Should Women be Quiet in Church? (1 Timothy 2:11)

"Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness." (1 Tim. 2:11, ESV).

Paul continues his directions on what is proper for women in the church setting with a somewhat startling statement to let a woman learn quietly with submission. What is Paul saying here? As with all controversial statements there are numerous explanations. Here are a few:

1) This was instruction only to Timothy's church in Ephesus - if this is the case and this instruction has no purpose today then why do have it in Scripture? I believe that this conclusion invariably leads to a slippery slope that eventually undermines the reliability of Scripture.

2) That women should not speak in church - I also don't feel that the inflection in the Greek should be translated this way. Some people use this as an excuse to demean women so that they have no say in church matters. This is just unloving and unbiblical. Let's look at the different ways that scholars have translated this passage:

NIV - Women should learn quietly and submissively.

NAS - A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.

NKJ - Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.

NLT - Women should learn quietly and submissively.

ESV - Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

The Message - They (the women) should study to be quiet and obedient along with everyone else.

So it seems that Paul urges that women should seek to learn quietly and in submission to the leadership of the church. Why did Paul have to teach this? Obviously there were women (and are women) who do not act this way. We will look more into this issue in the next post. But before we do, I'll state the third option for this passage that I ascribe to:

3) Women should learn quietly under the authority of the leaders in the church.

No Pearls?! (1 Tim. 2:9-10)

"...likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness--with good works." (1 Tim. 2:9-10)

After urging that the men should pray and not quarrel, Paul turns his attention to women. I used to always wonder if this section of Scripture meant that women should not be wearing gold, pearls, or have braids in their hair. To say that today's women do not have to abide by this would make me guilty of selective literalism I used to think. However, my scholar of a wife wrote a research paper on these very verse. You can find the link to the first half of the paper here. The next half can be found here (scroll down to the end).

In short, Paul is saying that women need to not dress so outlandishly, instead when they are in church they should try to glorify God and not themselves. Furthermore, women who profess godliness should live the Christian life and not just flaunt their own external beauty.

Here is her main conclusion on this issue (which I agree with)

"Women in the worship service should not dress in extreme fashion with braided hair, gold, pearls or costly clothing. The reader can be aware of the fact that women, back in the time that Paul was writing, only had three dresses and often wore gold and pearls in their hair to draw attention to themselves (like many pagan women). However, the point Paul is making is in contrast to “moderation.” Paul says to dress in moderation or hidden truth, not in contrast to out of control fashion. If a woman comes to a worship service with jewelry to flaunt her wealth or draw attention to herself, then she is not honoring God. Women should be more concerned with her good works instead of her apparel."