icon__search

What does 1 Timothy 2:12 mean? "I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man.."

Episode 24

December 15, 2023 • David Horner, Nathan Crowe, Jessica Horner • 1 Timothy 2:8–15, Genesis 1—3

This is part 2 of a series of episodes answering the question: can women be pastors? In this episode, Pastor David and Nathan along with special guest, Jessica Horner, look at 1 Timothy 2, focusing especially on verses 11:-15: "11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control." (English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)).


What does this mean? Can women be pastors/elders in the church? Can they teach in any capacity? Was this passage only relevant to a specific audience in a specific time period? Have complementarians failed to consider the historical context surrounding this passage? How does the book of Genesis inform our understanding? What does it mean that "she will be saved through childbearing"?


We discuss all of these questions and more on this episode of Without Doubt.

More from Without Doubt