1 Timothy/ Should women get a head position in a church? Controversy...

In last week’s class, we (tried to) discuss if a church should even be structured, how it needs to be structured, and, most controversial, if a woman should have a high position in the church.

I think a church should be structured with the more traditional route, you know, with the pastor, the elders and such. Otherwise, we might end up in an organization like the Quakers. Sitting in one place for hours on end, waiting for someone to preach and finally dismiss us? No thanks! But that answer doesn’t deal with things like Bible studies, small groups, and even “house church.”

I guess that house church could and would count as an actual church because there is someone in charge and there is a message being brought to the people. However, a Bible study should remain a Bible study, and it should not be considered “church”.  What should count as a church is an organization with strong leaders, strong members, and a healthy reputation.

And I honestly don’t see a problem with women being at the head of the church. If you read just this verse, it just sounds plain and simple:

“¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”

        (1 Timothy 2:12)

But here’s the full passage:

^“8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.”

He is telling them to “learn quietly with all submissiveness”, meaning he is merely wishing them to learn beside the men. And if you think the other passages are still directed towards all women, in this letter Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus. The women in Ephesus were used to being dominant over the men, so the “gold and pearls” were disrupting the services and making them seem higher than everyone else. Paul is putting this notion to rest and getting the equilibrium back in order.

That’s all I have for this blog. Type down your comments before Freddy gets ya! Do it. Do it. Do it.