Women & the Church

All the People

/ Joan C. Thomson

The vast majority of the time when Paul or the other apostles wrote “men” or “man” the word was anthropos or “all the people.” Many times, the English translations insert “men” when the Greek says simply “ones.” The word translated, as “brothers” is adelphoi, which literally means, “from the same womb” and according to lexicons, “can be rightly translated as brothers and sisters.” In addition, a word often used for “son” actually means child—male or female.  Paul wrote his letters to the entire church in each place, so everything he said in general, applies to women as well.

 

Women & Church Leadership: Deacons

/ Joan C. Thomson

Women are to be working to spread the Kingdom of heaven, exercising their God-given gifts to encourage the Church—just as the men.  Paul commended Christian women as his “fellow workers in the gospel (Philippians 4:3), spiritual head in the Bible is…let’s see, a Levitical priest, let’s look up what a Levitical priest does… They completely forget that Hebrews reminds us that the Levitical priesthood is obsolete, that not even Jesus qualifies for it because you have to be born into the right tribe, that Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek—not Aaron (Hebrews 7:11-18).  All of us who follow Jesus are priests; Jesus is our high priest, we don’t need an extra layer in between.

 If you’re not married or your husband’s not “into that stuff” you may be thinking, “What does this have to do with me?”  Plenty!  First of all, all Christians are one body “fitly joined together” and when one part of the body hurts—it all hurts.  In addition, many unmarried women hope, plan, expect to be married one day and tend to make themselves expert at reminding married women that their husbands are to be the “priests of the household,” etc.  But maybe more to the point is that many church leaders have the mistaken idea that marriage is the model for the church rather than Paul using metaphor to compare marriage to one aspect of relationship between Jesus and the church—that of his laying down his life.  They say ah, male headship in marriage means, since we’re the “family of God,” that the church should have male headship.  Oops, the church has only one head and that’s Jesus!

 

Paul, the Misunderstood

/ Joan C. Thomson

Paul, unlike some have thought, was very close to Jesus, having had several visitations and visions from him, and he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  We ignore him at our peril.  But we have to look at the Greek to see what he really said.  He was not, as many have characterized him, a woman-hater, he continually commended women* and counted on them as fellow workers for the gospel but he never put them down—or us.

*Paul commended:

Phoebe to the Romans as a deacon, sent her to the them (with the letter?) Romans 16:1

Priscilla, Paul’s co-worker (same word he used for men) that he and the churches were grateful to. Romans 16:3

Mary for wearing herself out working for them. Many teach that she was doing “women’s work” of cooking and cleaning but the lexicons give no such meaning to the word Paul used. v16:6

Junia, a fellow Jew and prisoner, as being “outstanding among the apostles.” V 16:7

Tryphena and Tryphosa, who also “worked hard in the Lord.” V 16:12

Persis, his “dear friend…another woman who worked very hard in the Lord.” V 16:12b

Rufus’ mother “who has been a mother to me.” V16:13

 

Women Teaching Men?

/ Joan C. Thomson

But doesn’t the Bible say that women aren’t to teach men?  What Paul wrote was, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent” (1 Timothy 2:10,11).  In the verses before, Paul had been speaking of women collectively when he said he wanted women to dress modestly (v.9,10) then he switched to talking about a specific woman who had been usurping authority—that’s what the word he used here for authority means—a different word than is used for authority in other places, and teaching error.  The same term for “a woman” was used to describe Martha in the gospels as “a woman named Martha” (Luke 10:38).  This individual woman like several others, male and female, named and unnamed, had apparently been teaching error (1 Timothy 1:18-20) and was graciously being given a second chance.

Priscilla along with her husband, taught Apollos, they “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (Acts 18:26).

 

Women Saved Through Childbearing?

/ Joan C. Thomson

“Will the mother with the most children please stand up and receive a prize!” Many cultures in general and the Church in particular can be hard on women who don’t have children.  Weary of the annual game show atmosphere that crops up at many churches on Mother’s Day, many women opt to be somewhere else.  The pastor calls out, “The youngest mother!”  “The oldest mother!”  Women are met at the door with greeters handing out flowers to all mothers.  Ouch.  Then political correctness—or maybe the looks of pain they received morphed the practice into handing out flowers to all women.  “Today is Mother’s Day and we honor all women.” Huh?  “We honor all mothers—natural and spiritual.”  People can’t miss the awkwardness of such practices and the pain they cause but many churches press on (Though certainly people should honor their own mothers).

Meanwhile a prominent Christian radio commentator has said, “Bearing and raising children is the most feminine thing a woman can do.”  “Being a mother is the most important role for a Christian woman.”  So, women who never married and remained celibate or those who are married but unable to have children aren’t feminine or doing important service for God?” Where does the Bible say that?

Under the Old Covenant, following God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply was (and is in some Jewish circles today), considered a requirement for women to have children.  Women who were unable to bear children were taunted and considered cursed.  No wonder Hannah pined away (1 Samuel 1:1-16 ) in miserable jealousy of her husband’s other wife with all her children. And yes, the Bible does say that God “closed the womb” of Hannah and others whose husbands loved them more than “the other wife,” as a seeming balancing of affections.  We’re even told by the Psalmist that children are a heritage and reward of the Lord (and they are), that when “born in one’s youth are like arrows and blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them” (Psalm 27:3-5).

I once read that some Christian women in Africa (unfortunately, I can’t remember which country) were told that unless a woman has children, she can’t be saved!

But now, the people of God—those who follow Jesus are under a new covenant.  While it is still a good and honorable thing to bear and raise children, God’s emphasis has shifted.  Once aging, barren Elizabeth conceived and bore John the Baptizer and Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus, of all the women honored in the Bible, few were noted because they were mothers.  Rather, most were acknowledged as teachers, “fellow workers in the gospel,” deacons or ministers (same word in Greek).

Jesus and his apostles didn’t put motherhood on the same pedestal that many cultures do to this day.

On the contrary, when a woman shouted from a crowd, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you!” Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it (Luke 11:27,28).”  Obeying Jesus’ teachings (which must always be done in love or they’re not his teachings) is the most feminine thing a woman can do and the most honorable role for a woman.

In case you are a mother reading this and gasping please know that I’m in no way putting down motherhood—I’m very glad to have been born, but only attempting to bring our understanding of God’s role for women into line with Jesus’ teachings.

When Paul is quoted as saying, “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety” (1 Timothy 2:15), some translations have left out a crucial word that exists in the Greek—“the”! He said, “the childbearing” meaning Jesus, and the woman he referred to was Eve, whose seed would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). This is further confirmation that Eve’s “original sin” was also atoned for.  Context is crucial!