Scripture Study
Titus 3:1-13 Qualifications for Bishops and Elders
by Barbara Collins
We have had many questions about women serving as bishops and elders.
To answer them let's begin with I. Tim. 3:1-10; 11-13. The question is
whether the church should have male leadership only or male and female
leadership alongside one another. Although the word "man" is used in 3:1,
5 for someone seeking the office of Bishop, the Greek word used is tis, a
neuter word meaning male or female. Had Paul wanted to communicate that
this office was to be limited to the male gender, he would have used the word
andron which specifies male only. In the KJ on Titus 1:6, the word is
also tis.
Women served as elders and deacons in the early church just as the men; yet with
the onset of apostasy, their ministry declined. By the third century,
women deacons were being called "deaconesses." Although they were still
being ordained, their ministry was looked upon as something less than a male
deacon. Think with me about women "likewise" (3:11). That women are
included in the list of qualifications for bishops and deacons is seen in the
word "likewise" which is hosautos in the Greek. "Likewise" joins
the whole list of qualifications of bishops/elders with deacons and with women
which A. V. translates as "wives." Paul first gives the requirements for
men seeking the office of bishop/elder and deacon and then gives some additional
ones for women.
In his book, Who Says a Woman Can't Teach?, Charles Trombley says that
"some commentators say Paul gives additional requirements for the bishops' and
deacons' wives. Since there isn't a definite article in the sentence
construction, nor is the possessive case used, this suggestion must be
rejected." (p. 195). "Women," then, is the correct translation.
Women Elders
Example: The letter of II. John is addressed to "the elect
lady." The term "elect" was used to designate the overseer (bishop/elder)
of a church. Most scholars agree that in the early church, there were no
differences between episkopos (bishop) and presbuteros (presbyter
or elder). Both words describe the same function. After completing
his list of qualifications for bishop and deacons in 3:1-10, he continued by
including women when he said, gunaikas hosautos or "women likewise." Hosautos
links the entire list of qualifications with one another. It links the
deacons with the bishops in v. 8 and then links them to women in v. 11. In
I. Tim. 4 and 5:17-19, Paul discussed the office of presbyter (elder). The
usual translation is "older men" and "older women," but the Greek word is the
same one used for elders elsewhere.
The word presbuteros also means "older," and simply means those males and
females in the church who carry out functional positions that basically model
servanthood and pastoral care and help develop less immature ones. What
kind of churches do we have? Positional/hierarchical oriented churches or
functional churches? Eldership is something that one does. It is not
a slot that one fills. See Trombley, Who Says a Woman Can't Teach,
p. 138 ff. which covers N. T. headship. You've probably found "The
Head of the Epistles," on the website which was written by Berkeley and
Alvera Mickelson and included as a separate chapter, p. 125 ff.
In the list of qualifications when you look in the first chapter of Titus, the
conclusion is easily drawn that only men are referenced because of the "husband
of one wife" qualification. It's the men that need that reminder, not
women. Polygamy is practiced by men. Have you ever heard of a woman
with multiple husbands? Also, allow me to repeat, "In the KJ on Titus 1:6,
the word is also tis which doesn't exclude women from serving as elders.
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