Beth Moore should "go home" and what the NT teaches on women in ministry

If you’re a Protestant Christian in the USA, especially if you’re involved in a conservative denomination, then you’ve probably heard about or led a discussion on the role women should have within ministry. Southern Baptists, especially, have had copious, heated (sometimes disturbing) debates over the issue.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, the issue is typically not fomented by misogyny or “Momma issues.” Instead, it’s based on attempting to interpret and apply the Biblical teaching as the person understands it. However, there are times when, like I said, the debate can be disturbing and unchristian (like when John McArthur and some other men said some rude comments about the Bible teacher, Beth Moore here .

Should a woman serve in ministry?

Since “ministry” in Greek just means, “service” (i.e., what a waiter does at a restaurant), I am convinced that women should be servants just as much as men are since this is replete in the New Testament. I won’t cite the countless explicit and implicit references to Christians being servants.

Should a woman serve in leadership at a church?

I hold the view espoused in the New Testament: yes, women can and should be in leadership positions. Of course, this understanding commences with Jesus, who deliberately violated cultural moirés to teach women as His disciples, which would have made them leaders in the early Church (e.g., Lk 8:1-3, which probably included His mother, Mary, Mary Magdalene, the “other” Mary, Mary of Bethany, Joanna, Susanna, and Salome). The primitive Christians would have gone to them for input on what Jesus taught.

Leadership in the early Church was predicated upon the spiritual gift the person possessed, not their denominational ordination (which is absent from the Bible and a modern invention) nor their sex (see e.g., Joel 2:28–32 as the basis of the Spirit’s manifestation in Acts 1–2; also see 1 Cor 12:4–31; 14:1–19; Rom 12:3–8; Eph 4:7–16; 1 Pet 4:8–11). Sex had nothing to do with it.

Moreover, the New Testament is full of examples of women in various leadership roles (e.g., Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos in Acts 18:2,18, 26 and 1 Tim 2:12; Corinthian women prophesied over the congregation in 1 Cor 11:5; Four women are known as leaders of house churches: Lydia in Acts 16:40, Chloe in 1 Cor 1:11, Nympha in Col 4:15, and Apphia in Phil 2; and Paul mentions four women as equal co-laborers in his ministry in Rom 16:6, 12).

Should a woman teach the Bible to someone?

This is where the proverbial “rubber meets the road.” The only two mentions of prohibitions against women doing something during a Church service are in 1 Cor 14:34–35 and 1 Tim 2:11-12. It is my view (with nearly all scholars) that the proper way to interpret any text whatsoever is to locate it within the historical and literary contexts. Here, we see that the two texts by Paul (though that’s debated, I do think Paul composed those thoughts) are not general commandments for all women at all times as the above paragraph on women in leadership demonstrates. If they are prohibitions against women “leading over a man”, then Paul was a blatant hypocrite, or at least, wildly inconsistent: he was surrounded by Christian women in leadership.

Why would Paul say these things? There are multiple essays and books written on these issues. I’ll give the brief bottom-line of the exegesis I find most convincing: These are about specific abuses in those locales. (1) The issue in Corinth was that certain wives were interrupting the church service during the prophecy/sermon and were encouraged to ask their questions at home (1 Cor. 14:35). It’s not that women should “be silent” at all times during the service, because they were encouraged to pray and prophecy during the service (11:5). It’s just that certain women were causing disruptions during the service and were told to stop. (2) The issue in Timothy’s church was that certain women had been corrupted by false teachers and were spreading nonsense (e.g., 1 Tim 4:3; 5:11–15; 2 Tim 3:6–7). They were told to stop.

If you want to read more on this issue, I’d encourage you start with Craig Keener’s short essay here.