”Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.“
1 Timothy 2:11-12 KJV
Paul cautions Timothy in Ephesus of women leaders as he knew that in the temple worship of Diana, the goddess of the Ephesians, female leadership was common. For the women who converted to Christ, their only cultural context of worship was that the women were the leaders. In the church, however, it was the men who commonly made up the leadership of the congregations. So Paul told Timothy, “Let the women who are new converts, be willing to learn with all submission to their leaders and not speak out of turn. I don’t advocate that the newly converted women be the teachers in the church, assuming authority over the men, but to live in peace.” Paul instructed them to take a respectful posture of a disciple in this new way of worshipping the true God. When Paul told women not to be teachers, he was referring to their old religion practices where women were the temple leaders and teachers of their goddess religion in Ephesus. The early Christians understood this. Paul had no double standards when he said, ”There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. Neither should we. Amen!
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