Female Pastors?
What does the Bible say about women and men and leadership in the Church?
The issue of the roles of women in the Church has become a divisive topic in recent years, one that is tied to other volatile topics such as feminism and Critical Theory. This series of blog posts is designed to address the issue and answer the common objections to biblical gender roles in the Church.
Complementarianism, or Egalitarianism | The Question of Female Pastors or Elders
The question of female elders/pastors has come to the forefront in evangelical circles over the last few years. The discussion warrants theological reflection. Approaching the issue requires a definition of terms with the recognition that proponents of the respective views may hold nuanced positions within them.
Complementarian: the view that men and women are equal in value but distinct in their roles. This distinction is not merely cultural but is part of the created order (Gen. 1:26-27, 1 Timothy 2-3, 1 Cor. 11). Applied, the complementarian view holds that women are to oversee the household, engage in commerce, and support their husbands, but that the husband is to lead the home (Ephesians 5). This male headship is also to be reflected in the leadership within the church as only qualified men are to serve as pastors/elders or to teach other men (1 Tim 2-3).
Egalitarian: the view that women and men are equal in value and that there is little to no distinction between male and female roles. Applied, this view tends to value some distinctions but denies that the role of pastor/elder is reserved for men only.
Properly understood, complementary theology leads to biblical patriarchy (Male leadership extending to the home and civic sphere, not just the church. Husbands and fathers lead, provide, and protect as wives and mothers nurture and thrive in the home). Key to biblical patriarchy is the idea that women are the “glory” of mankind. Since man is the crown of God’s creation and woman is the glory of man (1 For. 11), a woman’s role is distinct from a man's but it is no less important. In fact, her role is to be glorious. The fundamental issue patriarchy has with egalitarianism is not that men are robbed of their role, but women are kept from serving in their glorious role as the glory of mankind.
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man...”
Initial Considerations
There are several key passages that restrict the role of pastor/elder to men:
1 Timothy 2:8-15 teaches that women are to neither teach nor exert authority over men. This prohibition is linked to the created order and immediately precedes the qualifications for elders.
The qualifications for Elders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 refer to males only (Notably, in the case of 1 Timothy 3 the qualifications come in the context of forbidding women to teach or oversee men.)
Additionally, women are prohibited from holding authoritative roles, especially related to teaching men (1 Timothy 2-3, 1 Cor. 11).
Notably, Paul addresses the issue of male headship in 1 Cor. 11 noting that faithful churches consistently apply biblical guidelines of headship. In fact, Paul says that among the churches there is “no other practice.”
Therefore, the burden of proof is upon the Egalitarian to make answer each of these passages. The issue has been spoken to clearly in Scripture and confirmed in Church history (as we will see). Tom Ascol was once asked to hold off on theological debate to which he responded: “It’s not a matter of theology; it’s a matter of English.” The Egalitarian must make the case that passages do not apply because they cannot make the case that the passages in question support their view.
This first post is merely to establish the topic. We will address the issue of Church history on this issue in the next post.
For now, check out the documentary By What Standard? from Founders Ministries.
