Articles
MARY
SELTZERThis article, as well as a number of others, were
written when Mary facilitated a series of Bible Studies for the Women's
Ministry in her local church. The women wanted to know what the Bible says
about women's roles, not what books say. After each study, she offered her
notes on an e-mail listserv for the pastors and elders wives of her
denomination. She had about 200 requests for the set of seven studies from all
around the world. Some were e-mailing and asking questions too. This kept her
very busy. About March 1998, Mary decided to put the studies on the web, so
anyone could download them which saved her much energy and time. She's been told
that the studies have been translated into French in Canada, translated and used
in India, South America and Europe and used in sermons all over the USA. These
lessons are a resource for personal devotions, small groups, Christian
education, women's ministries, retreats, men's prayer breakfasts, ministry
leaders, lectionaries, sermons, and newsletters. Mary is the former
Operations Manager for Christians for Biblical Equality.
Did Paul Really Teach About Women, What We Were Told that He
Taught?
Notes by Mary Seltzer
After Jesus ascended up into the heaven, the apostles
and those with him went back to Jerusalem to await "the promise of the Father"
Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4. "These all (about 120) continued with one accord in prayer
and supplication, with the WOMEN..." Acts 1:14.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were
all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:1-4. Notice:
1. They were all together, about 120, men as well as
women.
2. Cloven tongues like fire "sat upon each of them"
women as well as men.
3. All the women as well as all the men were filled
with the Holy Spirit.
4. The women as well as the men began to "speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament,
p. 69 says this word "utterance" was not a word of everyday speech, but one
"belonging to dignified and elevated discourse" and was used "not only of
prophets but also of wise men and philosophers." This was the same kind of
discourse that Paul used before King Agrippa, Acts 26:25.
So on the day of Pentecost men as well as women spoke
with "dignified and elevated discourse."
Acts 2:16-18: Then, Peter stood up and said, "this is
that which hath been spoken by the prophet Joel;
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy. . ."
"And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour
out in those days of my Spirit: and they shall prophesy."
Peter points to this prophecy in Joel as being fulfilled
on the day of Pentecost. It was not fulfilled unless the "daughters" and
"handmaidens" prophesied---spoke unto men (anthropos - women and men)
edification, exhortation, and comfort." I Cor. 14:3.
In I Cor. 12:7 we read, "But the manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man (Gr. hekastos--each) to profit withal." (for
the common good)
Why did the Holy Spirit on Pentecost give women the gift
of tongues if it weren't "to profit withal?" We can assume that the women
exercised their gifts in private and the men exercised theirs in public, but the
Bible does not say so; the evidence is to the contrary.
Did these women who received a double portion--the gift
of tongues and the gift of prophecy use these gifts after Pentecost? Or, were
they used only on that occasion? Did they cease with the going down of the sun?
Jesus said to the apostles "and them that were with
them" Luke 24:33, "it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things." Luke 24:46-48.
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.
In both Luke and Acts, the promised outpouring of the
Spirit, which both men and women received, was in conjunction with the
commission to proclaim the gospel "unto all nations." This commission is given
in all four of the gospels.
"But God raised him from the dead; And he was seen many
days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his
witnesses unto the people." Acts 13:30-31.
Among those who "came up with Him from Galilee to
Jerusalem" (Mark 15:41) who saw Him "after He rose from the dead," were "Mary
Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James the less, and Salome," and "many other
women."
Were these women now made "His witnesses unto the
people?"
In Acts 10:40-41, Peter preached in Cornelius' house,
"Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God. . . ."
So were the women who "came up with Him out of Galilee,"
to whom Christ first appeared after the Resurrection, and who were "anointed
with power from on high," in that "upper room," among the "witnesses chosen
before of God."
In I. Cor. 14:22, the apostle Paul says prophesying is
for them which believe; and, in verse 4, prophesying edifies the church. Also,
I. Cor. 14:22 says that tongues are for a sign to them that believe not.
So these women on Pentecost were empowered to proclaim
the Gospel, not only to the church but also to unbelievers. And not only to
their kindred and race but to "the uttermost parts of the earth."
Years later, while Paul was on his last recorded journey
to Jerusalem, he tarried "many days" at the house of Philip the evangelist (Acts
21:8). "And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." Acts
21:9.
If there were four women prophets in a single home,
should we just assume that throughout the extended church there were not any
other women prophets?
Since there were women prophets in the early church,
were there women evangelists?
Acts 8:1: On the day of Stephen's death there arose "a
great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all
scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the
apostles." v. 4: "They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching
the word."
In this tribulation, "all except the apostles," women as
well as men, fled from the city, and "they that were scattered abroad went about
preaching the word." The Greek word here translated "PREACHING" is "euaggelizo"
to announce good news (evangelize) especially- the gospel. A bearer of these
glad tidings was an "euaggelistes," a preacher of the gospel--evangelist.
Paul told Timothy, II. Tim 4:5 "Do the work
of an evangelist" (euaggelistes), Acts 21:18 Philip was an evangelist (euaggelistes),
Eph 4:8,11 ". . .and gave gifts unto men, (anthropos- women and men), . .
. and he gave {some} apostles; and some (Greek `ho' -includes the
feminine) prophets; and some (`ho' -includes the feminine) evangelists (euaggelistes);
and some (`ho' -includes the feminine), pastors and teachers;.
Paul, then called Saul of Tarsus, was one of the most
violent of the persecutors of the church. In Acts 26:10, Paul says,". . .and
many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the
chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them."
In Acts 8:3, we learn that some of these saints were women, "As for Saul, he
made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women
committed them to prison."
There is hardly any doubt that among these propagandists
of the Gospel there were many women, because Saul had women as well as men bound
and brought to Jerusalem from other places. Acts 9:2.
This severe persecution of the church began a missionary
movement. "The progress of the missionary movement was itself dependent to a
large extent upon the conversion of influential women in strategic locations.
The first convert to the gospel on European soil was a businesswoman named Lydia
who offered her home as the headquarters for the establishment of the gospel,
(Acts 16:13-15) and as the place of meeting for the fledgling church at Philippi
with herself as one of its leaders (v. 40). As Paul and Silas pressed on with
their mission, they discovered that the conversion of some prominent women along
with male proselytes became the basis for the establishment of the church in
Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4). The same phenomenon took place in Berea where "many
Greek women of high social standing and many men" became converts and formed the
core of a new church in Gentile territory (17:10-12). And when the gospel
reached Athens, the world capital of learning and of the arts, several converts
joined Paul. Two of them are identified by name, obviously because their renown
would have elicited recognition from the original readers of the Book of Acts.
The man was Dionysius and the woman Damaris (17:34).
"Although they are incidental to the chronicles of the
church, such references remind us that it was thanks to the involvement of women
converts that the Christian movement spread as successfully as it did during the
early stages of its outreach." Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian, professor emeritus of
Wheaton College and co-founder of Willow Creek Community Church, Beyond Sex
Roles: What the Bible Says About a Woman's Place in Church and Family,
Copyright 1985, pp 196-197.
Concerning Lydia, Acts 16:13-15, my Study Bible for
Women NT, NRSV has a note p. 264, "On the Sabbath, Paul seeks out a local
Jewish service and finds several women. Since ten men are required for a
synagogue service and none is mentioned, the women have a 'place of prayer'
instead. So evidentially the Church at Philippi was begun with women. Ten years
later Paul exhorts Euodia and Syntyche of the Philipian Church and notes that
these women "labored with me in the gospel" (Phil 4:2,3). In verse 3, Clement (a
male) as well as these two women are referred to by the same title "fellow
laborers," sunergos. Both Clement, as well as Euodia and Syntyche, are
equal in role and function.
II. Corinthians 8:23 is an interesting verse. Titus is
called "my partner and fellowhelper (sunergos)" and his lesser companions are
apostles! Paul also calls the women, Priscilla (Rom. 16:3) and Euodia and
Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3) fellow helpers (sunergos).
Might there be some interchangeability between the terms
"apostles" and "fellowhelpers" (sunergos)?
Dr. Robb C. Palmer, Pastor, Evangelical Free Fellowship,
Muncy, PA, "From a Pastor's Notebook" Priscilla Papers, Winter, 1997, p.
23 says,
"And if sunergos means fellow laborer (as it
does) then there is no inequality between the nature of the ministry of the man
and the nature of the ministry of the woman. How can it be concluded otherwise?"
"This all goes to say that Paul, in referring to the
ministries of the men and women in his circle, never once refers to the ministry
of men in a different manner (or with a different title) than the ministry of
women. He does not use two different terms, which would connote a different
nature of ministry of the two individuals. Quite the contrary, what the men do
and who they are in kingdom service (and what they mean to Paul) is also defined
as sunergos. This, then, implies that the women were ministering
alongside the men in fully equal terms, manners and ministries! This is in
keeping with Galatians 3:28 and Acts 2:17."
In regards to Galatians to 3:28, some are concerned that
women are going outside the home to work and that children are not being trained
and cared for as they should be. George Barna has found that there are as many
divorces and abortions in the Christian community as in the non-Christian
community. So it could be that Christian parents, as a whole, are not planning
as they should for the care of their children. Definitely, if there are
children, the gifts and talents of the parents must be used for their own
children too. An excellent, very readable book, that shows how one missionary
family solved this problem is Women at the Crossroads, by Kari Torjesen
Malcolm, InterVarsity Press, 1982. Kari Torjesen Malcolm also wrote Building
Your Family To Last, InterVarsity Press, 1987. Kari was the daughter of
Norwegian missionaries to an undeveloped area of China. As a teenager, Kari was
placed in a concentration camp during World War II.
In Acts 18, Paul meets a woman of outstanding abilities
and character. We read: "After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came
to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race,
lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. . .and he came unto them; and
because he was of the same trade, he abode with them." (v. 1-3). "And he dwelt
there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." (v. 11).
"After this, yet many days took his leave of the
brethren and sailed for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. . .and they
came to Ephesus and he left them there: (vs. 11,18,19). "Now a certain Jew names
Apollos. . .a learned man came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures;
(vs.24). "And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue." But when Priscilla and
Aquila heard him, "they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God
more perfectly." (v. 26). The Bible Status of Women by Lee Anna Starr,
copyright 1926, printed 1955, page 187 says that in v. 26 in the Greek the
pronouns "they" and "them" and the verb "expounded" are plurals, "and that the
name of Priscilla precedes that of her husband, indicating that she was the
chief actor." The King James Version translated Aquila first, however,
the NIV, NRSV, and NLT translated it according to the original Greek.
Something To Think About: Christianity Today
magazine, October 5, 1979, issue carried an article "Does Male Dominance Tarnish
Our Translations?" Quoting from this article, "Translators naturally tend to
read and interpret the Bible from the framework in which they have lived and
thought. Meanwhile, Christians now trying to work through the actual teachings
of the Bible on the strategically important issue of men-women relationships are
thrown off course by translations that may reflect more of the translator's
interpretations and biases than the actual words of the Bible." ". . .the Bible
is uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit--but the translators are not."
This is why many female biblical scholars are calling
for more women to study Hebrew and Greek--to learn for themselves what the
scriptures do say.
Priscilla is mentioned in Acts 18:2, Romans 16:3, I
Corinthians 6:19, II. Timothy 4:19, and Acts 18:24-26. The NRSV in Romans 16:4
says that Priscilla and Aquila "risked their necks for my life." There is hardly
any doubt that Priscilla was a leader. And, verse 5, the church was meeting in
Priscilla and Aquila's house.
Churches frequently met in homes of women. One such
church met in Mary's (the mother of John Mark) house. Nympha in the town of
Laodicea had a "church in her house." (Col. 4:15). I. Cor. 16:19 mentions again
the church in Aquila and Priscilla's home. Apphia, whom Paul called "our
sister," evidently was a leader in a house church in the City of Colossae
(Philemon 2). There was preaching and teaching in these house churches. (Acts
5:42). The rules of the synagogue were not operative in the house churches.
Women had freedom in the early church; they were encouraged by Jesus and Paul
and also by the fact that there were no formally established buildings for their
worship.
Other women are greeted in Romans 16. Study Bible for
Women, NT, NRSV, p. 321 says, "At least eleven women are mentioned as
leaders in the Roman church, and there are eight whose work is particularly
singled out for commendation. . .In the early centuries of the church, women
continued to play a major role in the leadership at Rome."
Phoebe is mentioned as a diakonos (deacon) from
Cenchrae, a community adjacent to Corinth. She is the only deacon (diakonos)
mentioned in the New Testament as serving in a specific local church. Paul uses
diakonos 21 times in his writings. However, the term "diakonos" is
also used of secular rulers in Romans 13:4.
Phoebe is called a "prostatis" in verse 2.
Patricia Gundry in her book Woman be Free copyright 1977, pp. 101-102
says, "This word prostatis occurs only once in the New Testament, so we
have no other biblical usage with which to compare it. From classical Greek
writings on through patristic writings it is used in its masculine form as
chief, the leader of a party, one who stands before and protects, champion,
defender, ruler, leader, supporter. The word is rare in its feminine form for
obvious reasons: women did not often hold positions of power in Greek culture.
Thayers Greek Lexicon gives the primary meaning for this word as 'a woman
set over others.'"
When one starts studying women in the New Testament, it
certainly is amazing just how much material about women there really is!
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