Can Women Be Leaders?
The Greek translation of 1 Corinthians 14:36 is best fathomed as “What? Did the word of God come to you, or has it only come to you?” Most translations omit or replace the use of “what”. A link for this info.
[When you’re on the website, scroll down to verse 36 and press on the blue button “tools” to see the parallel reading of English with the Greek. Do this after reading this post. Similar translations found in KJV, ASV, YLT, and WEB.]
The Critique on Women
Oftentimes, traditionalists will contend with the idea of women teaching or pastoring the children of God. Some will argue that they aren’t as competent as men, or women do not hold unto reason as men. Some argue that they are all prohibited by Saint Paul in Corinthians and Timothy. Others say that men are unique in the order of creation, so women aren’t ordained by God. I find all these arguments to be either fallacious, or downright insane. Others argue that women didn’t write the Scriptures, or didn’t seem to hold a leading role in the church, but none of these arguments prove their argument. For one, especially for John MacArthur, women weren’t as literate as men, so most likely they wouldn’t write letters. On top of that, women were still neglected in a masculine-centered society. Patriarchy in the Bible and polygamy are key elements of evidence that women were neglected or perceived as a lesser being (aka “one’s property”), especially women being treated as “spoils of war” in the Bible. Given the fact in Jesus’ time, women could not divorce men in the same respect as men.
The Created Order Fallacy
Because men were created before women, or that women were made out of men, somehow women are either inferior or not qualified to teach over men. Their scriptural support is: “For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man” (1 Corinth. 11:8 NLT). But if we use chronology to argue for leadership, then we could foolishly say that animals are leaders to men, because animals were formed before man. And the first woman did come from man ‘by reason of God, not man’, but almost all men came from women, so this argument from being does not work. Also, this presumed view for ‘the created order’ does not relate to ministry likened to teaching or leading. Paul doesn’t even mention a ‘created order’ in the verse, or teaching/ruling in church ministry. This is just a weird and deluded extrapolation of the text; a new insertion of an idea that doesn’t exist in the motive of the text. Either way, it doesn’t mention or imply roles of teaching or leading; a poor argument from extrapolating the text.
“Women Devoid of Reason But Emotion” Fallacy
This is probably one of the most sexist and deluded statements I have ever perceived, especially by so-called “believers”. People who claim this are either terrible at philosophy or don’t understand the metaphysics of the soul. Because Eve cannot be deceived without processing information or reasoning with the serpent. So women do use reason, but we can use it for disclosing truth or forming/embracing lies.
They’ll argue that women are more naive or beguiled in reasoning than men by stating, “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:14 BSB). Actually, Paul is using a counter but partial example from scripture to refute the philosophy of the cult of Artemis. BUT there are examples like Abagail who was a prudent wife but her husband was foolish (1 Samuel 25:1 — 42). But of course, male sexists will ignore such good examples for women displaying prudence.
“Women Should Not Teach Men” Fallacy
This argument or binding command is rooted in their use of 1 Timothy 2:12. Without background knowledge (important omitted information), it seems as if Paul is commanding women to not teach or lead men in ministry, but this is a distorted view of 1st Timothy. The Bible should be read in its original context and original formatting lest we fail to fathom Paul’s epistles.
The apostle Paul was addressing Timothy since this was a personal letter for him. In other words, we cannot take this epistle to be universal in application. Also, Paul did not say, “all women” should not teach or hold authority, but a better reading would be “certain women”. And Paul intended this to be applied to the cult of Artemis, who taught the superiority of women. Paul didn’t specify in this verse because Timothy already knew who he regarded as threats to Christian orthodoxy.
The Greek word Paul used for “teach” in this context is “didaskein” which narrowly implies indoctrination, or imposing an external idea on someone without their use of creative deduction. In other words, Paul didn’t approve of this manner of teaching (which was manipulative). And Paul used another rare Greek word “auqentein” (or authority in English translations) which implies domination, or lording over someone in a corrupt sense. Paul didn’t approve of false teaching or tyrannical authority from the women of Artemis, which was his warning and exhortation to Timothy. Here’s scriptural proof for the cult of Artemis at Ephesus mentioned in Acts 19:28 (for some of you sola scriptura folks!).
“As The Law Says” But Where — the Talmud?
The traditionalists will utilize 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 to argue that Paul meant for women to be silent in church, negating their right to teach or lead others. But in the same verse, it says they are to be silent ‘as the law says’. Yes, Paul does use the Old Testament frequently to teach a spiritual lesson, except nowhere in the law does it say for women to be silent in gatherings or assemblies. Because the law does not prove this argument, there are two possibilities: either Paul was beguiled and misinformed, or these verses aren’t his words. The possibility I favor more would be the second idea.
The apostle Paul occasionally quoted his audience, Greek poets, and alternative views (see Romans). These two verses were actually quotes that Paul wrote to address the deception in the church of Corinth. Here is another example where Paul quotes his audience:
“Now for the matters you wrote about: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman’ ” (1 Corinthians 7:1 NIV).
Unfortunately, some translations do not add “quotes” into this verse, and omitting the quotes can be very misleading for many readers with poor discernment. Even one of Paul’s canonically disputed epistles (3rd Corinthians) has written material from Corinth sent to Paul, which is then answered by him in the second chapter (it was not formerly labeled as the ‘second chapter’ because it was not a formal book but a personal letter).
Anyway, Paul responds to these quotes from one of Corinth’s letter by rebutting, “What? Did the word of God come from you, or has it only gone to you?” By the way, the term “What” was omitted or replaced with another word. The link to the Koine Greek translation of this verse is found above. And lastly, the notion of “keeping women silent in gatherings” is an idea found in rabbinical Judaism (most likely found in the Talmud). “A woman’s voice is prohibited because it is sexually provocative” (Talmud, Berachot 24a).
Junia the Apostle?
Some translations express the name “Junias” instead of “Junia”. But according to first century history, there is no masculine name for Junias, so likely Junia is the correct name. And the reason for this error could be male scribes disliking the idea that there were female apostles, and so in their prejudice, they twisted the name narrative. The manuscripts of the Bible has undergone certain changes from small to big, and there are various copies, including two distinct versions of the Old Testament (Hebrew Masoretic vs Greek Septuagint). Here is the verse Romans 16:7. Here is strong evidence for the translation of a female apostle, rather than a male apostle. If there were female apostles, why not as leaders?
In the end of day, no matter how many facts I present to those advocates for complementarianism, they will continue to deny every piece of evidence with distorted readings of Scripture and close-minded delusions (e.g. scriptural legalism/sola scriptura/false traditions). God’s calling for women to teach or pastor those in need is being negated by fallacious views of the Christian Scriptures.
