In Protestant Reformed circles, the question of whether women should have authority — particularly in church leadership roles like elder, pastor, or deacon — is a long-standing and often passionate debate. It centers on how to interpret key biblical texts and how to apply them today.
Should women teach and/or have authority in the church? Here are resources to help you understand the debate and answer that question.
Women in Authority Articles
The views regarding women in authority in the church can be generalized into three basic positions:
- hard complementarian (most restrictive)
- soft complementarian (less restrictive)
- egalitarian (least restrictive)
5 main passages which speak to the issue of women in authority in the church
What is a hard complementarian?
What is a soft complementarian?
What is an egalitarian?
Ministry positions open to women (by view)
Women in Authority: Books, Papers and Websites
Both Views: Clouse, Bonnidell & Robert G. Women in Ministry: Four Views. Intervarsity Press, 1989. (Presents two different complementarian and two different egalitarian views.)
Complementarian - Books & Websites
** Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (www.cbmw.org) A hard complementarian organization with the following motto: “Proclaiming God’s glorious Design for Men and Women”
Clowney, Edmund P. The Church: Contours of Christian Theology. Intervarsity Press, 1995. (See Chapter 15 "The Ministry of Women in the Church")
Carson, D. A.: "Silent in the Churches": On the Role of Women in 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36 (Bible.org)
Crabtree, Jack: Does Paul Forbid Women from Teaching? Soundinterp.org, 2017. In this two-talk series, Jack Crabtree takes a fresh look at 1 Timothy 2:1–15 in the light of recent studies in the opening chapters of Genesis.
** Doriani, Dan. Women and Ministry: What the Bible Teaches, Crossways, 2003. (The most comprehensive defense of the soft complementarian position.)
Foh, Susan T. Women and the Word of God: A Response to Biblical Feminism. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1978.
Grudem, Wayne. A podcast on “The Meaning Of kephale (“Head”): An Evaluation Of New Evidence, Real And Alleged” (at the ETS Conference, Nov. 1997), go to the link: ETS Conference- Santa Clara, CA
Grudem, Wayne. Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of Over One Hundred Disputed Questions. Multnomah, 2004
Grudem, Wayne. Pastoral Leadership for Manhood and Womanhood (co-edited with Dennis Rainey) (2000).
Grudem, Wayne. Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? (2006). Each chapter challenges an argument made by egalitarians, including their bible study methodology.
Grudem, Wayne, But What Should Women Do in the Church? (1995)
Hunt, Susan and Hutcheson, Peggy. Leadership for Women in the Church, Zondervan, 1991.
** Piper, John & Grudem Wayne editors. Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood: A Response to Biblical Feminism. Crossways Books, 1991. (The comprehensive defense of the hard complementarian position.)
Piper, John & Grudem Wayne. 50 Crucial Questions about Manhood and Womanhood: An overview of the central concerns about manhood and womanhood. (Available as free ebook.)
Bruce Waltke, The Role of Women in the Bible, Discovery Publishing, 1995. (This paper is an adaption of a lecture given by Bruce Waltke at Regent college in 1992.)
Complementarian - Articles & Videos
What Did Paul Mean by ‘I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach’? | Don Carson and Tim Keller (Video)
What Exactly Does 1 Timothy 2:12 Teach? - Robert W. Yarbrough (Article)
Should women preach in church? - Albert Mohler | Ask Anything Live (Video; SBC)
‘I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach’: 1 Timothy 2:11–15, Part 1 - John Piper; Video
How Paul Roots a Woman’s Submission in Creation: 1 Timothy 2:11–15, Part 2 - John Piper; Video
Egalitarian - Books & Websites
++ Christians for Biblical Equality (www.cbeinternational.org). An egalitarian organization with the following motto, “Advancing a biblical foundation for gift-based rather than gender-based ministry and service.”
Bailey, Kenneth E. Women in the New Testament: A Middle Eastern View; Video Lectures from "Major Themes in the New Testament: A Middle Eastern View." A study guide in PDF format is also available.
Bristow, John Temple. What Paul Really Said About Women: The Apostle’s Liberating View on Equality in Marriage, Leadership, and Love, Harper, 1988.
++ Groothius, Rebecca Merrill. Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Heirarchy, Intervarsity Press, 2005. (The comprehensive defense of the egalitarian position.)
Johnson, Alan F. How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals, Harper Collins, 2010.
Wright, N.T, Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Epistles (2004). (NT Wright has proposed another view that does not align consistently with either major school, though he leans egalitarian.)
Egalitarian - Articles & Videos
What does the Bible actually say about women preaching and teaching? Tom NT Wright explains (Video)
Biblical Basis for Women's Service in the Church by N. T. Wright (Video Lecture)
Women Speaking in the Church - Melissa Scott
Related Questions
Thomas R. Schreiner: Head Coverings, Prophecies and the Trinity (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) (Bible.org)
Daniel B. Wallace: What is the Head Covering in 1 Cor 11:2-16 and Does it Apply to Us Today? (Bible.org)
Webb, William J. Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis, InterVarsity Press, 2001. (A consideration of how the various commands in scripture relate to changes in culture that concludes with what the author describes as "ultra-soft patriarchy.")
Winger, Mike. Women in Ministry, BibleThinker.org
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Page Views: 685