That Religious Studies Website


Christianity: Feminism and Women

Religious Studies

Recently added to the site

Women and the Church (Part 2): Analysis of biblical teaching, and the role of women in the Church today

Information: This article reviews some of the issues surrounding the role of women in the Church. The article explores some of the biblical teaching regarding the role of women in church, as well as explaining why some denominations have allowed women to become priests and bishops in recent years, and why others have not (and will not). A version of this article was originally published on the website www.faithnet.org.uk.

An interpretation of the biblical material on the role of women in the Church

This interpretation of Paul's comments about the role of women in church is based on the section Background material for evaluating Paul's teaching on the role of women in the Church, in the article Women and the Church (Part 1): Introduction and review of relevant Biblical teaching

The Apostle Paul was giving instructions to the Church which, although on the surface it looked like it denied women the right to teach and have spiritual leadership in the Church, may in fact have been intended to empower women and give them a status previously denied to them by society. For instance, although women were not highly regarded by men at the time, Paul taught that they were equal to men (Galatians 3:28). Furthermore, far from denying women the right to have spiritual leadership per se, Paul was simply asking women to learn about the Scriptures before they began teaching others (1 Timothy 2:11-15).

To support this reading of Paul we should note that elsewhere in the New Testament, he acknowledges that women were already having a spiritual input into 'services'. In a letter to the church at Corinth he wrote, 'And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head...' (1 Corinthians 11:5 - he also says exactly the same about men in verse 4!). Notice he does not say women should not prophesy (or preach/teach) in Church services, but just that they should do so in a certain way. Thus Paul acknowledged and allowed women to exercise spiritual leadership in Church, despite some passages implying he did not.

What is interesting about the passage in 1 Corinthians 11:5 is that four chapters later, Paul says that women should remain silent in church (1 Corinthians 14:33-35). Would Paul have changed his mind about the role of women in church in such a short space of time? Unlikely, so we can only assume that he meant something else.

By assuming that the words Paul wrote have a universal meaning, we have to also assume that the passages related to women having no spiritual leadership in church should be read without any reference to the social and religious context at the time. Obviously Paul's reference to the Genesis account in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 implies that this text should be taken this way, but there are other factors to be accounted for if a universal interpretation is to be insisted upon.

Advertisement

Some issues if Paul's words are taken to only have a universal application

If the reference to Genesis 3:16 in 1 Timothy 2:13 is taken to imply a universal meaning, then what are we to make of the curse on Eve ('with pain you will give birth to children')? If no woman is meant to have spiritual leadership because Eve sinned first, then we should also be denying every woman the right to pain relieving drugs when giving birth. This is because in Genesis 3:16 God says that women must suffer when giving birth. If Paul is using Genesis 3:16 to justify a universal teaching about the role of women in church, then according to his use of this passage all women should suffer when giving birth. Clearly few Christians would agree with denying women pain relieving drugs when giving birth, so it appears justified to reconsider a universal interpretation of meaning in this passage, with respect to denying any and all women the right to be church leaders.

In theology, hermeneutics is the 'science' (or art) of interpreting what the Bible might be saying to people today. Although the Bible is said to be the Word of God, it does not contain only the 'word's of God'. For instance, in Matthew 4 we read some of the things the devil said to Jesus, and in 2 Timothy 4:13 Paul asks Timothy to bring the scrolls he left at Troas. So the 'art' (or 'science') for the theologian is working out what God is actually saying to people, in the midst of everything else.

Furthermore, if women are not to meant to even speak in church but are to ask their husbands if they do not understand something (1 Corinthians 14:33-35), what happens about single women? 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 makes no mention of single women and does not account for their needs, so this too suggests that it cannot be taken to be a teaching about all women.

Finally, if 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is assumed to be universal, then what do we make of verse 15 which says that women will be saved through having children ('But women will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety')? Although some take the verse to be speaking of Mary the Mother of Jesus, the verb for childbearing here is plural, and implies many children (or women gen. having children). This raises the problem for women who have no children, or cannot have children. If 1 Timothy 2:11-15 has universal meaning, then it suggests that women who cannot have children, cannot be saved? This seems odd, for Galatians 3:28 says that all men and women are equal in the Lord, implying that salvation is not restricted to men only. So 1 Timothy 2:15 seems not to refer to all women, but only the women under Timothy's care (or in his 'church'), and as such sets out advice applicable for a specific time rather than all churches everywhere. This would also seem to suggest that verses 11-14 must also be read similarly.

The role of women in the Church today

In the USA, Barbara Harris became the first woman Bishop of the Episcopal Church in 1989. In November 1992, the Church of England Synod (general council) voted that women could be ordained as priests, and in July 2006 voted to allow them to become Bishops.

Although the Anglican Church officially allows women to be ordained into the ministry, not all its members agree with this and the decision has caused deep divisions in the church.

In Roman Catholicism women are not allowed to become priests, as the Church believes only men should represent the congregation before God. In fact, priests are not even allowed to be married, thus providing another way to keep women separate from Church matters.

Some Christians argue that no woman should have spiritual leadership in the church, because Jesus chose twelve male disciples (who then became Apostles - leaders of the Christian Church).

Outside of the Anglican Church there are diverse attitudes towards appointing female church leaders. In The Salvation Army (pictured), and the Methodist Church, women are allowed to exercise spiritual leadership, whilst the Brethren (who also have strict dress codes for women), and many Evangelical Christians do not. Where women are denied spiritual leadership they may still be allowed to share testimonies, lead the singing, teach in the Sunday School and read the Bible in church services. However, it should be noted that in Roman Catholicism neither men nor women are allowed to read the gospels, and the Brethren refuse to allow women to speak during a service, at any time).

Back to top