm or believe in women's ordination, but for the sake of fellowship and unity, I choose not to make it a primary issue . . . I can be the strongest supporter and proponent of AMI while disagreeing on this.” Amen.
The matter of women’s role in the church is neither petty nor light—it deserves serious considerations. But this issue becomes trivial if we allow it to break our unity in Christ, which is a weightier matter. We Christians are known for infighting. Let’s stop that so that when we bear testimony on behalf of Christ, our gospel presentation will be that much attractive and appealing to this broken world in desperate need of hope.
The next blog will deal whether women are forbidden to speak in the church forever.
“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over man; she must be silent.”
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (NIV)
“Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”
Women’s role in the church? Those on the opposite end of the theological spectrum may wonder, “Why is that even an issue?” For liberal denominations—characterized by seeing Scripture as less than authoritative (some are even hostile to it as evidenced by Episcopal bishop John Spong who entitled his book, The Sins of Scripture)—this has long been a settled matter. To them, the above two passages written by Paul show that he was a child of its time and it is through these patriarchal Scriptures that “powerful men in the early church ‘conned’ the world by propagating lies that devalued the female and tipped the scales in favor of the masculine” (The Da Vinci Code). Thus, in liberal churches, not only are women ordained to teach and preach, they can even become the head—like in case of the Episcopal Church where Katharine Jefferts Schori served as the first female Presiding Bishop from 2006-15.
As for conservative Christians to whom Scripture is authoritative for faith and practice, there are two camps whose views differ on the role of women in ministry: First, complementarians, interpreting 1 Timothy 2:11 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 as a one-off divine mandate that always binds over all churches, limit ordination to just men—yet they absolutely uphold women as equal to men—from teaching or preaching over men. For complementarians, who value the Bible highly as God’s Word, their position is the result of simply believing what it literally states.
Egalitarians, on the other hand, who highly value Scripture as well, take a different position, because they see in Scripture several women in public ministry—in a patriarchal world no less. Among them are Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4-8), Huldah (2 Chr. 34:22), Isaiah’s wife (Is. 8:3), and Priscilla (Acts 18:26-28). This biblical reality then opens three possibilities: First, it leaves the door open for exceptions in the future since there have been exceptions in the past. Second, the fact that God used women at all in a patriarchal society, however sporadic, foreshadows the expansion of the same pattern as civilization moves away from patriarchy. Third, biblical teachings that value woman (Matt. 5:31; Jn. 4:7-26) set in motion the social forces toward progressive elevation of women’s role in the church. This is like the teachings against slavery (1 Tim. 1:10; 1 Cor. 7:21) setting in motion the sociopolitical forces toward the eventual outlawing of slave trade, which, in the British Empire, occurred in 1807 (led by Christian parliamentarian William Wilberforce).
Nevertheless, egalitarians still need to deal with 1 Timothy 2:11 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, which I plan do in the next two blogs. For now, I need to point out something more important than the rightness of our position on the matter of women’s role in the church.
I belong to Acts Ministries International in which some pastors are complementarians and some egalitarians. We have had women missionaries who have planted churches abroad; and this past December one of our churches ordained two women as elders. It sure looks like a perfect recipe for heated arguments and dissension. Yes, we’ve had our lively discussions, and we continue to dialogue to explore the best way to serve together without allowing this or other non-essential matters to divide us. Why? We value unity because it’s valued by Jesus, who prayed “that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me” (Jn. 17:22a-23). Reflecting on Christ’s call for unity, one complementarian AMI pastor writes: “I don’t personally affirm or believe in women's ordination, but for the sake of fellowship and unity, I choose not to make it a primary issue . . . I can be the strongest supporter and proponent of AMI while disagreeing on this.” Amen.
The matter of women’s role in the church is neither petty nor light—it deserves serious considerations. But this issue becomes trivial if we allow it to break our unity in Christ, which is a weightier matter. We Christians are known for infighting. Let’s stop that so that when we bear testimony on behalf of Christ, our gospel presentation will be that much attractive and appealing to this broken world in desperate need of hope.
The next blog will deal whether women are forbidden to speak in the church forever.
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