Female Pastors – Should Women Preach?

In recent years especially, there have been some women who claim to have been called to preach. But are women preachers Biblical? Some say women should not preach. Others say female Pastors are preaching in accordance with the Bible. They cannot both be right, so we must go to God’s Word for the answer. If we do not go to God’s Word in order to answer this question (or any other), or if we go to His Word and reject any part of it, we have no solid base for any answer that we may come up with.

1 Timothy 2:11-14 states “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

In this passage, the apostle Paul makes it very clear that women are to be in subjection to Godly men when it comes to church leadership. This silence (from the Greek word “heµsychia”) does not mean literal silence. It means “settled down, undisturbed, not unruly; quiet, still.”

This passage does not, in any way, suggest that women are to be slaves or that women are of lesser value than men. But it does make it very clear that the answer to the question “can a woman be a Pastor” is very clearly, no. It is not the role of women to preach or to teach men in Church.

Men and women have different roles in life and that carries over to the church. Women were created, and are better suited physically and emotionally, to nurture their family. Men were created, and are better suited physically and emotionally, to provide for, guide, and protect their family. The natural leadership role that a man has over his family is the same as the male leadership role in the church.

These roles do not, in any way, insinuate that men are smarter than women (which is certainly not the case) or that men are spiritually greater than women. When it comes to salvation, we are all sinners in need of a Savior, as is clear in Galatians 3:28:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

These two roles compliment one another perfectly! Mark 10:8 states:

“And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.”

So we see how God sees male and female who come together in marriage. They are “one flesh.”

In the beginning, God put Adam in the garden of Eden and gave him authority to name all of the animals and then He made Eve, from his rib, to be his helper.

Genesis 2:20-24 “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

God Himself declared Eve to be Adam’s “helper.” Eve was not lesser than Adam, but had a different role. The same goes for all men and women to this day. To violate God’s established order is to invite His displeasure and chaos in society.

1 Timothy 3:2 states: “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife…” there is no room for wondering here whether a woman could possibly fill the role of a bishop.

So, can women be preachers? Not if they are obedient to God and His Word. Women fill many Godly roles. But preaching to men is not one of them.