50 Years Building His Kingdom - Far Eastern Bible College

Does Paul Absolutely Forbid a
Woman to Speak in Church
THOSE WHO SAY SO quote 1 Tim
2:11,12, “Let the woman learn in
silence with all subjection. But I
suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence.”
The stress in this injunction is not
to usurp authority over the man. The reason
is given in the following
verses, “For Adam was
first formed, then Eve. And
Adam was not deceived,
but the woman being deceived
was in the transgression”
(1 Tim 2:13,14). Gen
3:16 continues, “and thy
desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over
thee.”
Hence we do not ordain
women pastors or
elders which are the province
of men. But for women
to teach other women and
children, there is no infringement
of Paul’s injunction.
For in every rule
promulgated by God or man, there are always
exceptions. Joel prophesied, and he
was quoted by Peter at Pentecost, “And it
shall come to pass in the last days, saith
God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh: and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy,… And on my servants and
on my handmaidens I will pour out in
those days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy” (Acts 2:17,18). To prophesy is
to preach. Moreover in Acts 21:8,9 the four
virgin daughters of Philip the Evangelist,
one of the seven, are mentioned as those
who did prophesy. In the light of these examples
we must conclude Paul’s statement
on woman in 1 Tim 2:12 is not absolute.
A concrete example of this exception
is the case of Priscilla, the wife of Aquila.
“And a certain Jew named Apollos,
born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and
“...we give to
women students of
Far Eastern Bible
College an equal
opportunity to train
in the Homiletics
Class that they
might speak better
to women groups
and Sunday School
children after they
graduate.”
mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
This man was instructed in the way of the
Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he
spake and taught diligently the things of
the Lord, knowing only the baptism of
John. And he began to speak boldly in the
synagogue: whom when Aquila and
Priscilla had heard, they
took him unto them, and
expounded unto him the
way of God more perfectly”
(Acts 18:24-26).
In view of the fact that
three times the name of
Priscilla is placed before the
name of Aquila (Acts
18:18; Rom 16:3; 2 Tim
4:19), it is believed by many
scholars that Priscilla in fact
excelled her husband in the
knowledge of the Scriptures,
and was the better
teacher to Apollos. Paul saluting
Priscilla first before
Aquila in Rom 16:3 shows
his high esteem for the
woman. God is no respecter of persons
(Acts 10:34; Deut 10:19) and in Christ
“there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).
Dr Lois G. Dickie, Professor of English
in Faith Seminary, wrote in her book
No Respector of Persons:
Nevertheless in modern times, there
have been great men of God who advocated
and supported the leadership of
women even in churches.
John Wesley appointed women as leaders
of the Bristol Classes; he later permitted
women to become local preachers
and itinerant ministers. Charles G.
Finney, president of Oberlin College,
the first co-educational college in the
world, claimed that the Scriptures do
not deny women the right to speak or
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