Midweek Musing- May 14, 2025

Midweek Musing: Rethinking 1 Timothy and Women in the Church

“Let a woman learn in silence with full submission…” —1 Timothy 2:11

So, I want to give you a quick backstory for the inspiration for this musing because it came out of events in both my personal and professional life. You see recently I have seen women be belittled simply for their gender. These folks have been made to feel less than and additionally have had their role as leaders called into question.

For example, I was at an event recently where an individual made it clear that he felt organizations with women as leaders were weaker than those led by men. He claimed women leaders led to downfalls of organizations. He even said to a group of men I was listening in on as I roamed around looking assistant principalish that he would not invest in a business that had a female CEO. His reasoning was that such organization were clearly not following the Bible. I respectfully said to the guy I knew, and had actually walked over to say hello to, that I’d rather invest in such a company as all the women in the Bible I knew got stuff done.

Later I found out a relationship of someone I knew had fallen apart because the young lady had been leading a program at her church. This particular young man found such leadership objectionable.

In both cases I have no doubt the justification for these folk’s belief came from 1 Timothy 2:11–15.

In my opinion few verses in Scripture have caused as much harm—or been so misused—as this one. For centuries, 1 Timothy 2:11–15 has been wielded to silence women in the church, shut them out of leadership, and question their gifts be they spiritual or otherwise.

The fallout has been devastating with lost gifts, suppressed voices, and, in some cases, real violence justified by the claim that “the Bible says so.”

In some cultures, and among some people, this verse has been used to legitimize misogyny, deny women basic dignity, and prop up unjust systems. Some churches have disciplined or expelled women who dared to preach.

Others have prevented women from teaching even children if men are present. And in its worst expressions, this theology has bled into families and communities, contributing to abuse, manipulation, and spiritual trauma.

But what as I have come to understand the text if this verse doesn’t mean what many have claimed it does?

Dr. Cynthia Long Westfall, a New Testament scholar and expert in both biblical Greek and the cultural world of Paul’s time, has spent years researching this very passage. In her groundbreaking work Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ, she writes:

“The traditional reading of 1 Timothy 2:12 is based on flawed assumptions about Greek grammar, vocabulary, and cultural setting. Paul is not issuing a timeless ban but addressing a localized misuse of power.” (p. 298)

Dr. Westfall highlights several important truths that many interpretations miss:

   •   The Greek verb “authentein”, usually translated as “have authority,” does not refer to healthy leadership or teaching. It’s a rare and negative word more akin to domineering or control—something Paul would prohibit of anyone, not just women.

   •   The instruction is situational: Paul is likely addressing problems with false teaching by women in Ephesus, a city steeped in spiritual confusion and the cult of Artemis, which elevated aggressive female authority.

   •   The grammar of the Greek shows that the commands in verses 11–12 aren’t universal decrees, but specific, pastoral corrections tied to that particular church.

Rather than silencing women for all time, Westfall argues, Paul is protecting the church from damaging distortions of the gospel—something he would do whether the false teachers were men or women.

Her scholarship helps us step back and ask a better question: What if Paul’s words here were never intended to set eternal rules about gender, but instead reflect a loving pastor’s effort to address a local problem with wisdom and care?

Professor Scot McKnight also urges us to take the grammar and tone seriously. He writes:

“The word ‘authentein’ has no clear parallel in the New Testament and is most likely about controlling or even abusive behavior, not ordinary teaching or preaching.” (The Blue Parakeet, p. 206)

He argues that we must avoid making rigid doctrine out of a pastoral instruction aimed at a specific moment in church history—especially when it contradicts the many places where women lead and speak with Paul’s blessing.

When we read 1 Timothy in that light—alongside all the places in Scripture where women prophesy, teach, lead, and serve—we find a fuller truth: the Spirit of God has always equipped women for ministry.

Bishop and scholar N.T. Wright joins Westfall and McKnight in challenging the traditional reading and holding up the role of women in the church and the world. He emphasizes that the command for women to “learn” in verse 11 is itself radical and liberating in a first-century context:

“Paul was encouraging women to learn—and that was revolutionary. The idea that they could be full theological participants was not widely accepted. Paul is calling for order and clarity, not permanent silence.”

Wright also reminds us that Paul regularly commended women in ministry. In Romans 16, he lists Phoebe (a deacon), Junia (an apostle), and Priscilla (a teacher) among his co-laborers in Christ.

This passage, when read in isolation and stripped of its context, has hurt generations. But read carefully—within its historical, cultural, and grammatical framework—it begins to tell a different story.

Paul isn’t laying down a universal ban. He’s offering correction in a context where false teaching (likely from women influenced by surrounding cults and myths) was harming the young church in Ephesus. The solution? Let them learn. Gently. Humbly. So they can grow into the teachers and leaders God calls them to be.

When we step back and take in the whole story of Scripture—from Deborah the judge to Mary the first witness of resurrection, from Junia the apostle to the women prophets in Corinth and Tabitha whose work was so essential Peter raises her from the dead—we find a gospel that frees, not one that binds.

Let us therefore be a people and a church that listens. Not only to Scripture, but to the women whom God has called. Because the Spirit still speaks—often in voices that others have tried to silence.

May it be so. Alleluia Amen.