See also “Can Women Be Pastors? The Case Against.”
Some Christians (commonly called “egalitarians” or “mutualists” within evangelicalism) believe that every office of leadership in the church is open to both men and women, including the office of elder/pastor. Whether or not one presently agrees with this view, it is held by many orthodox, evangelical Christians. The arguments should be taken seriously and responded to respectfully—not dismissed by quoting a few Bible verses as if they are “clear” and as if anyone who disagrees is a “liberal.” While not every point is affirmed by every egalitarian, this article provides some of the common lines of argument in favor of female ordination to the pastorate.
Women Leaders in the Old Testament
Even in the Old Testament, women exercised leadership in Israel. For example, Miriam helped Moses and Aaron to lead God’s people out of Egypt and through the wilderness: “I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam” (Mic. 6:4). Miriam led the Israelites (not just women) in singing and worshipping the Lord (Ex. 15:20–21). As a judge and prophetess, Deborah was a religious (not just secular) leader of God’s people, and she is celebrated as one of the best—not just a woman who stepped in because no men were available to do so (Judg. 4:4–5; 5:7). When Esther orchestrated a plan to save the Jews, Mordecai followed her lead: “Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him” (Esther 4:17). “The command of Esther” later confirmed the practices of Purim (Esther 9:32). While it was less common in the highly patriarchal world of the Ancient Near East, there were in fact cases in which women led with authority and men followed their leadership to the benefit of God’s people.
New Testament Equality in Ministry
When Jesus came, he chose twelve male apostles to correspond to the twelve sons of Jacob as a sign that he was recapitulating Israel’s history—not to establish a precedent for male-only leadership. Jesus also allowed women to follow him as disciples (Lk. 8:1–3), and when he rose from the dead, he chose women to be the first witnesses and preachers of his resurrection, the most important event in human history. This was a radical decision in a culture which did not view women as reliable witnesses.
The resurrection is the beginning of new creation and the redemption of God’s created purpose for men and women to rule alongside one another as equals (Gen. 1:26–28). The male-only priesthood of the Mosaic covenant was a temporary concession to a patriarchal world, but it is inconsistent with the spirit of the new covenant, in which “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Pentecost marks a decisively egalitarian turn towards “sons and daughters,” “male and female servants,” being empowered by the Spirit to serve in every kind of ministry (Acts 2:17). The priesthood is not transferred directly to pastors but is now shared by all Spirit-anointed believers, men and women (1 Pet. 2:5, 9).
Women as Coworkers with Authority
In the New Testament, women are prominently featured in a way that far exceeds anything in the Old Testament. Paul writes that Euodia and Syntyche “have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers” (Php. 4:3). “Side by side” emphasizes equality, and the same title of “fellow workers” is given to all (cf. Rom. 16:3, 12). Paul never uses terms like “elders,” “pastors,” or “preachers” to distinguish his male coworkers from his female ones. By applying the same terms to both, he treats them as equals. These female “fellow workers” and “laborers” had authority, for Paul told the Corinthians to be subject “to every fellow worker and laborer” (1 Cor. 16:16).
If Paul was truly opposed to female pastors, he would not have allowed women to do the things that pastors do. Priscilla taught a male preacher (Acts 18:26), and Junia, as an outstanding female apostle, would have had authority over men and may have had a hand in ordaining them (Rom. 16:7), as Barnabas helped Paul to ordain elders in every town (Acts 14:23). Phoebe, a female deacon, delivered Paul’s greatest written work, his letter to the Romans (Rom. 16:1–2), and in the ancient world, it was common for the person who delivered letters to represent their author by publicly reading them and answering questions about them. Phoebe was likely the first person to publicly expound the book of Romans. Female prophetesses like the daughters of Philip were central figures in the life of the early church because prophets, like pastors, are spokespersons for God (Acts 13:1; 21:9). There is no substantial difference between what a female prophet does when she proclaims, “Thus says the Lord” (2 Kings 22:15), and what a male pastor does when he preaches and teaches on Sunday morning.
Women Not Forbidden From Being Pastors in 1 Timothy 2:12
The only verse in the New Testament which prohibits women from teaching is 1 Timothy 2:12, and it must be read carefully and in context. Paul writes, “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or authentein a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (1 Tim. 2:11–12). In contemporary Greek literature, authentein is almost always (if not always) used in the pejorative sense of “domineer over” or “control”—not in the non-pejorative sense of “exercise authority” or “have authority.” Even the King James Version translated authentein as “usurp authority.”
Furthermore, in “neither-nor” constructions like “teach nor [oude] authentein,” the second word may express the goal of the first. For example, in Matthew 6:20, “break in nor [oude] steal” indicates that thieves break in with the purpose of stealing. Paul was thus forbidding a woman to teach with the purpose of domineering over a man. In Revelation 2:20, John confronts “Jezebel,” a self-proclaimed prophetess who was tolerated by the church in Thyatira. When John writes that Jezebel was “teaching and seducing” God’s people, the word “seducing” clearly qualifies the meaning of “teaching”: she was teaching in a manner that led others astray or deceived them. Paul was likely dealing with a similar situation at Ephesus, and was forbidding women from teaching in a way that seeks to domineer, control, or gain the upper hand over men—not forbidding them from holding the teaching office of elder/pastor, as long as they were ordained to that role through proper channels.
The Likely Background of 1 Timothy 2:12
Paul’s instruction about a woman teaching is directly followed by several statements that are difficult to understand: Adam was created first and was not deceived; the woman was deceived, but she will be “saved through childbearing” (1 Tim. 2:15). The fact that Adam was not deceived but knowingly, high-handedly sinned is hardly support for men being in charge, and Paul’s comment about pregnancy seems unrelated. Paul is most likely responding to a series of false teachings about creation which were being spread by female teachers in Ephesus. False teaching is, after all, the major theme of Paul’s letter to Timothy, and women consume a higher percentage of Paul’s attention in 1 Timothy than in any other book. Women were less educated in the first century and were likely more susceptible to such myths.
One possibility is that women in Ephesus were spreading myths taught by the local cult of the female goddess Artemis (recall Acts 19:34 and the two-hour chant, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”). This cult taught that Artemis was brought forth before her brother Apollos (the opposite of Genesis 2, in which Adam was brought forth first); some identified her with the Egyptian god Isis who deceived the male god Ra (the opposite of Genesis 3, in which the woman was deceived); it was commonly believed that Artemis helped women to survive childbirth (causing women to put their trust in Artemis instead of God as savior); and she was radically devoted to virginity (discouraging some women from getting married and having children at all). The female-centered cult of Artemis may have encouraged Christian women to abuse their newfound freedom in Christ, interrupt male teachers (a problem in ancient lecture settings, according to Plutarch), and seek to override their teaching with these popular myths.
Whatever the case, Paul’s instruction for women to learn quietly and submissively means that they should reject such temptations and instead be humble and teachable students of sound doctrine. This instruction is not unique to women. Men are addressed a few verses earlier and told to worship “without anger or quarrelling” (1 Tim. 2:8), but this obviously applies to women as well. Paul could have just as well said, “Men, learn quietly and with all submissiveness,” as Hebrews 13:17 tells both men and women to submit to their leaders in the faith. This was simply not Paul’s primary concern with the men at Ephesus.
Other Tenable Interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:12
There are also other tenable interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:12 which fit the context better than a prohibition of female elders. For example, the grammar arguably favors a present rather than universal prohibition: “I am not [currently] permitting a woman to teach.” The Jerusalem Bible, a Roman Catholic version, opts for this translation: “I am not giving permission.” Paul may have placed a temporary ban on female teachers because so many women in Ephesus had been deceived.
Furthermore, Paul may not have even been addressing women’s behavior in public worship. In 1 Timothy 2:8–15, Paul first describes how men should act “in every place” (1 Tim. 2:8), and the instructions which he gives to men and women (e.g., about prayerfulness and modesty) apply to every area of life. The shift from addressing “men” and “women” (plural) to how “a woman” treats “a man” (singular) may signal that Paul is concerned for some interaction between an anonymous woman and a man at Ephesus—likely a husband and wife (the word gunē, translated as “woman,” is the same Greek word used for “wife”).
Qualifications for “Anyone”
In 1 Timothy 3:1, Paul is not continuing his discussion of men and women. Rather, he is beginning a new section: “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” “Anyone” means “anyone”—male or female. Although most English translations use male pronouns (“he desires … he must not be … he must be”), there is in fact not a single masculine pronoun in the original Greek.
The phrase “husband of one wife” is an idiom which may be directed primarily to male candidates, but cannot be a requirement for all elders; otherwise, only married men would qualify. It is simply meant to exclude marital unfaithfulness, which was more common among men than women in Roman culture. Furthermore, deacons are also required to be “the husband of one wife” (1 Tim. 3:12), yet the early church ordained female deacons (Rom. 16:1).
If “anyone,” male or female, fulfills the requirements of 1 Timothy 3, they should be considered for the office of elder. Men and women are both made in the image of God and called to represent Christ, and can therefore both act in persona Christi, for although Christ was male, it is his human nature, not his maleness, which saves us.
The Traditional View Rooted in Outdated Views of Women as Inferior
Scripture has a redemptive trajectory towards the full partnership of men and women in ministry, and if the Church had followed this trajectory, it would have ordained women centuries ago. However, the Church developed within highly patriarchal cultures which viewed women as inherently inferior—less intelligent, less rational, and more susceptible to sin—and these cultural assumptions influenced the misinterpretation and misapplication of numerous biblical texts, especially in the Pauline corpus.
Women are now ordained as pastors in several Protestant denominations, especially in the Wesleyan and Pentecostal traditions, as well as some Anglican dioceses and many nondenominational churches. In some parts of the world, especially in the global south, the majority of churches are led by female pastors. Contrary to popular rhetoric, not every church or denomination which ordains women has become “liberal”; many have held fast to orthodox sexual ethics and fully affirm the authority of Scripture. By allowing women to serve in any role, these churches are less likely to sideline women’s gifts, and by having female elders on staff, they are less likely to overlook women’s needs or to tolerate abuse.
