Women in Leadership: Part 2

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Women in Leadership Part 2! If you are attending to my Substack, you know that I published a “Part 1” on this important topic in November in anticipation of the release of my video lecture with Seedbed on the same. And as the release is immanent, it is time for “Part 2”!

As rehearsed in my first post, there is a lot of Scripture that supports, encourages, and celebrates women exercising their gifts of leadership in the community of faith. Jesus had female disciples, Mary was celebrated for sitting at Jesus’ feet (a standard first century idiom for a disciple with her Rabbi). We saw that the Spirit-filled crowd in Acts 2 who spoke in tongues and prophecy included women; we heard about Priscilla’s renowned teaching ministry; and pondered the long list of women in leadership in Romans 16. And more importantly, we sat with the foundational declarations of the New Testament that in Christ there is “neither male nor female,” rather all receive the gifting of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of service.

But we also spoke of passages that speak against women in leadership. In particular, 1 Cor 14:34-35 and 1 Tim 2:11-15. And I asked the question: “How can Paul be so supportive of women in leadership in one context, and then refuse to allow them to teach or lead in another?” I answered that question with the technical term, hermeneutics—“the science of interpreting Scripture.” Specifically, I pointed out that not all instructions offered to the Church in the Bible were intended to be applied in the same fashion. Rather, good hermeneutics requires that the trained exegete discern between the normative and situational texts in our Bibles. A “normative” text is an instruction given by the biblical writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that was intended to apply to all Christians in all times and under all circumstances. In contrast, a “situational” text is one intended to apply only to a particular situation in a particular time. Typically, a reader recognizes a “situational text” intuitively. So when Paul instructs Timothy to “no longer drink water exclusively, but take a little wine for your stomach,” none of us take that as a normative command that all Church-goers should add wine to their diets —or at least none of us should! Or when Paul tells Timothy, “When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpas in Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments,” no one responds (or should respond!) by quitting their job and buying a plane ticket to Troas to find Paul’s missing parchments!

No, we recognize that these instructions are real, but that they only apply to Timothy, and only in a very limited circle of particular circumstances. Equally, when it comes time to care for the marginalized in our churches, we likely do not restrict our assistance to “widows not less than sixty years old” as Paul instructs the Church at Ephesus (1 Tim 5:9). And that because we, again, intuitively recognize the instruction as situational. Thus, we respond by gleaning the wisdom from the passage—that in our care for the marginalized we must be careful to discern who is truly in need of the church’s resources—but we will likely not restrict our care of the marginalized to only widows nor to widows only over the age of sixty!

But sometimes, because we are not native readers, that which was intended as situational gets accidentally promoted to normative . And that is what has happened with 1 Timothy 2:12. Is it that all women in every circumstance under the dictates of the New Covenant cannot teach or hold authority over a man? Or is it that in the particular circumstances of the Ephesian church under Timothy’s leadership that certain women could not teach or hold authority over a man? Let’s take a look.

We’ll start as all good interpreters should, by putting this letter in context. Paul is writing to Timothy, and Timothy has been stationed at the church in Ephesus, under Paul’s authority, as their pastor. What do we know about Ephesus? Well, we know that it was a major urban center in the New Testament era. A bustling seaport on the western coast of Turkey—affluent; one of the oldest Greek settlements on the Aegean Sea; named by Alexander the Great and Cleopatra. By the first century it served as the provincial seat of Roman government in Asia—which means it was not only a political and economic giant, but it sat upon the crossroads of an empire.

The strategic nature of Ephesus is likely why Paul spent more than two years there, why Priscilla and Aquila are also ministering there (Acts 18:19), and why 1 & 2 Timothy and the book of Ephesians address the city directly. And just in case you’re not already impressed, the city of Ephesus is named as one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, AND as the guardian of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Which wonder? The Temple of Artemis! Pliny the Elder describes the temple in 77 CE as “the most wonderful monument of Graecian magnificence . . . a work in which all Asia joined!”. This breathtakingly beautiful edifice was celebrated for its splendor. And the influence of this goddess—the deity of the hunt and the “protector of the dewy young”—was profound. Ephesus was her city. Which explains the riot in Acts 19 when Paul and his allies become the target of the local craftsmen who see Paul’s gospel as a threat to their Artemis idol-casting business. Gaius, Aristarchus, and Alexander get dragged into what is still known as the “Great Theatre of Ephesus,” while the entire city goes ballistic shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” For two hours! The other church leaders beg Paul to stay away lest he be martyred in the crossfire. Bottom line? No one messed with Artemis in Ephesus. And five-out-of-five scholars agree that the “false doctrine” that Paul is battling in Ephesus is somehow connected to the Artemis cult.

So what do we know about Artemis and her cult? Well, if you are a fan of Edith Hamilton or Percy Jackson, you know that she is the beautiful (sometimes ferocious) ever-virgin goddess who is also a skilled and devoted huntress—and the defender of the wild creature. She loves the wild places but is also famous for superintending borders and spaces of transition. She will be found where harbors meet highways and highways encounter cities. She will also be found where childhood meets puberty, and pregnancy encounters birth. Artemis was known as the midwife of the ancient world. Who protected girls, brides, and adult women from the dangers of reproduction.

But among the many paradoxes that characterized the Greek gods, she herself eschewed pregnancy, demanding of her father Zeus that she remain eternally a virgin. Thus those who served her were also expected to remain unmarried. And if her virgin priestesses (parthenoi) violated their vows of virginity, they could well find themselves a sacrificial victim offered to their goddess. The cult of Artemis was a uniquely female cult, and the celibacy of her priestesses was required.

Now as all good exegetes should, let’s place our passage in context. This epistle … well, it’s an epistle. Which means we only have one side of the conversation. Although everyone listening to the letter already knows what the problem that sparked the letter is, we only have Paul’s reaction to a problem. So we’re going to have to rely on the larger context and listen carefully to our author. And we hear right at the beginning that the crisis that triggered Paul’s letter is false teaching (aka “heresy”), and it is threatening the work of God in Ephesus. So the letter begins:

“³As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus, [Timothy], so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer, ⁴or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work . . . ⁶(Now) Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk [fruitless discussions]. ⁷They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm” (1:3–7)

Ouch! I don’t ever want to be on the receiving end of a message like this from Paul! This is that moment when Paul says: don’t confuse your Google search with my apostolic authority! And what does our apostle have to say? “Timothy, this is a crisis. False doctrine and false teachers are threatening the work of God in the Ephesian church. So here I am authorizing you as my representative—deal with it!

So in our first step into Timothy’s book, Paul is openly confronting the influence of false teaching. He rebukes those who have “abandoned the faith” and fallen for the “devil’s trap” (1 Tim 3:7), he warns of “deceiving spirits” and “things taught by demons” (4:1). Those who “forbid people to marry” (4:3), and states that these false teachers are finding their most responsive audience “among some ‘weak-willed’ [or ‘gullible’] women, who are loaded down with sins and swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Tim 3:6-7). And according to 1 Timothy 5, among these women are younger widows who “live for pleasure” (v. 6), have become “gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to” (v. 13), and by so doing are “bringing the gospel into disrepute (v. 14). Some of them have ‘already turned away to follow Satan’” (v. 15).

Ah, there is so much more here. But what I want you to focus on is that even a cursory read of this epistle makes it clear that Paul is unusually focused on false teaching that is somehow specifically attached to women. Apparently the false theology that is sweeping through the house churches is moving via young widows who “go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention” (1 Tim 5:13 NASB). Paul is also concerned about the elite women—whose wealth is displayed via their elaborate hairstyles, jewels, and expensive clothing. These women are just the sort of highborn girls and women who we know were representatives of the Artemis cult and the ritual textile gifts associated with the cult.

What is Paul’s suggested solution for these women, who, due to their current lack of maturity in the Jesus Way, are uniquely vulnerable to the false teachings flourishing in the city of Ephesus? Let’s take a look:

1 Timothy 2:11–15

“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I [Paul] do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (NIV 2011)

It is this passage that inspires many churches to limit women’s teaching roles to the education of children and other women; and many denominations to forbid women as adult teachers, elders, or certain committees. Which often becomes a bit awkward. Like when women can teach the senior high youth, but not the college class. Or women are on committees that exercise authority over men, but can’t chair those committees. Or when women are allowed to be “directors” of various ministries but not “pastors” of those ministries. Or when a woman might be allowed to serve as an associate pastor but not the senior pastor … all in an attempt to allow women to serve the community of faith, but not to “exercise authority” over an adult male. And these churches and denominations who are busy culling (and contorting!) their leadership pool are doing so because they believe that in 1 Timothy they have a clear, normative statement from Paul that women are not to teach or exercise authority over men.

But do they?

Here Paul is clearly commanding the young widows of Ephesus step out of roles of leadership and teaching and step back into their standard place in society. Essentially, Paul their apostle is saying: “Accept a marriage proposal; have children; and get busy running a household (1 Tim 5:14)!” And this in contrast to “giving herself to wanton pleasure” and thereby becoming wanton against Christ as well (1 Tim 5:6). These women are instructed to dial back their elitist clothing, dress modestly, and do good. Instead of spending their days going about “from house to house” engaging in gossip and “things not proper to mention” (v. 13), they are now forbidden to teach, and have been re-enrolled in “How to be a Christian 101.”

If he were talking to young men, Paul would likely say something like: “Get your sorry self out of bed; put down the video games; GET A JOB; and become a productive member of society!”

Thus, as we attend to the fact that Paul is traveling, teaching, and planting churches with Priscilla—celebrating her teaching ministry, particularly in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19, 26; 2 Tim 4:19); that Paul has greeted Junia as an “apostle” (Rom 16:7), and Phoebe as a “deacon” (Rom 16:1); that he himself is responsible for the covenantal declarations that in Christ there is neither “male nor female” (Gal 3:28) and announced the democratization of the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 (so much so that women are prophesying in 1 Cor 11:5) … well, this set of instructions to Timothy at Ephesus has got to be situational not normative. Context demands that Paul’s instruction to Timothy is best read: “In this case, I am not permitting a woman to teach. These women will instead learn.” As Gordon Fee translates, “in a quiet demeanor.” No more disruptive behavior, no more, “boisterous affirmation of heresies.” Step away from the goddess!

I know you’d like to hear more about what Eve is doing in this passage and what’s going on in 1 Cor 14:34-35. And I am just as eager to discuss it. But for that we will both have to wait for the lecture to come!

For further reading see Lynne H. Cohick, The Letter to the Ephesians, NICNT (Downers Grove: Eerdmans, 2020); Susan Guettel Cole, Landscapes, Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space: The Ancient Greek Experience (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004). Gordon Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, (NIBC; Peabody: Hendrickson, 1988); Robert Fleischer, Artemis von Ephesos und verwandte Kultstatuen aus Anatolien und Syrien, Etudes Preliminires aux religions orientales dans l’empire romain 35 (Leiden: Brill, 1973); Sandra L. Glahn, Nobody’s Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2023); Catherine Kroeger, “1 Timothy 2:12—A Classicist’s View,” in Women, Authority and the Bible, ed. Alvera Mickelsen (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1986), 225–253; Michael Immendörfer, Ephesians and Artemis: The Cult of the Great Goddess of Ephesus as the Epistles Context WUZNT 11; Reihe 436; (Tübingen: Mohr Ziebeck, 2017); Blum Trell, The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: Mumismatic Notes and Monographys (New York: The American Numismatic Society, 1945); Martin Price, The Archaic Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (British Museum).