11: Does The Bible Permit Women Preachers?

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast. I'm Eddie Lawrence. In the last episode, we considered the differences between a preacher and a pastor. The New Testament consistently depicts a preacher as one who shares the good news about Jesus with the lost, with those who are not believers.

The word preacher is synonymous with an evangelist. However, there are three passages which, on the surface, appear to say that preaching was directed at those who had already become followers of Jesus.

In this episode, we'll look at these three passages in a bit more detail. Also, since there's overlap, let's just go ahead and answer the question, does the Bible permit women preachers? There has been a great deal of controversy over the idea of women preachers.

Does the Bible permit a woman to preach? Can a woman be a pastor? Isn't a preacher and a pastor the same thing? Well, they are not the same, but even famous, well-educated, and highly credentialed ministers and scholars typically fail to make the distinction.

In the New Testament, preaching and pastoring are not the same thing, and it's easy to see this once the facts are pointed out. But before we can answer the question of women preachers, we'll first need to understand more about preaching and pastoring.

So, what does preach mean? The Greek words most often translated into English as preach are keruso and euangelizo. The definition of keruso is to make an official announcement, announce, or to make known by an official herald or one who functions as such.

The word euangelizo means to bring good news, to announce glad tidings. As you can see, they are similar in meaning. A preacher, therefore, is someone who proclaims good news. As it pertains to the Bible, this good news is about Jesus.

This is probably not a surprise to anyone, but it may surprise you who preachers in the Bible told the good news to. Preaching was always directed to non-Christians. The word preach, or preached, or preaching, etc. occurs 138 times in the King James Version of the New Testament.

In 98 of those instances, the text specifically says the gospel was being proclaimed. In every case, the context reveals that those who heard the preaching were those who were not followers of Jesus. I would prefer that you don't take my word for this.

In the blog article that this podcast is narrated from, there is a link to look up the references and you can see for yourself that the followers of Jesus were not the target audience of the basic gospel message.

Be sure to notice the context of each of these verses that I've linked to. Now this makes sense if you think about it. Why would you proclaim the good news about Jesus to those who are already Christians?

They've already heard and believed. Once a person believed the good news and became a follower of Jesus, it was time to move on in their spiritual development and their discipling. Of course, the good news about Jesus is the basis for all additional Christian doctrine.

The gospel will definitely be referred to as additional truths are taught to those who are already Christians. However, the preaching of the basic gospel message was primarily directed at those who did not believe.

Now someone may ask the question, didn't Paul preach to Christians? Out of the dozens of verses mentioning preaching, there are three which someone might argue had a Christian audience. Let's see what those passages are and make some observations about them.

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. Acts 20 verse 7, King James Version.

If you read this verse in any modern translation, you'll notice that the word preached is not used. Instead, depending on your translation, it will use the words spoke, talked, discoursed, or something similar.

The Greek word used is diallegami, which means to engage in speech interchange, converse, discuss, or argue. If you saw the word spelled out, you would notice that it is very similar to the English word dialogue.

Paul wasn't preaching or lecturing to them. He was having a discussion with them about spiritual matters. In short, the King James Version translators should never have used the word preach in this verse.

It is more properly translated as dialogue or conversation. The second verse that might confuse preaching with a message taught to Christians is found in Romans chapter 1.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. Romans 1 verse 15.

The letter to the Romans was written to the Christians living in Rome. Note the emphasis upon Christians. Since Paul said he was eager to preach to them, can't we conclude that Paul would have been preaching to Christians?

Probably not. The very next verse says that the gospel which Paul would preach at Rome was intended to result in salvation for those who would come to believe. Clearly, Christians in Rome were already saved believers.

Therefore, Paul's target audience in Rome wasn't Christians, but unbelievers. Therefore, the you in verse 15 refers to all unbelieving citizens of Rome, not the Christians in Rome. The word you was used in a collective sense, but the context should make it clear that it was not the believers in Rome that Paul desired to preach to.

The third passage is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil. We work night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you while we proclaim to you the gospel of God. 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 9.

This verse kind of sounds like that Paul had intended to proclaim or preach the gospel to those who were brothers. For you remember, brothers. But remember, at the time when Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians, they had already become believers.

In this verse, Paul is calling to memory how he conducted himself when he first met the Thessalonians before they were believers. He reminds them that he worked to support himself so that he would not be a financial burden to them.

We assume that only Christians would financially support those who preached the gospel. However, in those days, traveling philosophers would wander around the countryside attempting to make disciples, expecting these disciples to financially support their new teacher.

Consider these remarks from the New Bible commentary.

So many wandering religious and philosophical teachers traveled around the Roman world making what they could out of their hearers, that it was necessary for the missionaries to stress that their motives and methods were quite different from those of the less scrupulous of their rivals.

The criticisms and the response to them made here can be paralleled in the writings of some of the ancient philosophers who felt that they too were being unjustly accused. Basically, the missionaries were charged with exploiting their followers and living at their expense.

All their appeals to the new converts were regarded as ways of deceiving them into paying the missionaries high respect and high fees or presents. Paul is making it clear that.

He didn't operate the way of the wandering teachers of their day. He made no financial request of the unbelievers he preached to. It's clear from 2 Corinthians 11 verse 8 that Paul was willing to accept financial support from fellow Christians.

The fact that he refused to ask for the financial support of the Thessalonians while he preached the gospel to them is evidence that they were not yet believers when he first met them. So, what is the role of a preacher?

Based on the word usage in the New Testament, preaching is proclaiming a message directed to the lost. A preacher, then, is one who tells those who are not believers the good news about Jesus. The term preacher is not a title but a description.

It is one who is a proclaimer of the good news. The role of a pastor, on the other hand, is different. A pastor is one who is charged by the Holy Spirit to care for the spiritual well-being of a group of people who are already Christians.

Likewise, the term pastor is not a title but a description of what a man in that position does. The New Testament also uses the synonyms shepherd, overseer, bishop, elder, and steward to describe the exact same role.

In short, a pastor teaches Christians who are under his care and makes sure that no wolves attack his flock to spiritually kill or lead them astray. So, can a woman be a pastor? In short, no. The New Testament does not leave the door open for a woman to be a pastor.

The qualifications given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 leaves us with no doubt that this role is exclusively filled by men. Listen to the reading of these verses from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1 and notice how it describes that an elder is to be faithful to his.

Wife and the husband of one wife. Here is a trustworthy saying, whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.

1 Timothy 3 verses 1 and 2. This is why I left you in Crete so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

Titus 1 verses 5 and 6. The language in these passages is clear, unmistakable, and to the point. A pastor, also known as overseer, elder, etc., is to be a faithful husband to one wife. Since a woman cannot be a husband, women are excluded from the role of being a pastor.

Now where does this leave the notion of women preachers? Does the Bible permit women to preach? A woman can be a preacher according to the biblical description of what a preacher is. A preacher, as noted previously, is one who proclaims the good news to the lost.

All disciples of both genders are commanded by God to share the gospel with the lost. The key thing we must keep in mind is that the terms preacher and pastor are not used interchangeably in the New Testament.

They are not the same thing. They do not have the same duties. If we commingle the roles of preacher and pastor, we are being unbiblical in our thinking. The Bible not only allows women preachers, it encourages it.

All Christians, regardless of gender, are to share the gospel, which is what preaching is. We are to share the gospel with unbelievers. Now am I saying that women should start speaking from the pulpit?

No, not necessarily. That is the role of a pastor. Preachers do not stand behind a pulpit teaching a congregation of Christians. It's the job of pastors to feed the flock. Preachers do not make spiritual decisions for a congregation and ask the church to follow their lead.

That is what pastors do. Preachers are not charged with the duty of guarding the flock from false teachers. That's the duty of pastors. A number of well-known and respected ministers use the words preacher and pastor interchangeably and on this basis argue that the Bible forbids women preachers.

It's an understandable oversight. Due to our modern practices, biases, and misconceptions, it's usually not even on our radar that the Bible makes a distinction between preaching and pastoring. Thankfully, seeing the distinction is easy once a person has examined the relevant passages.

Can one person fill both roles? Can one person be a preacher and a pastor? Since a woman cannot biblically or scripturally be a pastor, she could not fill both roles. It is possible for a man to both preach to the lost and also shepherd a flock of people who are already Christians.

Notwithstanding, this is not typically how it works. Pastors almost always exclusively minister to those who are already Christians. By the Bible's definition, when he delivers a sermon to the church, he is not preaching because he is speaking to the save.

This is not a criticism, it's just an observation. He could be a preacher and a pastor, but typically that's not how it works out. If a person lets the Bible speak for itself, there is a very clear distinction between preaching to the lost and teaching targeted at the church.

This has not gone unnoticed by Bible students. British New Testament scholar and theologian Dr. C .H. Dodd concluded that preaching was the public proclamation of the gospel to the non-Christian world.

The popular notion that a preacher and a pastor are the same role is simply not supported by the Bible. A preacher is one whose ministry is directed to non-Christians in the hope that they will believe the message and become followers of Jesus.

A pastor, on the other hand, is a man who teaches and cares for those who are already Christians. There is no scriptural prohibition against a woman being engaged in a ministry of publicly proclaiming the good news to the lost.

Simply put, it's a modern tradition stemming from a misunderstanding of biblical words which has banned women preachers. The Bible certainly does not forbid it.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope this episode has deepened your understanding of scripture. If you found this content valuable, please share it with your friends. For more biblical studies, visit our website at ReadyForEternity .com.

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Keep studying your Bible, growing closer to God, and getting ready for eternity. See you next time.