I do not Permit a Woman to Teach: An Examination of Scripture, Church History, and Natural Revelation with Regard to the Subject of Women Preaching in Church - Softcover

Inhaltsangabe

Women should not preach sermons in church. That is the main argument of this book. By “in church,” I mean the corporate assembling together of the saints for worship and edification. By “preach sermons,” I mean publicly teaching and exhorting from the Scriptures. While this sounds shocking to modern Christians, it really should not be controversial at all. It is not a personal opinion but rather a simple and straightforward application of the Apostle Paul’s prohibition in 1 Timothy 2:12, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain silent.”

Why do so many Christians find this verse to be confusing or offensive? We live in a culture steeped in feminism—an ideology that insists there should be no differences whatsoever in the roles and duties of men and women. I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach aims to boldly and graciously confront the unbiblical ideology of feminism and demonstrate from Scripture, church history, and natural revelation that 1 Timothy 2:12 still applies today, and that Christians ought not promote what Scripture does not permit.

Why is this issue so important? Historically, one of the marks of a true church is that the Word of God is rightly preached (An Orthodox Creed, Article 30; Belgic Confession, Article 29). How the Word is preached matters, and the Lord gave rules through his apostles about how his Word is to be preached, which include 1 Timothy 2:12. We confess in the Nicene Creed that we believe in “one holy catholic and apostolic church,” but if a church permits what the apostles have expressly forbidden, it cannot rightly be called apostolic. We cannot claim orthodoxy while denying apostolic teaching. The subject of women preaching, then, is no peripheral issue, but concerns the purity of the Church and her faithfulness to apostolic doctrine.

The Church is God’s house, and he makes the rules. His rules for preaching are not based on cultural norms and traditions, but rather on how he created us as male and female from the beginning. We would do well to remember that no one is more wise or loving than God, and all of his rules are always for our good and for his glory, and therefore we should trust his design for men and women in the church and joyfully submit ourselves to his holy Word.

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