April 4, 2023

This Temporary Silence Helped Stabilize The Strategically Placed Ephesian Church

Summary of Prior Teachings And Additional Insight 

We taught on this subject back in 2012 "Men Should Preach and Women Should Too", and then again in 2015 "Discernement or Silence About Women in Worship" (links below).

In the 2012 teaching we laid out the biblical and historical context of Ephesus- third largest city in Greco Roman Empire, home of one of seven wonders of the world, the Artemesion, and its pagan women led-Temple, which was the "beast" and stronghold that Paul fought there, home of the Artemision's mandatory virginal priestesshood, that subsisted on selling the shapely and lucratuive idols of their beloved Artemis. This Temple was administered by a eunich administrator. This false Greco Roman cult was focused not on a man ordained male priesthood, like Christendom from the early fourth century, or the God ordained universal male and female priesthood- of 1Peter2,5 and 9- but on a separate female priesthood that was qualified by forswearing marriage, virginity, and devotion to the virtues or non virtues of the Greek huntress goddess Artemis. 

Despite this problematic and interesting context, Ephesus was first and foremost the crucial gospel gateway to Asia Minor and its central provincial battleground- and the test case for- second generation bible based Apostolic Christianity. Thus it was unmistakeably important and strategic if the biblical gospel faith of Jesus was ever going to firmly root itself, and even survive into its second generation in Asia Minor, and beyond.

We might also best keep in mind that the Greco Roman world had multiple male and female gods and goddesses who attracted and created an accordingly, more or less, gendrerized devotion. So, presently Christian women from prior Greco Roman religious systems may have had more opportunity for genderized religious leadership- and even public worship- in the Greco Roman world due to the simple fact that there are scores and scores of gods and goddesses. The mutipllicity of goddesses likely provided women with more gender separated worship and teaching opportunities than biblical Christianity does:

"Men and women focused on different gods and swore by different deities according to gender." (McClure, Laura: Women in Classical Greek Religions/ Oxford Research Encylopedia of Religion." July 2018. McClure's scholarship here provides further insight to the prior teachings that adds to this third teaching). 

So in Ephesus and Corinth the women leaders- perhaps being complete converts to the Judeo Christian bible faith of One God, One Faith, One Baptism, One Spirit, One Male and Female Priesthood-One Lord's Supper of biblical Christianity- could very easily have sufferred religious strife with the male leaders who came from the Judeo Christian tradition and background of generalized male leadership in a biblical religion.

And this likely led to spiritual chafing among Greco Roman women who may have enjoyed more leadership opportunities in their former pagan faiths, than in the more proscribed official roles of Ephesians4,10-11 per the Christian bible faith that has distinctly and unabashedly only ONE God.       

So Paul in 1 and 2 Timothy was addressing a local issue of some errant type, or types, of teaching by women, under Timothy's inexperienced second gen apostolic-pastoral tutelage. These women apparently refused correction, and then were silenced by Paul when the young and sort of wimpy Timothy was in over his head.

In the second teaching in 2015 we cited Luke Timothy Johnson's interpretation of 1Timothy2,8. We note there the very real likelihood that the brassy independent-from-men religious-atmosphere of the Ephesus Artemesion had led Christian women- perhaps unattached and unmarried like those at the pagan Artemesion (or married women with non Christian and non worshiping husbands, who were key to the settlement and flourishing of Christianity)- to leave the regular Christian fellowship in Ephesus that was administered and pastored by men, and start their own women only worship.

So, Paul writes sort of mysteriously:

"I want men everywhere to life up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." 1Tm2,8

Paul is masterful here in his brevity and calm attempt to end the scandalous and fruitless path of separatist Ephesian Christian women divorcing themselves from worship with men. With Paul's teaching at 1Timothy2,8 now the men at Ephesus central province of Asia Minor- where this separtist Artemesion pagan influence was strongest (well into the 5th century AD did the Artemesion thrive)- must stop disputing in anger about these matters, and re-integrate their Christian sisters that got caught up and off track by the Ephesian Greco Roman genderized church politics of their day.          

Here today in 2023- in this third teaching- I'd like to flesh out the implications of what I now assess- after more prayerful discernment and study- as a sort of low key Artemesion influenced Jezebellian uprising in Ephesus, as had apparently happened in Thyratira, 100 miles to the North and East: "Nevertherless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my [male] servants..." Revelation2,20 (NIV)  

So Paul is diplomatically telling the Ephesian church that we have to bring the church back into peace and gender comity. And by the way, since the offending women who would not back off their false and separtist teaching, all women in worship are hereby silenced!

And now the church can carry on with one God, one faith, one body Christian men and one God, one faith, one body and Christian women all worshipping peacefully together according to the Hebrew and New Testament Scriptures.

Silence Is A Temporary Local Punishment Not The Everlasting Church Rule 

We should remember that Paul's 1 and 2 Timothy letters are necessarily a very diplomatic correction- and thus a little vague as to exact nature and extent of the problem. This was to avoid inflaming further a likely genderized Christian rebellion, and or the loss of unity and numbers. Yet by biblically reasoning backwards from the severity of the punishment- though temporary- makes clear that the both the nature and the extent of the problem(s) were very serious and that the church was likely facing a crisis of whether it would survive, a crisis many churches today also face over false and separtistic teachings.

Paul's diplomacy here at this verse contains what we learned in the seminary as a "velvet hammer" type of punishment. This is strong punishment albeit very diplomaticaly given. And if we stop for more than the briefest moment and ponder it- this punishment was drastic- women, part of the universal priesthood of 1Peter2,5, and made in the image of God, are totally silenced in public worship in Ephesus! 

So now the issue is how do we- bible based Christians, men and women, looking back and seeking biblical wisdom and guidance- view punishment and this specific punishment in particular?

Of course we know there is eternal punishment for not reconciling with God in the person of Jesus Christ. That's hell!

There is also the punishing wages of sin- that end in the punishment of death.

Most Church Punishments Are Local And Temporary 

But most punishment, and particularly specific punishment in a local church, for bible believing Christians anyway, is temporary. Likewise children are silenced temporarily- until they learn to speak appropriately as to the time and place and situation in public.

Are we going to have women silenced like children, even permanently, in all the Christian church for all ages based on a difficult church plant in Greco Roman "beastly" Ephesus? Based on a limited problematic area of the Greco Roman pagan world? 

At least punished children get to grow up, learn to speak in public, and overcome their punishment, and speak up again with their reformed wisdom.

Seeing this punishment as local, situational and temporary doesn't mean that women are now pastors, and or pulpit teachers, or apostles with authority over men. But it does mean that this silencing issue never would have arisen but for local women speaking up in separtistic error, and yet still insisted upon their teaching, not that they were not allowed to speak up at all as an occasional prophetess or or a local woman evangelist would.

Then, these women apparently refused correction said "good bye we are outta here" and "going it alone without you men leaders." 

The Overriding Issue Is Not Silent Women But Usurping The Authority of Men Leaders

1Corinthians11,5 decides the matter whether the silencing of women is a temporary or permanent punishment: "Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head..."  This verse means that if a married woman has the covering of her husband and pastor, and or an unmarried woman has the permission of her pastor to evagelistically speak up in church, even prophesy, she is welcome to do so.

The overiding issue regarding woman speaking in church isn't the narrow one of a punishing silence, but of women not taking authority over men in leadership in the local church. The genderized separtist uprising in Ephesus was about women who were preaching and teaching as if  they were pastors, or pulpit teachers- and when that authority was called out and stopped they separated.   

This separtist movement is being repeated once again in our our day!  

"I [Paul] permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent." 1Timothy1,12 

The Ryrie study notes at this verse gets it right. "Woman are not to assume the office of teacher in the church (see 1Cor,14,34). Women may teach as long as they do not usurp the place of leadership and authority of men in the church." 

Thus, the local punishment silencing of women in worship is not an everlasting rule. It is a temporary local punishment when local women speak up and then refuse pastoral or prophetic correction, and or assume the role of pastor, and or pulpit teacher, or Apostle.

As we must repeatedly mention, this is not to say women wouldn't, or don't do good, or even great jobs when they have these roles. But going beyond the bible on this leaves the church outside the whole written counsel of God, and creates confusion in teaching.  

Have you attended a church where the pastor and his wife have been "co-pastoring" for 10 years?

Where is that in the bible?

Peter had a wife. Was she a pastora too!? Does she now preach as if she is teaching from "their" pulpit or her pulpit rather than the pastor's pulpit?

And now way more than him?

Because she is more popular? Well now!

Oops la pastora seems to now be the pastor?

And then WORD loving people scratch their heads and must answer the question 'is my church following the WORD'?

Conclusion:

1Corinthians14,33-40 is also extra expansive about the punishment of silencing women in the children mode. 

But again 1Corinthians11,5 clearly still entertainsand affirms women prophesying and praying in public.

Most Christians accept the principle of the Word being inspired and inerrant. So if we accept that 1Corinthians11,5 approves of women prophesying in public worship under the cover of obedience to local men leaders and their husbands, then the only way to reconcile these claimed blanket silence punishments of women in 1Timothy and 2Timothy and 1Corinthians14,33-40 is to allow that these silences are temporary.

Otherwise, we have a glaring biblical contradiction (and thus confusion) with one scripture allowing the highest inspired teaching by women and another requiring that women always and forever to be silent in public worship.

As many have learned in their study of scripture- we read the bible with the bible. This is the way we can reconcile seemingly contradictory passages.

Our teaching and learning is precept by precept:

"4 You have laid down precepts to be fully obeyed [ie women are not to despise and circumvent male authority and refuse correction by God and those in authority in the Judeo Christian biblical tradition, Revelation2,20] 5 Oh, that my ways would be steadfast in keeping your statutes." Psalm119,5 NIV

The initial Jewish Jesus movement- after the Temple destroyed in 70 AD- necessarily took flight and root in the more religiously diverse Greco Roman gentile world. In this world sometimes women ruled the religious roost and age as in the Ephesus of bible times, and even for hundred of years thereafter.

Or, as Christianity became gentile Christendom by the early fourth century, perhaps the temporary punishments of Ephesus and Corinth were read as and thus became a more or less permanent silence for women, a custom and part of Christendom's culture even outside worship (cf Revelation2,6 and 15, ie Nicilaitan leaders bent on controlling deeds and doctrine). This custom and culture is likely based on the temporary silence passages of 1 and 2 Timothy and 1Corinthians that we have variously cited in our three articles on this topic. 

I think it is fair to say that Christendom and traditional historic Christianity has somewhat muted the public and occasionally prophetic voices of women for almost two millennia. (This is not to say that bringing Ephesus into the bible based gender norms of the Judeo Christian scriptures was ever going to be easy.)   

But the the Hebrews of old recognized the voices of women. 

They recognized the public voices of Sarah, of Rebecca, of Deborah, of Miriam, of Hannah, Ruth, Ester and Mary, mother of Jesus, and also Lydia and Prisca in the church age. These women did not rule over men or usurp their authority but their voices were heard (and the prophetess Deborah's was heard first!) in public and the Hebrew scriptures tell of their virtues. 

Women's voices inside and outside of public worship can publicly be heard- so long as women leading in the church do not preach bad non biblical doctrine and try to use that to usurp the offices (Ephesians4,10-11) given by scripture to men. This is the precept of both the Hebrew and the New Covenant scriptures. 

I will end with a question raised by 1Corinthians11,11-12.

The context of this passage is directly on point as to silencing women or not. It's about women covering their heads in worship, and thus being gracefully under proper male authority, and thus released to prophesy in public as per 1Corinthians11,5:

Has gentile Christianity today fully discovered the biblical compelmentarity and importance of both her men and women servants speaking up in worship?  

"...in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also is man born of woman. But everything comes from God."  

We are not independent of each other- even in worship- so let's hear the voices of obedient and faithful women in worship too.

Praise Jesus, the God-man, born of a woman.  

First Two Articles On This Topic

https://www.zionpentecostmission.com/men-should-preach-and-women-too.html

https://www.zionpentecostmission.com/discernment-or-silence.html