Bible Question: Again ,are women allowed ,Biblically to be pastors?If so ,then who is Paul adressing in Corinthians and Timothy? |
Bible Answer: No, women are not allowed to take a leadership role in the church. 1 Timothy 2 12And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. And since you used the term pastor, you need to know that this term for a position in the church is interchangable with the terms overseer,bishop and elder. 1 Timothy 3 Qualifications of Overseers Qualifications of Church Officers 1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop,[1] he desires a good work. The reason for going off on the tangent is a pastor or elder is position to be held by men in every church and there should be more than one. Acts 14 23 "So when they had appointed elders in every church," Some think that the preacher is the pastor/overseer/elder and stands alone over the deacons of the church but this is not so. Just as there are more than one deacon in a church there should be more than one elder. And usually but not always (sometimes one of the elders fill this position as well) the person behind the pullpit is just the preacher and has no authority at all over the congregation this is the responsibility of the elders. In conclusion since we now have covered the definition of the office of elder and we can see by the above scripture that women are not to have authority over a men, now lets lets look at who can hold the position of elder/bishop. 1 Timothy 3 2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,[1] but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence The above verse says that a bishop must be the HUSBAND of one wife along with other qualifications. So by these scriptures you can see that women are not to hold the position of pastor or any other leadership role in the church where men are present. Raven |