What is God's heart regarding women's roles in spiritual leadership and teaching? Does He have different expectations for men and women? Does he restrict women from certain roles because of their gender?
This is the third video of a series dedicating to answering this question through an in-depth, open-minded analysis of the Biblical text.
Let me know what questions you've been wrestling with related to this topic by leaving a comment below.
Thanks for watching!
NOTES:
For an in-depth discussion (430 pages worth) on the topic of women in leadership from a Biblical and historical perspective, I recommend Philip B. Payne's book--Man and Woman, One in Christ--as well as online articles by Marg Margczko (margmowczko.com/). Everything I have personally read from these scholars has demonstrated integrity and respect for Jesus, the Bible, and the cumulative efforts of Christ-followers throughout history to search out the depths of God's nature and truth.
Ancient as well as contemporary interpreters of 1 Timothy 3:11 generally agree that Paul was referring to women leaders here. This includes Chrysostom (4th century AD) (www.clerus.org/bibliaclerusonl..., Pliny (112 AD) (lygdamus.com/resources/New%20P..., and the Council of Nicea (323 AD) (www.newadvent.org/fathers/3801..., along with a long list of other names, and including most major Bible versions.
One interpretation of this passage that I did not address is whether Paul was seeking to communicate that women could be deacons, but not elders. This is a widely accepted view that I have come to believe is false. However, discussion of this topic requires more than a brief mention in a video or these notes. In the meantime, I recommend reading some articles here: margmowczko.com/tag/phoebe/
In the Greek, the same word is used for man and husband, and also for woman and wife. Thus, we need to gather clues from the text to determine which meaning the author intended. One way to flag that the intended meaning is husband or wife rather than man or woman is by the use of the a word or phrase of possession, like "their" (of-self) or their "own." Such word usage appears in the following passages about husbands and wives: from Paul -- 1 Corinthians 7:1-4; Ephesians 5:22,24; Colossians 3:18; from Peter -- 1 Peter 3:1. The usage of such a possessive word or phrase is not required for the meanings to pick out husband or wife, but it provides a bit of evidence.
FREE RESOURCES:
Online Greek interlinear Bible: www.scripture4all.org/OnlineIn...
To view multiple Bible translations of a single verse in parallel online:
biblehub.com/
To read Bible passages in various translations online:
www.biblegateway.com/
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