I pastor a church where women are free to be and do all God calls them to be and to do. In the last few years, we have ordained women to be deacons, elders, and ministers of the gospel. Today, we no longer talk much about women in ministry at Spring Creek for the same reason we don't talk much about men in ministry. It's just part of our DNA, part and parcel to who we are. For us, Christian leadership has nothing to do with gender.
Some people, especially some of our other Baptist brothers and sisters, believe this practice to be unbiblical, referencing texts like 1 Tim. 2.9-15, 1 Tim. 3.2, and 1 Cor. 14.34-36 as clear biblical prohibitions against women in leadership roles in the church. Given our last two posts, however, I would like to reconsider the "biblical" view of women in the church.
First of all, because Jesus is the interpretive lens through which we interpret Scripture, we must begin with him. When compared with all the other common views of women in his day, the way Jesus treated women was somewhat revolutionary. Jesus elevated women to a status they had never enjoyed before. While most people saw women as something like possessions, Jesus treated them as something like people! He included them amongst his disciples and commended them as examples. He equalized their marriage status with the men of his day in his teachings on marriage and divorce. Women were the first witnesses to the resurrection in all four gospels. Furthermore, Jesus' announcement of a Kingdom where people live in mutual love and support becomes strained when one group of those people is a priori relegated to secondary status simply because of their gender. Unfortunately, the place where women are most restricted in our day is the place where people gather in the name of the one who most liberated them in his day. From the beginning, I must ask myself: do our views of women pass the Jesus test? Do our views of women pass the love test?
Secondly, most of the issues concerning women in the church stem from the Apostle Paul (as evidenced by the three texts mentioned above). Today, many people view Paul as suppressive at best and a misogynist at worst. However, several issues must be addressed here:
1) Is Paul being descriptive or prescriptive? If prescriptive, is he prescribing decrees for all places at all times or for that particular time and place? Would our views of women in the church be congruent with our views of the length of women's hair, which he also addresses?
2) These aren't the only texts in which Paul addresses women. Paul speaks of Phoebe who is a deacon in Rome (16.1-2), and he addresses how women should dress when they prophecy, which means PREACH (1 Cor. 11.5)! In several letters, Paul says something like, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3.28). In other words, the boundaries and categories which typically define us have been destroyed in the light of the one who gives us a new identity. Most of us would be appalled at the idea of racism in the church or classism- and yet many of us institutionalize sexism. Why would the church want to tear down these other walls and perpetuate the other at all costs? Would the "equal in status but different in roles" argument work for race and class as well? I sure hope not!
3) Furthermore, we must address how literal we intend to take the "prohibitions" mentioned above. For example, 1 Tim. 3.2 states, "An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife...." It's the "husband of one wife clause" that forbids women from serving in that capacity, some argue. However, many of those same people would have no problem with a single minister. At the most literal level, you can't be the husband of one wife if you are single. Yet, many of the churches who argue so vehemently about gender never mention marital status. Why is this?
Finally, the overall biblical witness testifies to the irreplaceable importance of women in the history of God's people. Women saturate the Bible in ways unique to most other ancient literature. Joel dreams of a day when "sons and daughters will prophecy (again preach)," and this text is remembered by Peter at Pentecost as a sign of the presence of the Spirit. Miriam aided Moses, and subversive midwives overcame Pharaoh. Deborah was one of the greatest judges, and Hannah gave birth to more than just Samuel. Mary is the paradigmatic disciple in Luke, and the Philippian church would have been drastically different if not for Lydia. Stories like this frequent the Bible from cover to cover. They also frequent every church I've ever been a part of.
Again, when we ponder all this, are we sure we ascribe to THE biblical view of women in the church?
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32Recently, our Sunday school class was doing a study on Timothy and as luck would have it, I was assigned to teach the section on a woman's role in the church. This was Paul's letter to the new Christian church in Ephesus. To understand these verses one must first examine the city of Ephesus.
To understand Ephesus one must understand the religion surrounding the worshiper of the Goddess Diana/Artemis.
Diana was known to be the virgin goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, Diana, Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry.
The celestial character of Diana is reflected in her connection with light, inaccessibility, virginity, and her preference for dwelling on high mountains and in sacred woods. At the same time, however, she is seen as active in ensuring the succession of kings and in the preservation of humankind through the protection of childbirth.
Diana was regarded with great reverence by lower-class citizens and slaves and slaves could receive asylum in her temples. In Ephesus too there was the same custom of the asylum.
The temple of Artemis is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times and the third temple was larger 450' long by 225' wide and 60 feet high, with more than 127 columns. This is in contrast to the standard football field which is 360 feet long by 160 feet wide with the inclusion of both end zones. It was also twice the size of the Parthenon which still stands in Athens.
Artemis' shrines, temples and festivals (Artemisia) could be found throughout the Greek world, but Ephesian Artemis was unique. The Ephesians considered her to be their Godess and they believed that she had been born in Ephesus. They resented any foreign claims to her protection. Once Persia ousted and replaced their Lydian overlord Croesus, the Ephesians played down his contribution to the Temple's restoration. When Alexander conquered the Persians, his offer to finance the Temple's second rebuilding was politely but firmly refused. Ephesian Artemis lent her city's diplomacy a powerful religious edge.
Archaeologist have found depictions of the Artemis priestess and they are depicted with fine jewelry, hair done up in elegant braids and wearing fine clothing. It was common for women to wear their finest clothing when going to the temple of Artemis/Diana to pray.
A souvenir business in miniature Artemis idols, perhaps similar to a statue of her in the temple, grew up around the shrine. It was one of these business proprietors, a man named Demetrius, that gave St. Paul a difficult time when he visited the city in 57 A.D.
The best analogy to this would be the passion of OU football in the city of Norman. Most of the merchants of Norman will have some type of OU merchandise for sell such as T-shirts, mugs, pins, etc.. Now imagine if a group of people move to Norman, Oklahoma and started preaching that the sport of rugby was the only true real sport that should be played. As large groups of people were converted and became Rugbarians, they stopped going to OU football games, giving gifts and donations to Oklahoma University and they stopped buying any OU souvenirs. In fact, they go so far as to preach against OU football. One can only imagine the response of the University as well as the Chamber of Commerce and local merchants. Magnified this tenfold and one begins to understand the sentiment of Ephesus surrounding the Goddess Artemis/Diana.
The conflict between the cult of Diane and Christianity is well discussed Acts.
The Riot In Ephesus
"So the word of The Lord grew and prevailed mightily."
"Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while."
"About that time there arose no little stir concerning The Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship."
"When they heard this they were enraged, and cried out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" So the city was filled with the confusion; and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. Paul wished to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; some of the Asiarchs also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater."
"Now some cried one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make a defense to the people. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
"And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against any one, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no cause that we can give to justify this commotion." And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly." (Acts 19:20-41 RSV)
The Christian approach was at variance with the tolerant syncretistic approach of pagans to gods who were not theirs. A Christian inscription found at Ephesus supports this and suggests why so little remains at the site:
"Destroying the delusive image of the demon Artemis, Demeas has erected this symbol of Truth, the God that drives away idols, and the Cross of priests, deathless and victorious sign of Christ."
The worshiper of Artemis was considered the main threat to Christianity and in fact the worship of Diane did not die out completely until the 1500's in England.
For Paul, it was important that new Christian women acted and looked distinctly different than those worshiping the Goddess Artemis. He needed there to be a clear distinction between the women of the new Christian church and the worshipers of the Goddess who put their hair into elaborate braids and wore their finest clothes as a way to garner favor from Diana. Remember that it is very likely that many of the need gentile converts had been previous believers of the cult. It is for this reason that he gave the clothing guidelines.
I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. 1 Timothy 2:9-10
To counteract the immense power of the female Goddess Artemis, he had to down play the authority of this female deity with his regulations against women having authority over men. Remember that the worship of Artemis/Diana has been practice for almost 600 years before the birth of Christ. The depth of the power of this female Goddess over the people of Ephesus cannot be overestimated. Also, due to the culture of the time, women did not receive any education except those from very few from wealthy families and even those few would have no exposure to the books old the Old Testament as gentiles. Therefore, it is likely that Paul was asking that women should not be recruited as teachers in the new church until they, themselves, had received their own religious education.
Since Artemis was a virgin Goddess, there was paramount that he dismiss the importance of virginity and never marrying which was a requirement of a priestess of Diana. This is why it was important for him to emphasize that women would be saved to childbearing. Whereas, a priestess of Diana would be sanctified through her virginity, a daughter of Christ would be sanctified through childbearing. Again, he wanted there to be a clear contrast between the new Christians and the previous followers of Artemis/Diana.
It was at Ephesus that the Christian church first declared Mary to be the "the God-bearer" in 431 C.E. This move was intended to legitimize Christianity in the eyes of the people of Asia Minor where the worship of Diana was still very strong. Prior to 431 C.E. Mary was not recognized by the Christian church.
Many of the Great Goddess's titles were taken, and declared to be the titles of Mary, including; "Queen of Heaven", "Divine Virgin", and " Mother of All". Ephesus was chosen for Mary's installation to add legitimacy to the church's claim that Mary, not Diana, was "the Mother of God", the "Mother of All."
Without understanding the context of the cult of Artemis/Diana in the city of Ephesus, one cannot fully understand the context of the writings of Paul as it relates to women. Ephesus was a unique place and time and the admonitions of Paul relate only to that particular place and time, in my most humble opinion.
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