Women Preachers
1. Introduction
According to the Holy Scriptures women are not allowed to preach
sermons or teach in the official gatherings of the church. I quote a
few Bible texts to support this increasingly unpopular but,
nevertheless, inspired directive.
| 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.
35: And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
36: What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
37: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 38: But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
|
Many believers will challenge this stand. It was challenged in Paul's day. The Apostle anticipated a rejection of this teaching.
| verse 36
| What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
|
He then goes on to say that believers who profess to have the Spirit of God
should recognise and acknowledge that what he is writing is in fact
the commandment of the Lord!
| verse 37
| If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
|
Conclusion
Paul's conclusion is that believers who ignore the fact that this is a
commandment of God, will remain in ignorance and be ignored themselves. One can hardly
imagine a more tragic outcome than to wilfully remain ignorant and be disregarded by the Almighty God.
| verse 38
| But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
|
When writing to Timothy we find the Apostle saying virtually the same
thing.
| 1 Timothy 2:
| 11: Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12: But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13: For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14: And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
|
| 2 Timothy 2:2
| And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful MEN, who shall be able to teach others also.
|
Old & New Testament Examples
No one will doubt but that only men officiated as priests in the Temple services ordained of Almighty God. Had Yeshua the Messiah intended the New Testament church to function differently he would have made that fact known by appointing at least a few women apostles. But he didn't. He chose twelve men who, later, when selecting seven deacons also chose men instead of women for those duties. These facts have a message for the church today. Heed it.
2. Are Women Inferior?
This does not mean that women are inferior to men; or that they have no
place in the work of Yahweh. The Holy Scriptures provide several
examples of women prophets:
- Miriam the sister of Moses. (Exodus 15:20)
- Deborah. (Judges 4-5)
- Huldah the wife of Shallum. (2 Kings 22:14)
- The four daughters of Philip the evangelist.
(Acts 21:8-9)
These women obviously used the gift of prophecy to benefit the church;
and their prophetic messages were listened to by all who cared to hear
the Word of God spoken through them. But they did not preach nor
teach in the temple or in the official Sabbath assemblies. Their prophetic messages were
delivered outside the official church gatherings. That is the point Paul is making in
1 Corinthians 14:34 where he plainly states that women are not
allowed to teach or preach in the churches.
"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."
Bear in mind
that Corinth was a city in Greece where democracy was born. But even
there the Greeks had to be taught Yahweh's levels of authority, of
which our misguided generation is so ignorant. The fact is: by divine command and innumerabe examples in the Scriptures, men
are given more authority than women inside the Temple services and church assemblies. Men
will also be held more responsible for the errors they make inside the
churches. The 'church' incidentally is not a man-made building. The
'church' is the congregation that meets in a building, be it of bricks and
mortar or wood.
This does not mean that men are more intelligent or able than women.
They are not. We all know some folks in authority, men or women, are not always more able than those under them. Nor does it mean that women are more
able than men. That also is not the case.
What it does mean is that Yahweh
has given the men in His church the authority and task of preaching and
teaching His Word. He has not given this authority to women, however
qualified they may consider themselves to be.
I repeat: it is a matter of
divine authority; not personal preference, sincerity, enthusiasm, democratic expediency,
intelligence or ability. It is a matter of divine authority!
Consequently the
Holy Spirit will work more effectively through His authorised channels
(the men) than through even the most dedicated or educated of
women. Also bear in mind that we are here dealing with Yahweh's
commandments, not with the fickle fashions of a wayward and deceived
generation.
What then may dedicated and able women do in church matters? There are
many things dedicated women may do in the Almighty's work. I will now list
areas how the women in Stewarton Bible School's team are active in
Yahweh's work.
3. Young Unmarried Women
- Help in Church offices (Filing / Word-processing / Database & e-mail management)
- Help teach the very young children
- Providing musical accompaniment at Sabbath and social meetings.
(Piano, guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin, flute and trumpet etc.)
- Doing special items (choir items, testimonies, poems etc.)
- Help at Feasts: laying tables, flower arrangements etc.
- Help their mothers in their own homes.
4. Married Women
- Teaching the young children on the Sabbath
- Teaching younger women how to bring up their families
- Providing music in church services (choir, keyboard, piano, violin etc.)
- Senior secretarial work in the SBS office.
Reading incoming mail and despatching literature: setting aside
letters for personal answers. These letters are answered by the elders (men).
- Organising the catering arrangements at all the Feasts.
- Keeping Church Accounts. Stewarton Bible School's Treasurer is
a woman!
- Voluntary Welfare Work / Dorcas / Community Care / Helping the aged, the
young, the lonely, widows, orphans, the sick. Our women are also on
school boards and administrate on various local, community
committees. e.g. One held the post of Chairperson of the Stewarton
Community Council for a few years, where the majority of the
councillors are not from SBS and are men.
Another represents parents on the School Board of Stewarton
Academy and sits on various other local committees.
Women may rise to great heights in the social or political
field. Remember, one of Britain's greatest Prime Ministers (Margaret Thatcher)
was a woman! But I must repeat: Women are not allowed to preach or
teach in the gatherings of the church when adult males are present.
That is Yahweh's law. Church leaders ignore this divine directive at their
peril.
Author: David B Loughran
Stewarton Bible School, Stewarton, Scotland
June 1999 ... Reformatted: December 1999