In the present maelstrom of feminism, the world believes a girl ought to be empowered to do anything a person can do. How then can we answer the query whether a girl should enter seminary?
Ligonier Ministries recounts a 1992 TIME Magazine cover story which “asked the query ‘Why Are Men and Women Different?’ In much smaller letters, almost as if apologizing, the thesis of the quilt story was suggested: ‘It isn’t just upbringing. New studies show they’re born that way.’”
According to Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis, nevertheless, “Most of us today would agree that yes, men and ladies are different, and move on. But with no clear biblical definition of manhood and womanhood, with no clear vision of how they’re different and why, each men and ladies have trouble separating life-giving pursuits from mistakes and mirages. There is nothing specific to aspire to, strive for, or check ourselves against. ‘Am I an excellent woman?’ ‘Did I behave like a person today?’ If God really has created us female and male for a purpose, those are absolutely essential questions. And the one place the life-giving, encouraging answers may be found is in a biblical understanding of maleness and femaleness.”
Yes, the Bible, God’s Word, tells us men and ladies are different, and it’s a compulsory start line for our discussion about whether a girl can go to seminary.
What is a Woman’s Biblical Role within the Church?
Believing women, each single and married, are a part of the church and, as such, may have a pivotal role in its health. To handle this as best we will, we must always take a look at a girl’s total role, first in the house after which within the church.
All general commands to the church body apply to each men and ladies, but church leadership has a particular order based on God’s perfect will and wisdom (1 Timothy 3:1-16; Hebrews 13:17). Not all women will function wives, but their role inside the church follows the identical commands as given to wives.
A lady’s role is first served as a toddler of God, after which as a wife to her husband. Pastor Paul Washer describes it this manner:
“The roles that they [men and women] play in the wedding has nothing to do with an absence of equality. When we are going to get to the purpose where it says that the person is the pinnacle of his home and a wife is to live in submission to her husband, it doesn’t mean that the wife is lower than her husband. It doesn’t mean that. If you’re thinking that it does, [then] guess what? You’ve just destroyed the trinity. Because, didn’t the Son undergo His Father? So, did that make the Son lower than His Father? If you say “yes”, [then] you may have just committed heresy. Within the trinity itself, the Son submitted to His Father and yet the Bible says the Son and Father are one and so they are equal.”
Pastor Washer goes on to say he and his wife are equal but with different roles. What Pastor Washer illustrates can also be true within the roles men and ladies are given of their church body. He continues by saying, “Women were created to grow with their husbands, with the assistance of their husbands, under the tutelage of their husbands. That doesn’t mean he lords it over her or he knows greater than her, but she was just made for that reason. You leave her alone, or think that she’s strong and may make it on her own, which is usually times my sin, and also you’re going to mess up the entire thing of what God is wanting to do. So, my wife and I, we’re one and we’re equal, we function in numerous roles.”
God-ordained leadership responsibilities exists each in the house and within the church.
In Genesis 1:27, we read man and woman were created within the image of God. Imago Dei. Both have equivalent status before God. In Ephesians 5:22-27, God tells us, “Wives, undergo your personal husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the pinnacle of the wife at the same time as Christ is the pinnacle of the church, his body, and is Himself its Savior. Now because the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in every part to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, in order that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she may be holy and without blemish.”
It’s only logical then, that a girl’s role in her house is mirrored by her role within the church.
What is Taught at Seminary?
A seminary is a graduate-level institution for people considering pursuing a profession in ministry. Therefore, the curriculum is generally focused on those subjects which train a person to be a pastor/teacher. The degrees commonly offered are Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, and Master of Theology. A sample course of study could also be found here.
Can Women Teach the Bible to Men?
Many of Jesus’ followers were women, but nowhere within the Gospels or epistles does the Bible depict women in an authoritative position teaching men. Instead, women in a solitary and company function (as in groups of ladies) are shown listening to Jesus (Matthew 15:38), attending/ministering to Jesus (Mark 15:41), praying with others (Acts 1:14), helping the disciples (Philippians 4:3), and doing good works (1 Timothy 2:10).
Titus 2:3-5 further defines their roles, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to show what is nice, and so train the young women to like their husbands and kids, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their very own husbands, that the word of God will not be reviled.”
Three instances particularly show women who got here alongside men in private settings to clarify and/or encourage other believers. Acts 18:24-28 relates the account of Priscilla (a girl) and Aquila (a person), who took the person, Apollos, “aside and explained to him the best way of God more accurately.” This was not a case of a girl exercising authority over a person. The Bible doesn’t specify Aquila and Priscilla were husband and wife, but she—in effect—was fulfilling her role as a helper (Genesis 2:18). The original Hebrew word used is ēzer, which implies one who helps.
Philippians 4:3 includes an exhortation by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian church to, “…help these women, who’ve labored side by side with me within the gospel along with Clement and the remainder of my fellow staff, whose names are within the book of life.”
Romans 16:1 introduces us to Phoebe, “a servant of the church at Cenchreae…” The Greek word used here is diakonos (deaconess). This role isn’t that of a frontrunner inside the church, but as a servant under one other’s authority.
In not one of the three reports is it said a girl (or women) stood before men to show them. Individually, a girl can offer wisdom privately to a person which can include biblical correction, yet not in an official, authoritative church government role. Any Christian, including women, can seek advice from and employ Scripture to correct a person’s false teaching or incorrect considering. Men may do that in a company setting; women may not, as we see in the next verse references.
As defined by the Scriptures—that are our authority—the roles of pastor and elder belong to men, and people men who’re called are those who teach the body of believers. The following passages function an introduction to the behavior of ladies inside the church setting:
1 Corinthians 14:34, “the ladies should keep silent within the churches. For they aren’t permitted to talk, but ought to be in submission, because the Law also says.”
1 Timothy 2:9-10, “…likewise also that girls should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what’s proper for ladies who profess godliness—with good works.”
1 Timothy 2:11-14 answers the query definitively. Paul commands, “Let a girl learn quietly with all submissiveness. I don’t permit a girl to show or to exercise authority over a person; fairly, she is to stay quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the girl was deceived and have become a transgressor.” Inherent on this passage is something we are not looking for to miss—a protective factor.
Can Women Go to Seminary?
Women can absolutely go to seminary, but obedience to the Bible (and subsequently to God) means women cannot study to be a pastor who would corporately teach men. Seminary provides a logical and ordered structure to theology, so all who attend learn how one can handle God’s Word rightly (2 Timothy 2:15).
A lady may attain a level, and plenty of seminaries have curriculums for ladies who’re called into ministry. As examples, women are blessed to have the option to pursue training in missiology (mission work), women’s ministry, children’s ministry, theology, apologetics, and plenty of other avenues of ministry. Even if her knowledge and godly growth is engaged solely in her home and in her area of friends and familial influence, a girl is in a position to make great contributions to the dominion of God.
All that being said, women aren’t “left to do nothing,” as many fear (or accuse). The work for each believer is manifested of their gifts, talents, and calling. It’s demanding for men or for ladies, especially with the antagonism and persecution of up to date society against true believers, however the rewards of following and teaching others about Christ are joyful and everlasting.
This article is the second in a series giving different perspectives about women attending seminary, teaching within the church, and associated questions on female church administration roles. To read the second perspective, go to:
Can Women Go to Seminary: The Case for Women Teaching and Preaching
To read more perspectives on this topic, go to:
Can Women Be Pastors? The Ordination of Women to Pastoral Ministry
Should Women Be Pastors? What Does the Bible Say?
What Does the Bible Say about Women Pastors?
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