Silly Bible Teachers
Good Morning,
I recently heard a guy online being interviewed; I will not say he is a preacher or a Bible teacher, although he might use those terms to describe himself. He was asked by a gal looking like a '60s hippie, "What does the Bible say about women preachers?”
He jokingly said, “Isn't it about time for the interview to end?” She assured him there were a few minutes left. Here was his general response:
In one place in the Bible, Paul made a comment to Timothy regarding this subject. It was in a time when the goddess Diana was worshiped and the ladies of the church were bringing their worship of this deity into the church with strange doctrines. He continued...
Paul was not saying that an underground church in 2023 in China could not have a lady preacher, but rather that, IN THAT ONE TIME, IN THAT ONE CITY, IN THAT ONE CHURCH, Timothy needed to tell the ladies to stop.
Allow me to address the ridiculous statements he made. I assume he made these statements in order to fit our culture and current political issues. (By the way, we are to change culture to match the Bible, not the other way around.)
First, the book of Timothy is not the only passage that addresses lady preachers; Timothy records this:
1 Timothy 2:11 “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.”
vs. 12 “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
Corinthians also states a similar truth:
1 Corinthians 14:34 “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.”
In 1 Corinthians 14, he speaks of the misuse of the gift of tongues and prophecy (preaching). Ladies are to be silent in these things. The instruction is not just for that city and that era of time.
(This misrepresentation of these verses is one reason why I urge you to be very guarded as to whom you hear online.)
Paul gave his reason for saying this and it had nothing to do with some Ephesian deity of that time, or that city, or that church, but rather because of an age-old situation. The very next verse (if the "Bible teacher" cared to read it) was this: "For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1 Timothy 2:13-14)
The reason for the lady not preaching or having authority over the man was because Eve was created second, as well as the fact that she listened to the devil and ate the forbidden fruit. God answered the "WHY" of women not preaching. It is amazing how we can answer Bible questions if we just read the verses around the passage in question.
Be careful not to dismiss a truth just because it is not found dozens of times in Scriptures. Two times, we find these instructions to two different churches in the New Testament. That is more than enough. As I often say, John 3:16 amazes me. Why would He so love this world?
Pastor