Men and Women in Church (pt. 2)

Paul continues to describe the roles of men and women in the worship gatherings of the church. Focusing specifically on the women (perhaps due to their involvement in the false teaching at Ephesus), Paul shows the radical shift that Christianity makes with respect to women learning the things of God. Such simply was not the case among the Jews of Paul's day. Yet Paul does provide a prohibition, namely, that women not assume the office of elder (or bishop/pastor) in the church because such an office involves teaching and bearing authority over men. This would not be proper, as seen by Paul's appeal to the creation and fall narratives. The responsibility to lead belongs to the men, since Adam was created first (according to Genesis 2). Though women are not inferior to men, or more gullible, they are called to learn the things of God according to the pattern he established in the Garden. This pattern is continued in the church, whether in Ephesus and unto the ends of the earth. May each of us, male or female, humbly receive God's instruction concerning "how one ought to behave in the household of God," for to live according to his plan is to live the abundant life Christ provides for his sheep