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The Role of Women in the Bible and in the Church by Don and Maurine Pickerill
1. Women Are Not Inferior To Men
The Bible nowhere belittles women or regards them as inferior to men. On the contrary, women are exalted in the Bible and are to be treated with great “consideration and honor,” I Peter 3:7.
Clear statements such as Galatians 3:28 set the norm for all other passages, “In Christ there is neither male nor female.” The mutual interdependence of the sexes is noted in I Corinthians 11:11, “In the Lord the woman is not independent of man nor man of woman.”
Verse 12 concludes, “All things are for God,” meaning that both men and women owe their life only to him.”
2. Social Or Church Roles
The Bible does not assign rigid social or church roles to men and women on a gender basis alone. Confusion exists when no distinction is made between a woman as a female person and the role a woman assumes as a married wife and mother. The problem is additionally compounded in that the same Greek word in the New Testament means both woman and wife.
3. Women Occupied Places Of Leadership In Israel
Women occupied places of leadership in Israel and ministered in the early church. Deborah was a judge and Miriam and Huldah were prophetesses. In the new age of the outpoured Spirit, “handmaidens will prophesy,” Acts 2:18, of which the four daughters of Philip were New Testament examples, Acts 21:9.
Euodia and Syntyche are cited as ”women who labored side by side” with Paul in the gospel, Philippians 4:3.
Women are told how to pray and speak in the public services in I Corinthians 11:5. Nympha had a church in her house, Colossians 4:15.
4. Marriage Is Not The Only Option
Marriage in the Bible is not viewed as the only option for a fulfilled woman. In fact, marriage is realistically depicted as bringing “trouble” if a girl marries, I Corinthians 7:28.
A strong apostolic appeal is made for women to stay single and live a life of “undivided devotion to the Lord,” I Corinthians 7:35. The single woman is never considered inferior to a wife and mother. This truth is sadly neglected particularly in the Protestant Church.
5. A Woman As A Wife And Mother
The Bible does, however, assign a clear-cut role to a woman when she becomes a wife and mother. In this case, she chooses to bring herself under her husband’s authority and is commanded to live her life in reverential submission to him. Marriage and family life then become her first concern. Ephesians 5:22-23, I Peter 3:1-7, I Corinthians 11:2-16.
6. Role Of The Woman As Wife
The subordinate and submissive role of the woman as a wife is based upon three truths:
(a) A priority of man in creation — man was created “first.” I Timothy 2:13.
(b) Design in creation — woman was created from and for the man. Genesis 2:21-23; I Corinthians 11:8-9.
(c) A divine appointment and calling. Genesis 3:16, Ephesians 5:22.
7. Role Relationship In Marriage
The main reason for Biblical role relationship in marriage is the achievement of “oneness,” in order to bear a divine witness of Christ in the Church. A husband and wife make up the “one flesh mystery,” Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:31-32. This is a merger of two lives which makes up a dimension —not 2, not 3, but 1. Submission is a function, a religious role unto the Lord, where the wife respects, reverences, and “learns to fit in” with her husband. Since the authority of her husband is delegated from God, the wife’s obedience is “unto the Lord.” There is no authority except God, Romans 13:1.
This is why marriage is a sacrament, meaning a sacred thing, like water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for it is a symbol of Christ’s headship and shows God’s delegated authority. Submission is a spiritual duty to Christ, not a personal preference between spouses.
8. The Submissive Role Of Wife In Marriage
The submissive role of the wife in marriage does not mean that she draws her spiritual life from her husband. All believers are priests unto God. Marriage must not make women “grow wanton against Christ” and thus “violate their first pledge.” The reference to Christ as the woman’s “first troth” from I Timothy 5:11-12, clarifies the spiritual priority of Christ to every wife and woman. Women must guard against making families idolatrous; a means to their own ends, and calling it Christian.
9. Biblical Ideal Of A Wife And Mother
The Biblical ideal of a wife and mother is probably best pictured in a practical way in Proverbs31:10-31. Basically, she is described as a creative, industrious homemaker who exalts her husband, ministers to her family and moves freely in society to teach and meet the needs of others. Note the following verses:
(a) She does her husband good and not harm all the days of her life, verse 12.
(b) She looks well to the ways of her household, verse 27.
(c) She teaches the way of wisdom to others, verse 26.
(d) She ministers to others, especially to those in need, verse 20.
10. Mature Women Teaching Younger Women
The seven-fold teaching of the mature women to the younger women in the church, in Titus 2:4-5, also clarifies the practical role of the wife and mother. The purpose of this teaching is to keep the “Word from being discredited.” This implies that the ways of the world and the ways of God show up in totally different family life styles.
Here’s what mature women teach younger women:
(a) They are to show them how to love (be friends of) their husbands.
(b) How to love (be friends of) their children.
(c) How to be sensible.
(d) How to be chaste, guileless, and non-worldly.
(e) How to be domestic – an industrious, creative homemaker.
(f) How to do good, minister to the needs of others.
(g) How to be submissive to their husbands, a religious role she must learn in marriage.
11. Qualified Widows
The description of the qualified widows over whom the church assumes care and authority (the Living Bible calls them “special church workers”) also illustrates the kind of wife and mother approved by God.
The seven-fold characteristics are given in I Timothy 5:9-10.
(a) Be the wife of one husband.
(b) Be well attested for her good deeds, clear-cut evidence she lived for others.
(c) Have brought up children. Apparently a childless wife would be in a better position to care for herself since she did not have to live for her children.
(d) Show hospitality, an open-home policy.
(e) Wash the feet of the saints, humble serving attitude, free of a manipulative busybody spirit.
(f) Relieve the afflicted, minister to those in need and trouble.
(g) Devote herself to doing good in every way.
12. Temptations That Women Face
The warning against enrolling younger widows, in I Timothy 5:11-15, shows the special temptations that women face. The following four things are said to be the “ways of Satan” and thus become a negative lesson of their positive opposite.
(a) Marriage must not interfere with their “first troth” and take the place of their devotion to Christ. Their ministry to their husbands and children must really be for Christ and not a subtle, selfish fulfillment, centering on the self. The natural passion for marriage must not supplant one’s personal spiritual life, for marriage is only a temporal arrangement.
(b) They must not become “idlers” and live an unproductive life of laziness, going nowhere.
(c) They must not become “gossips” which is worse than laziness.
(d) They must not become busybodies. Today we would call them manipulators. The word literally means “working around,” or trying to “run things” behind the scenes.
THREE SPECIAL PASSAGES DEALING WITH WOMEN
1. Women Speaking In The Church
I Corinthians 14:33-35 says, “As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be sub-ordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.”
The last sentence, “it is shameful for a woman to speak in church,” is the crucial problem if these words were taken alone. Outside context and the rest of the Bible, they would appear conclusive. But in a previous chapter of the same book, Paul permits women “to pray and speak in public.” I Corinthians 11:57
Therefore, a special kind of “shameful speaking” is in view, which the Corinthians understood and we do not. The problem is sometimes explained by the imagined seating arrangement where women were separated from men. But this is uncertain and it hardly fits the dignity of the Bible to deal only with an “ushering problem in a single local church.” It was rather a principle for all churches.
Two hints are given by the context in which the prohibition is given:
(a) The kind of speaking involved “insubordination,” verse 34.
(b) It was something that especially shamed husbands, for verse 35 says, “Let them ask their husbands at home.” This suggests that the problem centered more on a husband-wife conflict than a man-woman one, as such. (Remember the same Greek word can be translated either wife or woman.)
We conclude that this is not a muffling of the ministry of women as a female person, but rather is aimed at women “taking authority” over men. A wife speaking in public in such a way that belittled her husband or openly questioned and judged him, is indeed “shameful” both then and now. To avoid confusion in this area, Paul asks the wives to “question” their husbands in the privacy of their own home.
Women are not to speak in a way that shames men in public. Of course, neither are men to speak that way about women. If then we take the word “speaking” as some form of “open contest,” the sense of the passage would be paraphrased as follows: “As in all the churches of the saints the women should not openly contest men in the church. They are not permitted to speak in a disrespectful manner, but they should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything especially that wives desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it brings shame to the gospel and husband if a wife openly contests him in the church and acts as though she were not under his authority.”
2. Women Learning In Silence With Submissiveness
I Timothy 2:11-15 reads, “Let a woman learn in silence with submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet women will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.”
This passage reflects a permanent principle, for it is grounded on a creation ordinance of the priority of man, and on Eve’s greater susceptibility to temptation.
The essential problem is expressed in verse 12 where women are prohibited from teaching men. This teaching, however, is identified as “having authority over men.” This is a strong Greek word, used only here in the New Testament. Literally it means “to have something inherently within oneself” or “to act out of one’s self.”
“Authenteo,” from whence we get our English word “authentic.” The idea is that a woman is not to become independent of men in the church. Women are not to “act out of themselves”; they are dependent on men, and open the church to false teaching if they act out of rebellion by becoming self-appointed doctrinal authorities.
Also the Greek word in this passage for“silence” speaks more of a spiritual attitude than a voiceless mouth. W. E. Vine defines “esuchios” this way, “It indicates a tranquility arising from within and characterizes the spirit or disposition.” This accords with verse 11 which associates the silence with submissiveness, “Let the women learn in silence with all submissiveness.” So, the warning is against a combatant, insubordinate spirit, which openly contests men. The woman is to remain tranquil with a peaceful receptive spirit.
The reference to wives being “saved through bearing children” in verse 15 infers the preferred role of women as mothers rather than doctrinal authorities in the church. It also shows that the issue of husbands and wives in the church is not far view.
Remember the same Greek word means either woman or wife. If a wife acted independent of her husband and became his doctrinal authority in the church, it would bring confusion in the family and violate the natural order established in creation.
The promise of salvation to mothers means more than a painless pregnancy. It is grace for “motherhood.” It goes back to the judgment against women in Genesis 3:16, which refers to both bearing and rearing children. It means that mothers can expect success in their role if they follow God’s order and stay free of rebellion (rebellious wives produce rebellious children.)
Note the three conditional characteristics:
(a) Continuing in faith (trustful)
(b) Love and holiness (spiritual)
(c) Modesty (the good sense to act properly)
3. Women And The Wearing Of A Veil
I Corinthians 11:2-16 is a passage dealing with women and the wearing of a veil. Verse 5 says, “Any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head — it is the same as if her head were shaved.”
In this instance we have a permanent spiritual principle involved with a passing cultural custom. Except for the wedding ring, we have nothing in our society that answers to the ancient wearing of a veil. Then a publicly bare-headed woman was a badge of prostitution. Thus, the reference to shaving, for shaving was one of the judgments against prostitutes, Numbers 5:18.
The permanent principle is that a woman is created and called to be “under cover.” The very nature of her hair as a kind of beautiful covering suggests that as a person she best fits under the protection and authority of a man. Therefore, the women in Paul’s day threw off their veils, they left a sinful impression on society and thereby declared their independence of men. Again, it is the rebellious principle that is the most important.
Changing social customs where we no longer wash feet or literally walk two miles or wear veils, demands that we grasp the permanent principles, humility of heart and mind, willingness to do more than required, and submissive spirits by wives to husbands. These are unchanging.
We conclude that this passage does not forbid the mere speaking of a woman in public. The word “silence” is better taken as a quiet spirit. The point is for all women, especially wives, to keep peaceful submissive spirits. It forbids women from becoming doctrinal authorities independent of men. Rebellious women are disastrous in marriage and families, and could even lead the church into false teaching.
BIBLICAL GUIDELINES FOR WOMEN’S DRESS
The subject of women’s dress is given specific attention in the Bible. Therefore, it is worthy of our study. Two important New Testament passages are:
(a) I Timothy 2:9-10, “Women should adorn themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits women who profess religion.”
(b) I Peter 3:3-5, “Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing of robes, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. So once the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves and were submissive to their husbands.”
The most important emphasis in these verses is that a woman’s dress consists mostly in the quality of her spirit and in the performance of good deeds. In popular slogans we say “clothes makes the man (and woman).” The Bible puts the emphasis on a beautiful spirit, not costly clothing. A friend of ours who gained international fame as a fashion expert spent most of her time in her charm schools developing the “spirit” of her girls. She confirmed, “Beauty is from within out.” So apparently these verses are true both on the pages of the Bible and on the pages of life itself.
Two negative principles are suggested from these passages:
(a) A woman’s hairstyle and dress should not aim at calling attention to her physical self, but rather reflect her inner life as a Christian person. The allusion to “braided hair,” goes back to the elaborate coiffures of ancient times which were maintained at great cost of time and money. Statues going back to that time show how gaudy they really were. The purpose was to gain attention.
(b) The woman should not spend a great deal of money on clothing and jewelry. She is not to wear “costly clothing.” As any wise buyer knows, “costly” is not the same as “quality.” But how easy it is to spend vast sums on clothing which last only a season. Much of the world system is built on the need for a brand new wardrobe by annual style changes.
Three positive guidelines are given Christian women:
(a) She is to dress modestly. Modesty means a sensitivity in her character which would not cause shame or embarrassment to others. She is to dress out of respect to others.
(b) She is to dress sensibly. This word needs no explanation to a thoughtful person. It is the choice of clothing that comes from a sound or a healthy mind. This principle allows for the appropriate dress styles on different occasions.
Some who teach a woman should never wear slacks, for example, lack good sense if they insist on dresses at picnics and the beach. By the same token, thoughtful dressing, would exclude wearing working jeans to public worship services, etc.
(c) She is to dress with seemly apparel. This word literally means well-arranged or harmonious. It is the Greek word “kosmios,” from which we get “cosmos.” This is a far cry from dressing old-fashioned and unusually plain. Sometimes old-fashioned dress calls as much attention to one’s person as the latest far-out fad.
In summary, she is to dress with good sense and good taste, and respectfully, keeping others in mind. Her aim is not to broadcast the beauty of her body, but to dress in a way that matches the sweetness of her spirit.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR WORKING WIVES AND MOTHERS
The Bible does not deal directly with the subject of working wives and mothers, except Titus 2:5, which exhorts older women to teach younger women how to be “domestic,” which literally means a “home worker.”
The following areas need to be considered before a wife seeks employment outside the home:
(a) Will the role of the husband be weakened if he and the family become financially dependent upon her?
(b) Will required work schedules lead the family into a form of bondage to outside influences?
(c) Will a wife be brought under the influence of another authority besides her husband?
(d) Will other secular spheres lead to different involvements and create spiritual separations?
(e) Will lack of time and energy leave the family with second best?
(f) Will the modeling done before sons and daughters shape their future expectations of marriage?
(g) Will ministries in the church and service to others be affected?
SUMMARY
The role of the woman in the Bible and in the church is amply discussed and described. Numerous passages give precise details and the main principles are obvious. Some passages, however, are difficult and demand discussion.
As a human being, a person, a woman is essentially on the same footing as a man, equal before God in every way. The female sex is never regarded as inferior to man or a tool to be used for his ends. She belongs first of all to God and is to be respected and honored.
The woman as a female has few, if any, restrictions placed upon her talents and services to society and the church. She is free to function in any task, including teaching and public speaking.
She is prohibited, however, from taking authority over men in the church. This poses a real problem for a woman who is called to preach and must at the same time exercise authority as a senior pastor.
Marriage is not viewed as the only option for a woman. In fact, a strong appeal is made for women to remain single and serve the Lord with all their energies. In marriage, God has assigned a distinct role to the woman as a wife and mother. In this relationship, the husband becomes the head of the woman. This means that, as his wife, she is now under his authority and should adapt her life to his. He does not, however, become the source of her life — only God can be this to any person. Christ is always her first pledge.
Submission in marriage is not a negative thing. It is the way to personal fulfillment and is the divine plan for achieving the loving unity of oneness. It is the way the woman bears witness to the relationship of the church to Jesus Christ.
The Biblical wife and mother is, first of all, a creative homemaker who spends her free time doing good and ministering to the needs of others. The subject of working wives and mothers poses a special problem to which the church ought to address itself with much love, wisdom and courage.
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