By Elizabeth Prata
The article discusses the biblical principle of women’s silence in church, citing 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. While it emphasizes women’s submission, it does not imply total silence. It encourages women to embrace their role in church as silent witnesses to God’s glory.
Continue reading “Embracing Quietness: Women’s Role in the Church”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
The article discusses the misinterpretations of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 regarding women’s roles in the church. It critiques arguments allowing women to teach or preach under male authority, emphasizing adherence to biblical authority and order. The essay cites theologians like John Piper and John MacArthur, reinforcing traditional views on gender roles in ministry.
Continue reading “1 Timothy: Women Preaching as Pastor or as a Guest Violates Scripture, even with “Permission””By Elizabeth Prata
For those of us who love God and seek to obey at all pints (but knowing we fail, so we repent and try again), the persistent and entrenched disobedience of some self-proclaimed Christian women is a puzzle to us.
But then again, we read our Bibles and see 1 John 2:4 which says, The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
And we say, those who constantly disobey, (especially by preaching in church, which is a gross abomination to Jesus), who are unteachable, who reject correction, who preach a different gospel, who deny the sufficiency of the Bible by their direct revelatory stories and puffed up visions, who abandon their career of motherhood & children at home to pursue a career, whose fruit is only thorns and is bad…must not be saved.
And then we receive pushback on every point above. So it’s still a puzzle when the Bible is so clear on certain points which are easy to understand and interpret. In the collage above are some of the more prominent women who stand behind a pulpit in a church they claim is Jesus’, and preach.
Because if they had the Holy Spirit in them, He would not allow them to continue on a consistent path of rebellion. He would correct them either by opening their eyes to the proper verses, or by some drastic measure to awaken them to their transgressions. Do you think the Holy Spirit is in a woman who, for decades, disobeys? Can a Christian have a seared conscience over their persistent and public sin? Dishonoring Jesus along the way and creating stumbling blocks for the weaker sisters?
No. He killed Ananias and Sapphira to demonstrate how serious He is about sin in the church. He sent 7 letters to the churches in Revelation to show how serious He is about His church.
Above we have-
Beth Moore at St Timothy’s,
Aimee Byrd at Covenant Church,
Rev Nancy Frausto at Seminary of the Southwest,
Sadie Robertson Huff at Auburn Community Church (only age 22!),
Christine Caine at Life Church,
Priscilla Shirer at Concord Church.
“women should keep silent in the churches”. 1 Corinthians 14:33-34.
Pastor Gabe Hughes of WWUTT.com: Women Pastors are a Fundamental Problem for Southern Baptists
GTY: Does the Bible permit a woman to preach?
Ladies, be discerning. Above all, be humble. It takes humility to say ‘I followed this or that woman for a while and invested in her, with my heart, money, time, or energy, but my investment in her was misguided. Let me learn to discern better, let me be pure in my approach to obeying Jesus, let me abandon that which makes me stumble on my walk and turn to “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8).
If you see a woman standing at a pulpit on a Sunday morning at church service and open her Bible and preach to the congregation, she is in rebellion. Though satan is subtle, and hides his schemes secretively many times, this one is an easy spot. If the woman preaches consistently (not just a one-time mistake), she is in rebellion and you can learn nothing from her.
If you followed her for a while, just talk to Jesus about it. Repent and ask Him to give you better discernment. He will!
By Elizabeth Prata
I’m reading William Carey’s biography, written by his great grandson S. Pearce Carey. It’s a wonderful book for many reasons. Full of nuggets. Like this one:
Carey’s sister Mary, nicknamed Polly, became an invalid at a young age. Her spine started to go. By age 25 she was a paralytic.
Carey had already evangelized his family, and blessedly, Mary was a believer when her infirmity struck. Mary was confined to her sick room for the next 50 years. She had been the one to accompany her brother tramping on their field forays, examining nature and admiring God’s handiwork. Thus, Mary’s confinement was a grief to her, as she too, loved to roam. Worse, for eleven years after her final paralysis, she could not speak. She contracted smallpox, and after recovering, whispered a sentence or two with great pain and difficulty. Then she was mute again for another 20 years.
Mary only had the use of her right arm and hand, and could write, but only in pain. However, she led a Bible study, using a slate to converse. She wrote copiously to William when he was abroad on mission. Some of these folios have been saved, Mary poured out her heart to William, and she wrote every bit of family news. She was a huge encouragement to William.
She was a prayer warrior unparalleled, S. Pearce Carey calling her one of Carey’s ‘chief priests’, saying, “the incense of whose ceaseless intercession was fragrant to God.’ She prayed every single day for William’s needs and his mission, for 52 years.
Mary had drawn her sister’s many children to Christ. Mary was so loved, “to part with her would tear us asunder” wrote Mary’s niece in 1828. In the end, Mary was just skin and bone, barely able to sit up in a chair while her bed was being made, yet her face shone with the love of Christ. She was known by all as a sweet tempered Christian lady, empathizing more for others than herself. Yet finally, in 1842 at the age of 75, Mary was brought home to her Lord, where she was finally free from all pain and standing upright to see His face.
Her ministry of evangelizing, letter writing, encouraging, praying, and teaching is known to us 182 years later as remarkable and a grace upon grace.
So it is with grief when I read of egotistical cretins like Beth Moore who complained an interview that she was “in a tradition where there were just very limited things that a woman could do” as Beth has said, so, that is why she chose to step out of God’s role for her and satisfied her venal ambition to preach. Her God-given role was “limiting.”
Limiting. As in, not big enough.
A woman like Moore, with full body capabilities, given the blessing of two children, having a home and wealth (not evicted as Carey’s sister’s family was), considered her role limiting. Mary, bedridden in the 1700s-1800s, mute, one useful arm only and that in pain, lovingly cared for as she engaged in not one, not two, not three, not four, but five ministries, having global impact and heaven only knows the eternal impact.
Does Moore and her ilk not know of this? Do these strutting spiritual strumpets not know of lowly Cockney, uneducated, impoverished maid Gladys Aylward, denied support to go on mission in China, but went anyway? Pouring out her life to minister to and evangelize orphans? Working tirelessly for the pagan Chinese from 1930 to 1970, when she died in Taiwan?
Do they not know of Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, who was born into lordly British privilege, and used her means to become an ardent supporter of ministers who preach the truth? Inviting others to her home and founding dozens of chapels for the area’s preachers to do their godly ministrations? In 1783 she founded “The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion”, a society of English preachers and churches that continues to this day.
Do they not know of the blessing of motherhood, helpmeet, teacher of children, godly role and support of the household? Beth Moore and rebels of her ilk consider motherhood limiting. Praying: limiting. Letter writing: limiting. Philanthropy: limiting. Parenting: limiting. They consider all the roles and opportunities to serve God too limiting. They want to preach. They want to be in front. Well, ladies, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
I am sure, SURE, on THAT DAY, women like Gladys, Selina, Mary will be standing in front, receiving due praise from the KING for their obedience and positive impact for the Kingdom. I am sure, SURE women like Beth Moore and Christine Caine and Jen Wilkin and Aimee Byrd etc. who rebel and whine, and ‘step into the classic leadership role’, as Caine has said, will be told “DEPART FROM ME” because of their rebellion and their negative damage to the kingdom. These disguised servants of righteousness will be unmasked, seen as they are- ministers of wickedness. As 2 Corinthians 11:15 says, their end will be as they deserve.
Meanwhile, dear sister, nothing is too limiting with God. Wherever you are and with whatever means He has given you, you can make an impact for His kingdom and for lost souls. Mary, Martha, Susannah, Dorcas, Lydia, Priscilla, Lois, Eunice…Gladys, Selina, Mary-Polly; whatever amount of education, whatever amount of finances, whatever the family situation, look to the excellent examples of our sisters in the faith. One day, we will meet them all. What a day that will be.
By Elizabeth Prata
Sunday Beth Moore preached again, this time at a Baptist Church in Houston. She described her attendance as not preaching but “serving,” which is disingenuous. It is also a sin. (1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Corinthians 14:34)
Secondly, she chose to embarrass her husband in front of her million-plus followers by calling him out for falling asleep during her sermon. This is a disgrace. (Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:2).
Third, she chose to boast that the invitation to (sinfully) preach was from a “prestigious” church. We can plainly see where her heart is.
She is receiving flack for her rebellion on social media and on Youtube. I myself denounced this behavior, saying “she belittled her husband for falling asleep during her message. Ladies, this should not be so. Bible is clear women are not to preach. They’re also to respect their husbands, not publicly embarrass them for a social media anecdote. Moore is a scourge & an embarrassment to us all.”
Of the pushback Moore is receiving, she wrote a reply. She cannot resist. Below is her posted reply to the pushback. I’ll insert my comments in at certain points. Below that is an EXCELLENT video. At the end I’ll write why I am so concerned. Do not be deceived by her seemingly soft words.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. (Romans 16:17-18 KJV)
BETH MOORE:
This is a cheerfully-written, good-will word to my beloved kin in Christ who deeply disapprove of my accepting a handful of invitations a year from pastors
The frequency of her preaching is not at issue. The sin itself, is.
who graciously ask if I would speak on a Sunday to their congregations.
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is fooled by her use of the word “speaking.” It’s preaching. And she can call it whatever you want, but God isn’t fooled either.
I need you to know that I hear you. I see your deep commitment to your stand on women’s roles & I admire that you never tire of the subject.
I will never tire of warning women about false teachers. Jude says to. (Jude 1:23)
I acknowledge that, at the end of your open-minded & extensive exegesis of all the NT has to say about women, you hang your hat on the verses telling women to be silent in church. I get it.
But she continues to speak in churches.
I’ve read them once or twice or 500X myself. I too love the Bible. I too have studied it & value it so highly,
A person who spits on the gift and tramples it doesn’t value the gift highly.
I’ll spend my life, God willing, calling people into its pages.
And that is an issue, Moore calls people to its pages but by her ignoring verses that don’t suit her, and by her life, shows women that the Bible does not have to be heeded.
And after my own extensive study of women in the NT, I hang my head covering on verses like Acts 2:17-18,
It’s not a matter of ‘hanging our hat’ on one verse or another. It’s that the untaught and the unstable twist and distort verses, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16).
& on those where the same Paul who wrote your final word on women references hosts of women who were obviously colaborers in the gospel work
Co-laboring is not preaching or pastoring.
& among the leaders in their churches.
No woman was ever a leader in the churches.
I also burn alive inside with the call of Christ to the great commission.
I pray she repents before she truly learns what burning is.
I could know more stop than you could. All of this is to this point: if my story about Keith Moore falling fast asleep on the front row of a church in full view of the choir while I was bringing a message does not—at the very least—make you grin at my expense,
It was as Keith’s expense. Not hers.
consider hanging up your sheriff’s badge for a few weeks and taking a vacation. Everybody, including me, knows how you feel about women in church. You’ve done your job. We get it. We hear it. We see your commitment to the cause. But take a break.
No. I will never tire of helping women see that Beth Moore and others like her are a danger to their walk, their spiritual life, and to their souls. She wishes we’d stop. But we won’t.
These are sorrowful times. Have a hearty laugh on me. It’s good medicine.
They are sorrowful times because of the influx of preaching, rebellious women like Beth Moore who continue to pollute the church. It is a grief and a pain to me to see it and to help young women overcome the normalization of sin women like Moore have put on them like a millstone.
Now, is the problem of women preaching really that big of a deal? YES.
In 1962, 2% of clergy were women. Now, in 2022, 27% of pastors across the country are women. Fifty percent of students in Master of Divinity programs (a seminary program preparing the student for pastoral ministry), are women. (Source from video below).
It’s been an explosion. What happened? The Second Wave Feminist Movement, that’s what happened.
Culture has bowed the knee to the power of women as promoted by the feminist philosophy, but God’s word has not changed. Women are increasingly intruding into roles God has not designed for them in the church. So much so, that according to a survey in 2017, 80% of Americans are comfortable with the idea of a female pastor.
Women are not to preach to men and they are not to become pastors or elders. The Bible is crystal clear on this.
John Henry at The Gospel of Christ Youtube channel presents the following video. It is well-done. It contains refutations to the ‘what abouts’ such as “What about Deborah?” “What about Sarah Palin or Kamala Harris?” “What about the gifts of the Spirit, aren’t they given to everyone?” “What if I feel the call of God to teach and preach?”
All those questions are answered from scripture, which is clear. Once again, women are not to teach or preach to men.
Women’s roles in the church are valued and important for the health of the local church and the global church. There is no doubt that God used women for His glory. There is no doubt that God used women in all sorts of ways to advance the church – just not a teachers of men or preachers.
The video is 21 minutes long. John Henry at The Gospel of Christ Youtube Channel did a great job of editing, showing the truth is undeniably clear. Every women striding a stage with a Bible in her hand preaching in church or teaching at a conference to men, every women ‘feeling like’ she has a call from God to teach while her husband sits passively by, every women who insists to be ordained and assumes a position not meant for her, is a rebel. Every. Single. One.
We know they are false teachers because they have been told they are rebelling against God’s word. Joyce Meyer has been told. Beth Moore has been told. I know others have been told. They ignore the scriptures they claim to love. Their continued rebellion in the face of correction is a clear signal these women are desirous of personal glory, filling a lust, or otherwise casting aside the Savior in order to errantly continue in their pursuit of sin.
Please take a few minutes to listen.
I have prayed for Beth Moore to repent. I have prayed for many of these rebels. I pray the Lord gives them grace before they die. I have also prayed over women who have contacted me, confused, upset, unsure, thanks to ‘Bible Studies” like Moore’s and others that distort the scriptures, or present a lifestyle unsuitable for their demographic.
I have prayed to Jesus to stop them.
For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:10-11).
A women preacher is a woman upsetting whole families. They are empty talkers and deceivers, teaching what they ought not. They confuse the unwary. They draw people away so as to diminish their effectiveness for the kingdom. We cannot ignore these evil people, we must stand opposed to them. We mark them, avoid them, snatch the doubters from the fire, and urge discernment.
PS- Beth Moore is preaching again this Sunday, at Transformation Church.
PPS: Her speaking fees range from $20,000 – $30,000 per.
By Elizabeth Prata
Sunday Beth Moore preached again, this time at a Baptist Church in Houston. She described her attendance as not preaching but “serving,” which is disingenuous. It is also a sin. (1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Corinthians 14:34)
Secondly, she chose to embarrass her husband in front of her million-plus followers by calling him out for falling asleep during her sermon. This is a disgrace. (Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 3:2).
Third, she chose to boast that the invitation to (sinfully) preach was from a “prestigious” church. We can plainly see where her heart is.
She is receiving flack for her rebellion on social media and on Youtube. I myself denounced this behavior, saying “she belittled her husband for falling asleep during her message. Ladies, this should not be so. Bible is clear women are not to preach. They’re also to respect their husbands, not publicly embarrass them for a social media anecdote. Moore is a scourge & an embarrassment to us all.”
Of the pushback Moore is receiving, she wrote a reply. She cannot resist. Below is her posted reply to the pushback. I’ll insert my comments in at certain points. Below that is an EXCELLENT video. At the end I’ll write why I am so concerned. Do not be deceived by her seemingly soft words.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. (Romans 16:17-18 KJV)
BETH MOORE:
This is a cheerfully-written, good-will word to my beloved kin in Christ who deeply disapprove of my accepting a handful of invitations a year from pastors
The frequency of her preaching is not at issue. The sin itself, is.
who graciously ask if I would speak on a Sunday to their congregations.
Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is fooled by her use of the word “speaking.” It’s preaching. And she can call it whatever you want, but God isn’t fooled either.
I need you to know that I hear you. I see your deep commitment to your stand on women’s roles & I admire that you never tire of the subject.
I will never tire of warning women about false teachers. Jude says to. (Jude 1:23)
I acknowledge that, at the end of your open-minded & extensive exegesis of all the NT has to say about women, you hang your hat on the verses telling women to be silent in church. I get it.
But she continues to speak in churches.
I’ve read them once or twice or 500X myself. I too love the Bible. I too have studied it & value it so highly,
A person who spits on the gift and tramples it doesn’t value the gift highly.
I’ll spend my life, God willing, calling people into its pages.
And that is an issue, Moore calls people to its pages but by her ignoring verses that don’t suit her, and by her life, shows women that the Bible does not have to be heeded.
And after my own extensive study of women in the NT, I hang my head covering on verses like Acts 2:17-18,
It’s not a matter of ‘hanging our hat’ on one verse or another. It’s that the untaught and the unstable twist and distort verses, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16).
& on those where the same Paul who wrote your final word on women references hosts of women who were obviously colaborers in the gospel work
Co-laboring is not preaching or pastoring.
& among the leaders in their churches.
No woman was ever a leader in the churches.
I also burn alive inside with the call of Christ to the great commission.
I pray she repents before she truly learns what burning is.
I could know more stop than you could. All of this is to this point: if my story about Keith Moore falling fast asleep on the front row of a church in full view of the choir while I was bringing a message does not—at the very least—make you grin at my expense,
It was as Keith’s expense. Not hers.
consider hanging up your sheriff’s badge for a few weeks and taking a vacation. Everybody, including me, knows how you feel about women in church. You’ve done your job. We get it. We hear it. We see your commitment to the cause. But take a break.
No. I will never tire of helping women see that Beth Moore and others like her are a danger to their walk, their spiritual life, and to their souls. She wishes we’d stop. But we won’t.
These are sorrowful times. Have a hearty laugh on me. It’s good medicine.
They are sorrowful times because of the influx of preaching, rebellious women like Beth Moore who continue to pollute the church. It is a grief and a pain to me to see it and to help young women overcome the normalization of sin women like Moore have put on them like a millstone.
Now, is the problem of women preaching really that big of a deal? YES.
In 1962, 2% of clergy were women. Now, in 2022, 27% of pastors across the country are women. Fifty percent of students in Master of Divinity programs (a seminary program preparing the student for pastoral ministry), are women. (Source from video below).
It’s been an explosion. What happened? The Second Wave Feminist Movement, that’s what happened.
Culture has bowed the knee to the power of women as promoted by the feminist philosophy, but God’s word has not changed. Women are increasingly intruding into roles God has not designed for them in the church. So much so, that according to a survey in 2017, 80% of Americans are comfortable with the idea of a female pastor.
Women are not to preach to men and they are not to become pastors or elders. The Bible is crystal clear on this.
John Henry at The Gospel of Christ Youtube channel presents the following video. It is well-done. It contains refutations to the ‘what abouts’ such as “What about Deborah?” “What about Sarah Palin or Kamala Harris?” “What about the gifts of the Spirit, aren’t they given to everyone?” “What if I feel the call of God to teach and preach?”
All those questions are answered from scripture, which is clear. Once again, women are not to teach or preach to men.
Women’s roles in the church are valued and important for the health of the local church and the global church. There is no doubt that God used women for His glory. There is no doubt that God used women in all sorts of ways to advance the church – just not a teachers of men or preachers.
The video is 21 minutes long. John Henry at The Gospel of Christ Youtube Channel did a great job of editing, showing the truth is undeniably clear. Every women striding a stage with a Bible in her hand preaching in church or teaching at a conference to men, every women ‘feeling like’ she has a call from God to teach while her husband sits passively by, every women who insists to be ordained and assumes a position not meant for her, is a rebel. Every. Single. One.
We know they are false teachers because they have been told they are rebelling against God’s word. Joyce Meyer has been told. Beth Moore has been told. I know others have been told. They ignore the scriptures they claim to love. Their continued rebellion in the face of correction is a clear signal these women are desirous of personal glory, filling a lust, or otherwise casting aside the Savior in order to errantly continue in their pursuit of sin.
Please take a few minutes to listen.
I have prayed for Beth Moore to repent. I have prayed for many of these rebels. I pray the Lord gives them grace before they die. I have also prayed over women who have contacted me, confused, upset, unsure, thanks to ‘Bible Studies” like Moore’s and others that distort the scriptures, or present a lifestyle unsuitable for their demographic.
I have prayed to Jesus to stop them.
For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of dishonest gain. (Titus 1:10-11).
A women preacher is a woman upsetting whole families. They are empty talkers and deceivers, teaching what they ought not. They confuse the unwary. They draw people away so as to diminish their effectiveness for the kingdom. We cannot ignore these evil people, we must stand opposed to them. We mark them, avoid them, snatch the doubters from the fire, and urge discernment.
PS- Beth Moore is preaching again this Sunday, at Transformation Church.
PPS: Her speaking fees range from $20,000 – $30,000 per.
By Elizabeth Prata
In 2019 John MacArthur hosted the Truth Matters conference at Grace Community Church. 2019 marked the 50th year he has been pastoring and teaching at that same church, a remarkable achievement for which we have the Holy Spirit to thank.
At the conference there was a Question and Answer session, as there usually is at these things. Todd Friel of Wretched Radio moderated. He explained at one point near the end he was going to have the men on the panel enter a sort of lightning round, requesting one or two word answers to the names Friel would utter.
Continue reading “Why John MacArthur was right to say “Go Home” about Beth Moore”By Elizabeth Prata
A reader asked about women on stage during church services. During the service different churches allow women to do different things. Some of those things might be-
–preaching the sermon
–leading a confessional or a devotional
–reading of scripture
–leading the choir
–singing solos
–singing in the choir with men
–leading congregational prayer
–giving announcements
It is obvious that scripture forbids a woman from preaching to the congregation, to men, or to teach them. No matter how feminists twist the pertinent scriptures, they always say the same thing. Preaching is a NO. (1 Timothy 2:12)
Ten years ago Tim Challies, book reviewer and at that time a pastor/elder in his church, wrote two essays on women reading scripture on stage during services. The first article was strong on the complementarian nature of the functions of men and women in the Sunday Church service. It generated lots of push back (even ten years ago, imagine if it was published these days!). So he wrote a second article explaining more of his thinking.
He believes that the reading of scripture is a teaching function and therefore reserved for men only. Oddly, he/his church allows a woman to lead prayer from time to time. So here we view the see-saw nature of what a woman can or cannot do on stage during a Sunday Service according to scripture and according to various peoples’ interpretation of it.
It’s really up to the conscience of the elders/pastor and his interpretation of the pertinent verses to make decisions in the gray areas where scripture doesn’t speak specifically. I tend to fall into the narrow interpretation category of interpreting that it’s best not having a woman speak anything on stage during the service. I like seeing only men on stage during Sunday services praying, speaking, leading, or teaching because it’s consistent with 1 Timothy and the headship issue.
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 wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:34-35)
Here are Challies’ two articles. I liked his explanation of why he interprets the reading of scripture is a teaching function. That’s why I’m linking to it.
Here are Challies’ two articles
Article #1-
The Public Reading of Scripture
Article #2 responding to push back,
Men, Women & the Public Reading of Scripture
I agree with his articles that the reading of scripture is related to a teaching function (article #2 explains why very well, it’s why I posted it). I agree that preaching is reserved for men according to 1 Timothy 2 and other verses. In that same vein of interpretation, I personally believe that women leading prayer on stage during church service is the also a teaching function because we often pray scripture or pray about scripture, and therefore reserved for men.
I think especially in these days that a woman on stage during the church service speaking to the congregation in any form except to be baptized or share her testimony is a violation of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 and/or is a dangerous precedent presenting a poor ‘visual’ that will inspire others to follow and enlarge. A picture of a woman standing on stage with a Bible in her hand and a microphone in the other speaking to the congregation thru reading scripture or thru prayer puts the camel’s nose under the tent flap. We know that once you give an inch, satan will take a mile. Soon, I believe, that same church will allow women to preach. It’s incremental.
Here is an example of that incremental creep: …in a church I went to long ago a woman led the choir from on stage during service and sang with them. OK. But then she gravitated to standing behind the pulpit and explaining to the congregation the origin of the song they were about to sing. Hmmm. Then, she gravitated to standing behind the pulpit and explaining the theology and scriptures behind the song, and her explanations got even longer. Uh-oh. You see how it gets incrementally more of a violation of scripture to have a woman on stage explaining anything. Her “explanations” turned into mini-sermons over time. Give satan an inch … he takes a mile.
As for women singing in the choir with men or singing solos, I believe that is different. I believe that is an expression of service to God by using her God-given talent for the glory of God. When a woman leads congregational prayer or reads scripture she is being used as a vehicle to deliver God’s words to the people, that is why I believe it to be a violation of 1 Timothy 2. When she sings, she is using man’s words. She is not in authority over men because the highest authority, the Bible, is not being used as a conduit to express that authority. In that way, I believe singing is a service, not an authoritative leading.
Here is a blog post from Grace To You 2013 on the topic
https://www.gty.org/library/Blog/B130904
It’s about headship and submission (And Adam was formed first, then Eve…as the rest of the 1 Timothy 2 verse goes).
In my beliefs in matters of gray area, I tend to fall on the more conservative side. I know how grabby sin can be, and standing on the line with my toes right up to it would make for an easier fall into sin, in my view. Better to stay on more solid ground. But in matters of gray area it’s up to the pastor or elders’ interpretation and conscience, and then our own as our churches live out their ecclesiology.
By Elizabeth Prata
the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. (1 Corinthians 14:34)
If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:35)
A woman must learn in quietness and full submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man; she is to remain quiet. (1 Timothy 2:11-12)
Obviously being silent in the churches doesn’t mean that women are never to utter a word in church. In other epistles, Paul writes that women pray in church. Women fellowship before and after. Women sing. So being silent does not mean total silence from entering the church doors to exiting. Continue reading “The Silent Witness that Speaks Volumes”
the-end-time.org 