Should women be silent in the church?

1 Timothy 2:12-14

And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

If you think the bible is sexist, consider Paul’s audience. He is speaking to a culture in which women were largely illiterate and unlearned. This is not the culture that we live in today.Paul is saying until you learn, don’t presume to teach. If you read scripture in light of scripture, you get a clear picture. By alluding to Eve’s deception in the garden, Paul underscores how crucial it is that women, like men, involve themselves in learning. Far from chastising Eve for her role in the fall, Paul chastises the Jewish men of his day for excluding women from learning, thus leaving them vulnerable to deception. There is another cultural aspect regarding this passage of women’s authority over men. Ephesus, where Timothy ministered, was the home of a cult dedicated to the pagan goddess Artemis. Worship of Artemis was conducted under the authority of an entirely female priesthood that exercised authoritarian dominion over males. Paul is refuting these practices as well. Paul neither elevates women over men nor men over women, but is rather concerned that men and women be granted equal opportunity to learn and grow in submission to one another and to God. 

Should women be the lead pastor of a church? 

No. God has set up roles for men and women. We don’t see a model in the Bible for women to have authority over men. In Acts we see Priscilla teaching more accurate information to a man, Apollos. So teaching  is certainly a role for women. 

Acts 18:24-28

Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Ephesians 5:22-25

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her

Cited Sources: The Bibleanswer Book 2 by Hank Hanegraaff