#19 Paul’s Treatment Of Women
In some circles it is argued that Paul is a problem because of his views about women. Paul taught that women should be submissive to men and that women were not to be leaders. This is very much counter to American culture today. Three questions arise from this, is Paul relevant to the Church today, is Paul’s teaching contextual, and does it align with the rest of the Bible.
Paul Is Still Relevant
Paul is still relevant to the Church today simply because his writings are in the Bible and have been for the past 2000 years. You cannot simply ignore reality on this point. The majority of all Christians for the past 2000 years affirmed Paul’s Apostleship. Furthermore there are many types of material in the Bible from history, narrative, and teachings. The majority of Paul’s work is in the form of letters that are meant to teach. And as Christians we believe that God spoke through the authors of the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is inspired by God” which means that the words written by Paul are inspired by God. This is also seen in “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
It Is Not Contextual And It Is Cohesive
Paul’s teaching needs to be read in context but it is not contextual. There are three things to look at Ephesians 5:22-24 which is about submission, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 women speaking in Church, and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 which is about teaching.
Paul says in Ephesians 5:22-24, “Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.” In these verses Paul is saying that women are to submit to their husbands. The claim that Paul is making is that wives submit to their husbands for a reason. It is because husbands are to die to self for their wife as Christ died for the Church as seen in verse 25. Then again in verse 31 Paul references Genesis 2:24 which means that Paul's claim here has been true since before the fall of humanity. What Genesis 2:24 conveys to us is that the illusion we face today is that of freedom we were never free. We are all at all times in subjection to another. But there is an order to it. A child is subject to its parents, a wife to her husband, and all are subject to God above any other.
Next in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Paul says, “the women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.” and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 says, “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” both of these verses align in meaning making it difficult to ignore Paul’s meaning. While both verses are also reflected by Ephesians 5:22-24 and again by 1 Timothy 3:2-7 which lays out the biblical foundations of leadership to be that leaders in the Church must be men. Each of these verses is supported internally and by sources other than Paul.
Paul’s Treatment Of Women
Paul’s treatment of women in the Bible is that of protector. Paul was not harsh in his treatment of women. He can even be seen as liberally minded in his treatment for the time. Which in my opinion further suggests Paul’s work to be biblically inspired as he did not simply say what people wanted to hear.
Conclusion
In Conclusion, Paul’s teaching about women in the Church and in the family is cohesive, relevant, God inspired, and fair. We should spend less time criticizing the authors of the Bible and more time wrestling with the truth that God speaks through them.
