Abstract
This essay was presented at a conference on the Holy Spirit and the healing of the body sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today at Biola University. It approaches the topic metaphorically and theologically. The body of Christ, made up of men and women who are God’s image, is fractured by distrust, abuses of power, and a failure to partner well together. Many conservative evangelical churches in the United States are preoccupied with the task of circumscribing the participation of women in ministry roles. One reason is a neglect of the Bible’s clear teaching about the Spirit’s empowerment of women. A brief survey of the interaction of the Holy Spirit with women in the entire Bible uncovers key examples of the Spirit’s empowerment of women for kingdom work. This essay examines three key areas: (1) the Spirit’s interaction with women, both as vessels of the Spirit’s empowerment and as recipients of bodily healing (2) the distribution of the gifts of the Spirit without regard to gender, and (3) prophecy as an illustration of an essential speaking role for women in the eschaton. The prophetic ministry of women alongside men is a key diagnostic marker of the restored kingdom of God, an observation with profound implications for church ministry today.
When I first heard the call for papers for this conference on the Holy Spirit and the healing of the body, I was intrigued. I believe that God physically heals people by the power of the Holy Spirit and I am glad to see sustained attention to that topic. But I had also been reflecting on invisible wounds in a metaphorical body, the body of Christ, particularly those wounds related to the devaluation of women and women’s contributions. For the past seven years, our national headlines have included a brutal litany of unveilings regarding the abuse of women both outside and inside the church. Simultaneously the debates about a woman’s place in the body of Christ have raged on, dividing believers over ministry practices and titles. These two issues might seem unrelated, but it is the collective failure of male church leaders to listen to women’s testimony that enabled so many abusers to keep on abusing and even created cultures that protected abusers. I wonder what else the church is missing when we don’t listen to what the Spirit wants to say through godly women who would call the church back to fidelity on other matters?
The evangelical church at large is often more preoccupied with circumscribing women’s leadership and influence than it is with the question of stewardship. Our leaders are very concerned about crossing into unfaithfulness by allowing godly women to engage in certain ministries or to serve in certain roles. I’m puzzled by the apparent lack of concern that the church may be quenching the Spirit by barring these women from responding to their God-given calling to serve the church. I would like to see us just as cautious about the latter as we are about the former. A healthy pneumatology is the key to addressing this disconnect. We simply must attend to the Bible's clear teaching about the Spirit’s empowerment of women.
I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is the key to the healing of these particular wounds in this larger body—that the Holy Spirit leads us to honor women’s bodies and value their voices, not just behind the scenes and not just as it relates to women’s issues but as essential partners in gospel ministry.
My approach will begin with what the creation narratives in Genesis tell us about what women are for, after which I will consider stories of women’s bodily healing and women’s empowerment by the Spirit. I’ve chosen prophecy as a key marker of Spirit empowerment, tracing examples of female prophets in the Old and New Testaments, with particular attention to Paul’s prohibitions for women in light of this biblical phenomenon. Prophecy is a pertinent example because it is spoken, public, and authoritative. I define prophecy as declaring the word of God to the people of God. 1 My hope is to offer the church a clearer model and mandate to value women as women and to embrace the Spirit-empowered voices of women in our midst. The prophetic ministry of women alongside men is a key diagnostic marker of the restored kingdom of God, an observation with profound implications for how we envision church ministry today. 2
What Does it Mean to be God’s Image?
Sexed embodiment matters. The man’s solitary condition was the first thing in creation deemed “not good” (Gen. 2:18). Rather than duplicating him, God made another creature of the same substance but with demonstrable differences that made her complementary to him. They were similar, but distinct. Together, man and woman could be fruitful, but this in itself is not what made them uniquely God’s image. Fish and birds were also told to multiply. To be the image of God is to have a human body. While this designation does not exclude the immaterial parts of our personhood, the Hebrew word tselem, or “image,” is a concrete term that refers to a three-dimensional, physical representation of someone else (Gen. 1:26). The term usually refers to an idol (e.g., Num. 33:52; 2 Kgs. 11:18; Ezek. 7:20). Just as an idol mediates the presence and authority of a deity, or a royal monument mediates the presence and authority of a king, so humans mediate the presence and authority of God.
Outside the Bible is an illuminating example: the statue of Hadad-Yith’i, king of Guzan, is inscribed in both Aramaic and Akkadian identifying it as a tselem/tsalmu of the king. 3 King Hadad-Yithʿi set up the statue as a reminder to his subjects of his rulership. The statue represented the king and mediated his rule. For God to appoint humans as his image indicates that we are to represent the divine ruler. No particular skill set qualifies us for this status. The imago Dei is simply our God-given human identity, dependent only on our human embodiment.
According to Genesis, humans’ unique status as God’s image means that we are part of God’s family, God’s kin (see Gen. 5:1-3). It entails a responsibility to rule over creation and maintain the garden God planted, together (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18). Our identity as God’s image was not lost when the humans in the garden rebelled against the God who made them. Genesis 9:6 grounds the sanctity of human life in our status as God’s image—still intact after human sin corrupted the earth. 4
What are Women for?
Although Adam and Eve’s disregard for God’s command in the garden did not diminish their status as God’s image, it resulted in relational brokenness. They hid from God, blamed each other, and experienced creation as an adversary. One consequence of their decision not to trust God was a disruption of the partnership that they were intended to experience. God had made the woman to be the man’s ʿēzer kenegdô, his corresponding ally (Gen. 2:18). 5 It is crucial that we notice that God’s original vision for creation included no instruction for any human to rule over any other human. Teamwork was God’s intention. However, after their rejection of God as the true source of wisdom, rather than productive teamwork, their relationship was characterized by hierarchy and dominance. Rather than ruling creation with his wife, the man ruled over his wife (Gen. 3:16). That dominating form of hierarchy represented a departure from God’s original plan for partnership and collaboration.
Perpetuation of this imbalance was also not inevitable. Many have assumed that God cursed the humans, but the text does not say so. God cursed the serpent because of his duplicity and he cursed the ground as a consequence of Adam’s complicity, but he did not explicitly curse the humans (Gen. 3:14-19). Genesis 3 describes the results of humans’ fateful decision without calling it a curse. 6
To resolve the disruption of God’s creation design, YHWH announced that he would “put enmity between [the serpent] and the woman” (Gen. 3:15). That hostility is a good thing. Gen. 1:26-28 indicates that both men and women are God’s image, and highlights their shared responsibility to rule creation, subduing anything that is out of order (see Gen. 1:28). Genesis 2:15 indicates that the humans were to “guard” (NIV “take care of”; Heb. šāmar) the garden, a term that implies that they should bar the entry of any intruders. Similarly, God appointed cherubim to “guard” the entrance to the garden after Adam and Eve’s expulsion (Gen. 3:24).
Many interpreters throughout history have blamed and denigrated Eve, seeing her leadership as the problem in this account. 7 Some are even willing to read Genesis 3:16 as the solution to that problem, one which restores the hierarchy God intended between men and women. However, both Adam and Eve failed to subdue the serpent in Genesis 3. Eve ought to have been more decisive than she was with the serpent, casting it out of God’s good garden (cf. Gen. 2:15). When she failed to do this, Adam should have stepped in to assist her in making a wise decision. Together they missed the opportunity to exercise their shared human vocation.
Hindsight is 20/20. If they had been more diligent in eradicating the insurrection proposed by the serpent, no harm would have come to them. When the woman discovered in retrospect the wisdom of God’s command, intended for their flourishing, she became God’s ally in the work of redemption. Her offspring would finally crush the serpent, as she should have done at once. Childbirth would be the means of restoring God’s good plans for creation (Gen. 3:15; cf. 1 Tim. 2:15). However, because of Eve’s failure to look to God as her source of wisdom, childbirth itself would be painful and difficult. The relationship with her spouse would be asymmetrical, and therefore problematic. We don’t have far to look to see these dynamics in play.
The Fractured Partnership Between Women and Men
In Gen. 4:19-24, a descendent of the rebel Cain named Lamech took two wives and bragged to them about enacting exponentially greater revenge than Cain did for the wound to his honor. What was his purpose for announcing this to his wives? Was it a threat to keep them in line? The text is ominously unclear about his motives, but the theme of violent subjugation is obvious. Lamech lost sight of God’s vision for human collaboration and partnership.
In Judges 19-20, a Levite offered his nameless female concubine up for gang rape to save his own honor. The men used her so violently that she was unresponsive the next morning (Judg. 19:27-28). Upon arriving home with her body, her husband further ravaged her corpse by cutting it into twelve pieces, which he sent to the twelve tribes to rally them for war. Her severed body parts testified how far God’s people had strayed from covenant faithfulness. Ironically, the man himself had offered her up to her abusers and failed to recognize his complicity for her death. Outraged at the actions of others, he could not see his own fault. A community in which women are not safe is not a community that is faithful to God. The man was a Levite, for Pete’s sake, appointed by God to serve in the tabernacle and maintain sacred space.
These horrific pictures of gendered exploitation are not the whole story. We also don’t have far to look to see women playing key roles, empowered by the Spirit to participate in the redemption of God’s people. Some of these stories do not include explicit mention of the Spirit, but they align with other passages that do. For example, the serpent-crushing vocation of the woman’s seed is evident in the story of Jael, a non-Israelite who literally crushed the head of the enemy of God’s people, aligning herself with YHWH’s purposes and securing the future of the covenant people (Judg. 4:18-23; 5:24-27). She acts with courage, as do the Judges the Spirit empowers.
This paper will focus in particular on the scriptural evidence for the role of the Spirit in two dimensions: (1) healing women’s bodies and (2) empowering women for participation in God’s work through the gift of prophecy. The first is pertinent because it shows God’s engagement with women as women, not in spite of their sexed embodiment but rather in full recognition of the unique complementarity of women’s bodies in God’s good world. Women do not have to become like men in order to interact with God, and women’s bodies are not a barrier or problem for the work of God’s Spirit. God cares about women’s experiences and attends to their physical needs. The second indicates that women are not only the object of the Spirit’s ministry, but are also empowered to participate in that ministry alongside men.
It is my contention that the consistent witness of Scripture reinforces God’s vision of a robust partnership between men and women, not just at the beginning, but as the culmination of prophetic and eschatological hopes. The Bible tells of many women through the centuries who experienced the Spirit’s empowerment for participation in God’s work in the world. These women participated not in spite of their gender, but as women, thereby fulfilling God’s creational intention.
The Healing of Women’s Bodies
The Old Testament does not recount many healing stories, and those recounted do not all mention the Spirit explicitly. However, the prophet Isaiah anticipated that healing would characterize the coming kingdom of God, where God’s divine presence is manifest (e.g., Isa. 35:5-6). The paucity of healing stories is what makes the healing of women all the more significant. We will consider two primary forms of healing, noting examples from both Testaments: the gift of children for women suffering from infertility, and healing from ritual or demonic impurity.
Barrenness
One of the most devastating physical ailments during the patriarchal period was barrenness, which was a source of shame and grief. In terms of biblical theology, infertility also represents a disruption to God’s covenant promises to Abraham of many descendants (Gen. 12:1-3) and to the promise to Eve of a descendant to crush the serpent (Gen. 3:15). Far more than personal fulfillment, for a barren woman to bear children restores wider theological themes involving women’s participation in God’s redemptive work (cf. 1 Tim. 2:15).
God promised a miraculous birth to Sarah in her old age (Gen. 18:9-15; 21:1-7). God also healed the household of Abimelech of barrenness that resulted from his offense against Sarah (Gen. 21:16-18). God healed Rebekah of barrenness in answer to Isaac’s prayer (Gen. 25:21) and gave children to Leah because she was unloved (Gen. 29:31-32) and finally to Rachel in answer to her prayers after many years of barrenness (Gen. 30:22-23). God also answered Hannah’s prayer for a son (1 Sam. 1:19-20). In the New Testament, God miraculously healed Elizabeth’s lifetime of infertility, giving her a son in her old age as he had done for Sarah (Luke 1:5-25). Each of these stories of healing accomplished the preservation of the family of Abraham.
Ritual Impurity
Both men and women experienced ritual impurity in biblical times due to intercourse and genital discharges, as well as skin diseases or contact with dead bodies (see Lev. 11-15). However, women’s bodies experienced ritual impurity more regularly due to menstruation and for longer periods due to childbirth. Ritual impurity was not considered sinful, but it limited women’s access to sacred space and thereby reinforced the sense of exile that came from Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Long-term bouts of impurity could compound the sense of shame or isolation. God struck Miriam with a skin affliction because of her insubordination to Moses’ leadership. She and her brother Aaron claimed to be prophets—a claim which YHWH did not correct—but she and Aaron were helpless to resolve her condition of ritual impurity. Moses’ prayers were required to heal her (Num. 12:1-15). In the New Testament, Jesus directly addressed ritual purity by healing those experiencing long-term bouts of it. He healed the woman whose menstrual bleeding had lasted for twelve long years, and he raised a girl from the dead, reversing the ultimate source of impurity (Matt. 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-42; Luke 8:40-56). 8 The reversal of death and restoration of the ability to bear children both participate in renewal according to the pattern of creation.
Jesus also healed women who experienced demonic oppression, a condition of spiritual oppression that was understood as a form of impurity. Luke 13:11-17 tells the story of Jesus’ healing of a woman “whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years.” Jesus called her a “daughter of Abraham,” that is, he recognized her covenant membership. Similarly Jesus healed Mary Magdalene by driving seven demons from her (Mark 16:9). She became one of his most devoted followers and the first witness of the resurrection. By healing both men and women of demonic oppression, Jesus showed himself to be the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent, freeing those the enemy had bound (cf. Gen. 3:15).
The Empowerment of Women for Prophecy
The Bible describes the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as taking many forms, evidenced in a whole range of gifts, including service, artistic skill, and hospitality, as well as teaching. However, given the particular prohibition of women speaking publicly in many church communities, my exploration of the Spirit’s empowerment of women will focus more narrowly on the gift of prophecy.
Defining Prophecy
What is prophecy? Hebrew Bible scholar Wilda Gafney defines prophecy as “the proclamation and/or performance of a divine word by a religious intermediary to an individual or community.” 9 Paul spoke of prophecy as a gift given by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11) to be esteemed highly because it edifies and instructs the church (1 Cor. 14:1-4). As Westfall explains, “Paul values prophecy higher than any other gift for the purpose of building up the church, higher than even revelation, knowledge or instruction.” 10 The exercise of the prophetic gift takes on different forms through biblical history. Sometimes a prophet has access to the divine council; sometimes they intercede; sometimes they play an official role in the royal court; sometimes they stand outside and critique it; sometimes the message they receive provokes a physiological response; sometimes not. What the prophets of the Hebrew Bible seem to have in common is reception and delivery of a divine word, usually in poetic form 11 and sometimes accompanied by percussion (1 Sam. 10:5; 2 Kgs. 3:15; 1 Chron. 25:1-3). 12 The Greek term prophētēs consistently refers in Greek literature outside the Bible to “someone who has the oracular gift or authority to speak out in the name of a god, a role that may include prediction.” 13 It is the standard term to translate the Hebrew word nābiʼ (“prophet”) in the Septuagint, which by the end of the Old Testament referred primarily to the ministry of “oral proclamation” by which an individual passed along the authoritative word of God. 14 In Paul’s letters he referred to prophets as those who brought exhortation, comfort, and edification to the church (1 Cor. 14:3-31). 15
As a Spirit-inspired activity, prophecy often involves the interpretation of Scripture (e.g., Acts 2:14-36; 3:12-26; 4:8-12). 16 John Dickson, a historian and a complementarian, makes the case that the modern day sermon does not correlate most closely with the “teaching” Paul prohibited in 1 Tim. 2:12 but rather with “prophecy,” a role open to women in Paul’s churches. 17 In other words, if Paul visited our churches today, he would expect women to be among those preaching.
The Source of Prophecy
Prophecy is not hereditary. Scripture offers no examples of a prophetic role passed down from parent to child. The prophetic gift is neither gender specific nor subject to human hierarchies. One of the Bible’s early examples of prophecy is when God put his Spirit on the elders of Israel “and they prophesied” (Num. 11:25). This was a one-time occurrence that marked them as set apart for the service of leadership in the community. The association between prophecy and leadership is worth noting (e.g., 1 Sam. 10:10). These men were chosen by God rather than self-selected because two of them failed to report to the tent of meeting and yet still “prophesied in the camp” (Num. 11:26; cf. 1 Sam. 10:6, 10; 19:19-24). This indicates that the Spirit’s empowerment is subject to God’s choosing. Moses expressed his desire that every Israelite would experience this type of Spirit empowerment (Num. 11:29). Isaiah 40:13 asks, “Who can measure the Spirit of YHWH? Or a man of his counsel instruct him?” (my translation). No human advises God regarding where to distribute God’s Spirit. God alone decides on whom to place the Spirit. Ezekiel prophesied that God would put a new spirit—God’s own Spirit!—within the people, a new source of animation for faithful covenant living (Ezek. 11:19-20; cf. 36:26-27).
According to Isa. 44:1-5, when God decides to pour out the Spirit on the “seed” or “offspring” of Israel—terms that include both sons and daughters—the result is covenant renewal. 18 In other words, the presence of the Spirit is a sign and seal of a healthy covenant relationship. In Isa. 59:21, YHWH promises that the Spirit will remain on the people of Israel, on their “seed” and on the “seed of their seed.” The use of “seed” here instead of sons makes clear that all the faithful Israelites are included, regardless of gender. It also echoes God’s promise to Eve that her “seed” would crush the serpent (Gen. 3:15). These two biblical threads of the bestowal of the Spirit and the faithful “seed” are connected!
Gifts of the Spirit
In Romans 12, Paul explicitly spoke to “every one of you” (v. 3), noting that the diversity of gifts in the community of faith is essential because as one body we belong to each other (v. 5). The gifts are a “grace” distributed by God (v. 6, 3). Paul gave instructions regarding the proper exercise of gifts, but he never indicated that any of the gifts in his list were for men only. Paul had never been to Rome. One would think that if the exercise of certain gifts in the church was limited by gender, then he ought to have addressed that in his letter! Instead, Paul spoke to all believers. In Romans 16, Paul commended ten women for their service to the church in a variety of roles (co-worker, deacon, apostle, benefactor, and host). We know from elsewhere that Priscilla was a teacher and mentor (Rom. 16:1; Acts 18:26), and we can surmise that Junia had been publicly proclaiming the gospel, since he counted her among the apostles and she had been imprisoned (Rom. 16:7).
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul emphasized that the Spirit distributes gifts “just as he determines” (12:11) “for the common good” (12:7). The whole chapter is concerned to help everyone recognize that they belong in the church and that everyone is worthy of honor and “equal concern” (v. 25). The free exercise of diverse gifts for the sake of others is essential to the full operation of the church.
Ephesians 4:11-13 differs in that it does not describe gifts given to individuals, but rather indicates that the people themselves are the gift given to the church as a whole. Christ is the giver, and he intends that each of these gifts equip the church for works of service so that we collectively mature in Christ. Since his list named roles, not just abilities—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—this would have been a prime place for Paul to clarify that only men were eligible. However, nothing in this chapter indicates the gender of those given to minister to the church.
Women Empowered by the Spirit in the Old Testament
Against the backdrop of this biblical portrait of the distribution of the Spirit for the sake of the community, we consider three women of the Old Testament, each of whom is called a “prophet.” Each of these women were gifts that God gave to his covenant people, empowered by the Spirit to contribute to their life together.
Miriam
Miriam is the Bible’s first female prophet (Exod. 15:20-21). She bore witness to YHWH’s work of deliverance by calling the entire Israelite community to worship after they crossed the Sea of Reeds. Like her brother Aaron, Miriam exhorted the people of God with a divinely inspired interpretation of history under Moses’ leadership. Her song is the final word in the account of Israel’s deliverance at the Sea of Reeds. Miriam endured years of personal and national trauma and rose to prominence as one who participated in daring work for justice (see Exod. 2:1-11). She had skin in the game. On that basis she could boldly come alongside Moses to lead the nation in worship, beating her drum with the rhythm of salvation and calling for their–and our–response.
As the Israelites traveled into the desert, it was Miriam’s voice ringing in their ears, exhorting them to “Sing to YHWH!” Historically speaking, women usually led celebrations of military victory with hand drums and dancing (e.g., 1 Sam. 18:6-7; Judg. 5:1; 11:34; 21:21; 2 Sam. 1:20; Ps. 68:25). 19 Wilda Gafney and others have noted that in the Hebrew Bible, “musical performances, particularly when accompanied by percussive instruments, are identified as prophetic performances” (see 1 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 25). 20 Miriam sang as a prophet, delivering the divine word of YHWH’s victory to the nation. 21
Deborah
Deborah is known as both judge and prophet. Her name is likely derived from the Hebrew root, “to lead.”
22
She led Israel during a season of rebellion and apostasy, but was a shining example of faithfulness as she announced God’s will. She was called a “Mother in Israel” (Judg. 5:7), nurturing the nation, but also issuing divine decisions (Judg. 4:5). She issued authoritative instructions to Barak, a military leader, regarding a battle (Judg. 4:6-7). She also announced that the honor for the victory would go to a woman (Judg. 4:9). That woman turned out to be Jael, a Kenite (non-Israelite) who literally enacted the promise of Gen. 3:15 by driving a tent peg through the skull of the enemy (Judg. 4:17-23). The narrator concluded that God had thereby “subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites” (Judg. 4:23). Deborah and Barak sang of her, She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead. (Judg. 5:26b-27, NIV)
Huldah
From time to time people suggest that God only raises up women to do his work when there are no good men around to do it. Huldah stands as a counterexample. Huldah was a prophet during the reign of King Josiah during the divided kingdom (2 Kgs. 22:14; 2 Chron. 34:22). Not only was she married, but Huldah lived during the time of Jeremiah and multiple other prophets. We know that at least one of them was male because the masculine plural hanneviʾim designates the prophets who participated in Josiah’s Passover celebration (2 Kgs. 23:1-2). However, when those renovating the temple found the book of the Torah and Josiah commanded them to inquire of YHWH regarding the book, they went straight to Huldah. She spoke God’s word to them—a direct and specific message from God regarding Judah’s fate and Josiah’s future and the authoritative legitimacy of the scroll they found (2 Kgs. 22:15-20). YHWH issued no condemnation for consulting a woman or for her interpretation of Scripture, and King Josiah took this message seriously.
Other Women Prophets
Other women who were not expressly called prophets functioned in prophetic ways. For example, Rebekah inquired of YHWH and received the Lord’s reply (Gen. 25:21). 23 The mother of King Lemuel pronounced an oracle (Prov. 31:1-31). Noadiah prophesied after the return from exile (Neh. 6:14). The mourning women in Jeremiah received the utterance of YHWH (Jer. 9:17-21[Heb 16-22]). Hannah testified of the reversals YHWH would enact in a song that functions as the thematic agenda of the entire book of Samuel (1 Sam. 2). The psalmist echoed Hannah’s prophetic pronouncement in Psalm 113.
The gift of prophecy was not meant only for the Old Testament era. The prophet Joel announced that after God’s covenant people repented of their rebellion and returned to proper worship, God would pour out his Spirit on everyone in the community so that men and women, young and old would prophesy. Prophecy was to be the mark of covenant renewal. 24 In Joel’s words, “your sons and daughters will prophesy” (Joel 2:28).
Women Empowered by the Spirit in the New Testament
We now turn to women on whom God bestowed the Spirit in the New Testament. Matthew reported not only that Mary was pregnant, but that her pregnancy was “by/through the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:18-20). The Spirit did not empower Mary in spite of her sex; Mary’s sex was essential to the work the Spirit wanted to accomplish. The angel announced that the Spirit, the highest power, would rest on her (Luke 1:35). Her womb nourished the Savior. Her breasts nursed him. Mary echoed Hannah’s words in her own prophetic song (Luke 1:46-55) as well as Deborah’s words about Jael (Judg. 5:24; Luke 1:42, 48). 25 Similarly, Elizabeth’s son John experienced Spirit filling while still in her womb, a phenomenon that Elizabeth recognized (Luke 1:15), and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit so that she spoke prophetically (Luke 1:41-45). 26 Her pregnancy was miraculous to begin with, but the gestation of Elizabeth’s son was marked by the Spirit. God met these women as women as they experienced what only women can—conception, pregnancy, childbirth—to empower them for work that was ordained by God.
As important as these examples are, we must not lose sight of the fact that the Spirit’s empowerment of women is not limited to our role as bearers or nurturers of children. The New Testament witnesses the participation of women in other significant ways as well. Anna was an elderly widow who served God night and day in the temple through prayers and fasting. Her piety prepared her to immediately recognize Jesus as the answer to her prayers for the redemption of Jerusalem. She spoke about him to all who would listen, making her an evangelist. Luke did not shy away from calling her a prophet (Luke 2:36-38).
Women were among the disciples of Jesus who followed him and supported him (cf. Luke 8:1-3). Some of them became the first witnesses of his resurrection (John 20:1). These women knew where the men were staying and would have been present when Jesus breathed on his disciples, saying “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). After all, the whole group was locked in a house for fear of reprisal. It would have been unthinkable for Jesus’ male disciples to turn their female companions out on the street in a time of danger.
Shortly afterward, Luke tells us that all 120 of Jesus’ disciples gathered in one place. The eleven apostles were there “along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14-15). All of them were present when the Spirit rested on them at Pentecost. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and enabled by the Spirit to speak in other languages (Acts 2:1-4). Peter explained this event to the crowds that gathered by saying, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:16-18)
Women in Paul’s Churches
The apostle Paul’s writings are sometimes perceived as the most difficult pill for gifted women to swallow, but Paul himself understood what it meant to exist outside the formal structure and strictures of the church. He began his letter to the Galatians by identifying himself as “an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Gal. 1:1). Paul’s authority to preach and to call the church to account for their ill-formed doctrine and aberrant practices did not come from the elders in Jerusalem or from house church leaders in Asia minor. Jesus sent him. Paul was accountable to Jesus.
As he wrote to the Corinthians, “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.… It is the Lord who judges me” (1 Cor. 4:1-4). Paul understood his own ministry as an act of service to the Lord, regardless of what others thought. Paul was also remarkably unconcerned about who else was preaching or what motivated them, as long as it did not involve false teaching (Phil. 1:15-17). “What does it matter?” he said, “The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). Similarly, when Jesus’ disciples were upset because others were driving out demons in Jesus name, Jesus told them not to stop them, saying, “whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38-41).
Paul’s and Jesus’s openness to anyone participating in ministry makes Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 14:24-35 that “women should remain silent in the churches” a bit of a mystery. Why would the man who did not mind who preached suddenly limit the tasks of speaking in church to half its members? Reading Paul’s instruction at face value creates a significant contradiction with what he has already said about the essential contribution of every member of the body of Christ. Everyone is to exercise the spiritual gifts God gave them. How can a woman exercise the gifts of prophecy or teaching—gifts expressly intended to build up the body of Christ—while remaining silent in church?
Some navigate this question by insisting that women can use these gifts in private, but not in public services. 27 That approach neglects the reality of the first century context in which every church was a house church, and that meetings with other believers (not to mention business deals, political negotiations, and other forms of civic engagement) usually took place at home. Furthermore, Paul already indicated that women ought to cover their heads when praying or prophesying in the assembly (1 Cor. 11:5-6), which means that women were not meant to be silent in Paul’s churches. Paul expected them not only to speak, but to speak with authority as prophets! Paul’s prohibition in 14:24 must either pertain to a particular form of disruptive questioning or it does not represent his position at all. Paul may be quoting his opponents who are trying to silence women in the Corinthian church—to whom he responds with a hard rebuke (14:36-38). 28
First Timothy 2:12 is the quintessential limitation on women in church ministry (as any woman who has dared to speak publicly in Christian settings can tell you). However, in her book, Paul and Gender, New Testament scholar Cynthia Westfall observes that Paul never instructs men to do what women are told not to do in 1 Tim. 2:12. In other words, women are not to “teach with authority” but neither are men. 29 The particular problem Paul addressed in this Ephesian context may have been gender specific. Most likely, since the word translated “authority” [authentein] in this verse is a hapax legomenon rather than the usual word for authority [exousia], the sense is “teach in a domineering way.” Given the strength of the local cult of the goddess Artemis, who spurned marriage and either anesthetized or euthanized women in childbirth to spare them undue pain, an imbalanced gender dynamic is probable. 30
Outside the New Testament, this rare verb has quite violent connotations. 31 Nowhere is a man told to exercise authority over the church, much less to do so in a domineering way. Recall that human vocation as the imago Dei involves ruling over the animal kingdom, not over fellow humans. As William Witt notes, “when the gospels use the word ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia, “authority”) in reference to the apostles, it is always in reference to their authority over nonhuman enemies of the gospel, never to human beings.” 32 The New Testament vision of authority accords with the vision expressed in Genesis. We rule as delegates. Our task is to point to the ultimate authority of God, expressed in Jesus, to whom “all authority” was given (Matt. 28:18).
The gifts of the Spirit, then, are available to all believers, regardless of sex, and Paul regularly commends women who exercise these gifts. In fact, Paul not only commended Phoebe, a woman of pagan background who had become a follower of Jesus, but he chose Phoebe to be the “face” of his letter to the Romans and officially recognized both her title (“deacon”) and her role in financially sponsoring the ministry of the church through her patronage (Rom. 16:1-2). 33 He also commended Priscilla, who was a teacher and church leader along with her husband, and Junia, who was not only an apostle, but “outstanding among the apostles,” likely imprisoned for gospel ministry (Rom. 16). Paul commended the mother of Rufus, who had been a spiritual mother to him (Rom. 16:13). He greeted Mary as a hard worker, using the same designation that he used for male colleagues (Rom. 16:6). Paul also used many feminine metaphors to describe the work of leading in the church (e.g., Gal. 4:19; 1 Cor. 3:1-2; 1 Thess. 2:6-7). 34
Paul did not discourage women from prophesying when he had the opportunity. Paul and Luke visited Philip, an evangelist and one of the deacons appointed by the apostles (Acts 6:5; 8:5), who had four virgin daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:8-9). Luke mentioned them alongside a male prophet, Agabus, without any chastisement (Acts 21:10-14). If their exercise of the gift of prophecy was inappropriate, Paul could have brought correction, but he did not. In fact, Paul urged all Corinthian believers to “be eager to prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:39).
Women in God’s Eschatological Plan
The abuse of women in the church and the failure of so many church leaders to listen to the voices of women are twin tragedies with a common heritage. It has not been my intention to document these failures because many others have already done so. 35 My hope has been to promote healing to the body of Christ by directing our attention to the ways that the Scriptures depict women as people with dignity, not as threats or usurpers or seductresses, but as allies empowered by the Spirit for participation in gospel ministry.
It is both remarkable and disheartening that with such a clear witness in Scripture of women’s participation in gospel ministry we are still having this conversation 2000 years later. Indeed, the brokenness of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and its resulting asymmetrical relationship between men and women have deeply infected our gender relationships even today. In place of the collaborative partnership God intended for both sexes to live out our vocation as God’s image, men and women have both been on the receiving end of exploitative forms of dominant leadership. These worldly ways of leading see people as assets to be used for one’s own advancement, rather than siblings in God’s royal family. Women have often been victimized by abusers of power. And while we might expect such an experience in the world, marred as it is by sin, the disease of misogyny has also infected the church. In many churches, women are routinely silenced and marginalized by those seeking to uphold what they think is a biblical vision of male headship. It’s no wonder that women are leaving the church in unprecedented numbers, at nearly three times the rate of men. 36 Some are tired and stretched too thin. Many others feel invisible. How many have simply given up because they cannot bring themselves wholly to the body of Christ?
Healing for the Body of Christ
The body of Christ is desperately sick. The Spirit of God is present and able to heal this sickness. The Spirit is stirring in men and women alike, providing the impetus and inspiration for gospel partnership.
I believe it is time to rethink the ways we limit women’s voices in the church. If ministry is animated by the Spirit and the Spirit blows where he pleases, and if God’s eschatological vision is for sons and daughters to prophesy, then what are the implications of restricting the voices of women in the assembly? By what authority can church leaders quench the Spirit’s calling? If Spirit-transformed believers are God’s gifts to the assembly, what are we to make of so many unopened gifts, so many undeveloped skills, so many unanswered callings? I meet women on a regular basis who love the church and would love to serve, but cannot see where they would use their training if they attended seminary. Few churches offer paid ministry positions for women. Even fewer encourage theological education. Those women who do pursue theological education and hone their God-given gifts are often told they cannot teach or preach, while less qualified men are regularly given opportunities to do so.
I hope it is obvious that I am not advocating that we sidestep the Scriptures in order to accommodate ourselves to the Zeitgeist or spirit of the age. The Scriptures themselves have convinced me that God’s vision for the church cannot be accomplished without the full partnership of women with men in ministry leadership and ministry service. For thousands of years we’ve been trying to play and win a game with the wrong set of rules. We have thought that by faithful implementation of Genesis 3 thinking we could restore the goodness of Genesis 1-2.
Today we must decide: Will we stand in the way of the Spirit? Do we prefer worldly forms of power to the radical mutuality of God’s vision for his kingdom? Or are we ready to embrace the work of the Spirit by releasing our control on who speaks when?
After all, in the words of Psalm 68:11[Heb. 12]: “The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty army!”
