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Ms. Lesley is back, once again parsing 1 Timothy 2:12, which she doesn't even bother to quote:
1Ti. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
She writes to add yet another subdoctrine derived from an improper application of this verse. This astonishingly bad and unbiblical description ought to be an embarrassment, but she presents it as unassailable truth.
This verse is not describing a church service, it's not about what pastors do, and it has nothing to do with what generic women can or cannot do on Sunday. You can read our explanation here.
We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
(...)
Q. ...I was curious how the question about women translating sermons would apply to people who translate the Bible into a new language. Usually they are in a team. But if a lady was working as part of a team would she not have to discuss Scripture with men and theology and doctrine in discussing proper word use? Would this be preaching to men and therefore not a job allowed women?
A. A very thoughtful question! It is always good to think about various applications of God’s Word.
I want to start my answer with a simple exercise that I hope will help all of my readers to distinguish “preaching” from “not preaching”. Assuming you attend any approximation of a doctrinally sound church, I want you to picture what your pastor does when he steps in front of the congregation during the worship service on Sunday morning. What does it look like? (This is what we mean by astonishing. Ms. Lesley's standard is not about anything regarding the Bible, it's about what her pastor does in a church service.
Biblically speaking, there is no such thing as a church service, as compared to a contemporary church. In the Bible pastors don't preach, people don't sit in rows, there are no offering plates to pass around, there's no church organ, no podium, no little plaque telling of last week's attendance...
What happens in Ms. Lesley's church has nothing to do with what women can or can't do. And in fact, it has nothing to do with applying 1 Timothy 2:12.)
Is he holding a private small group discussion about doctrine or other biblical topics? Is he writing a blog article? Is he sharing the gospel one on one with a lost person? Is he posting a Bible verse on social media? Is he being interviewed? Is he recording a podcast?
No (And yet, women have been accused of “preaching to men” for doing all of these things). (It gets worse. We had to pause a moment, unable to respond. Gathering our wits together, we can only say that we cannot see in the Bible anything about any of these activities.
It seems to us that Ms. Lesley ought to create a chart, listing activities that are permitted and those that aren't. This would equip the women who read her blog with a handy 100+ page reference to properly respond to each and every situation.)
He is standing there, alone, exhorting, proclaiming, and teaching (hopefully expositorially) the written Word of God to the assembled local church body. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
If you ever wonder whether someone is “preaching,” compare what he or she is doing to that mental picture of your pastor. Does it look basically the same? If not, it’s probably not preaching. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
Let’s put a woman working on a Bible translation team through that grid. She’s working in some sort of office-type setting, using Bible translation software on her computer, doing research, interviewing native speakers, meeting with colleagues for discussions about various words, passages, etc. Does that look like what your pastor does on Sunday morning? I hope not, because that’s not what a pastor is supposed to be doing on Sunday morning. He’s supposed to be preaching the Word to the assembled local church. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
The Bible prohibits women from pastoring, preaching to men, instructing men in the Scriptures, and holding authority over men in the gathering of the Body – the church – not in collaborative, non-preaching, situations like this outside the local gathering. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
In fact, we have an example of this in Scripture, in Acts 18, where Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, took Apollos aside privately and “explained to him the way of God more accurately”. Priscilla is never rebuked or spoken negatively about in Scripture for having done this. In fact, Paul commends her and gives thanks for her as a helper to him and the church in Romans 16. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
Are there some positions in Bible translation organizations that only qualified pastors should hold? Probably. Are there situations in which a doctrinally sound, biblically qualified pastor should make the final decision on doctrinal issues that may arise? Most likely. But generally speaking, most of the time there’s no biblical problem with a woman serving on a Bible translation team. And if there is, it’s not because Bible translation equals preaching. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.
If you ever wonder whether someone is “preaching,” compare what he or she is doing to that mental picture of your pastor. Does it look basically the same? If not, it’s probably not preaching. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
Let’s put a woman working on a Bible translation team through that grid. She’s working in some sort of office-type setting, using Bible translation software on her computer, doing research, interviewing native speakers, meeting with colleagues for discussions about various words, passages, etc. Does that look like what your pastor does on Sunday morning? I hope not, because that’s not what a pastor is supposed to be doing on Sunday morning. He’s supposed to be preaching the Word to the assembled local church. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
The Bible prohibits women from pastoring, preaching to men, instructing men in the Scriptures, and holding authority over men in the gathering of the Body – the church – not in collaborative, non-preaching, situations like this outside the local gathering. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
In fact, we have an example of this in Scripture, in Acts 18, where Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, took Apollos aside privately and “explained to him the way of God more accurately”. Priscilla is never rebuked or spoken negatively about in Scripture for having done this. In fact, Paul commends her and gives thanks for her as a helper to him and the church in Romans 16. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.)
Are there some positions in Bible translation organizations that only qualified pastors should hold? Probably. Are there situations in which a doctrinally sound, biblically qualified pastor should make the final decision on doctrinal issues that may arise? Most likely. But generally speaking, most of the time there’s no biblical problem with a woman serving on a Bible translation team. And if there is, it’s not because Bible translation equals preaching. (Which 1 Timothy 2:12 does not address.
Let's again quote the verse:
1Ti. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
Such a simple verse, yet so violated by these supposed Bible teachers.)
(...)
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