In 1 Timothy 2, Paul writes: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:12-14). This is one of the primary texts against female ordination, but one that is often misunderstood.
Throughout the Bible, we see women doing wonderful and mighty things, but we never see women serving as priests. There are queens and judgesses and prophetesses, but no priestesses. God appointed males-only to the priestly function of guarding the sanctuary and administering sacrifice. This is the office that corresponds to ordained ministers in the new covenant, and Paul shows us that the male-only requirement still stands. Deborah and Esther and others simply cannot justify female ordination, since none of them were priestesses.
But the question is, “Why not?” Why couldn’t women be priests in the old covenant, and why can’t they be pastors in the new covenant? Some Christians, appealing to 1 Timothy 2, think that women can’t be ministers because of what Eve did in the garden. Paul says Eve was deceived, but Adam was not. Therefore, women are gullible and easily deceived (so the argument goes), and this is why female ordination is prohibited. Men are not so easily deceived (apparently), which makes them equipped to stand up to Satan and false doctrine. As we’ll see, this view makes little sense when compared with Genesis.
If you know the Genesis narrative, you know that Adam did not stand up to Satan at the tree. Adam was present during Eve’s conversation with the serpent (Genesis 3:6), and Adam did nothing. He stood by and watched his wife be deceived. He let her eat of the fruit and he followed suit. Adam was not guarding the garden, or his wife, like God had commanded him to do (Genesis 2:15). Adam failed in that role, which opened the door to more sin – sin in others (Eve) and sin in himself. Clearly, when Paul says that “Adam was not deceived,” he is not saying anything good or virtuous about Adam. He is saying something negative about Adam. Paul affirms with Eve that her sin was due to deception (Genesis 3:13), but Adam sinned knowingly and deliberately. Between the two of them, Adam had the greater sin.
How does this inform our interpretation of 1 Timothy 2? Paul is not blaming Eve for the fall of mankind into sin. He knows that sin came through one man, not one woman, as he wrote elsewhere (Romans 5:12). Neither is Paul teaching that female ordination would have been allowed had Eve not sinned. We shouldn’t imagine that female ordination was something God took away from women as a punishment. Female ordination never existed in the first place.
The key to understand Paul’s logic is verse 13: “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” That is Paul’s reasoning against female ordination. It is creational and unchangeable, not dependent on the fall. It is a Genesis 2 argument (pre-fall), not a Genesis 3 argument (post-fall). In verse 14, when Paul says “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression,” this should be read as a parenthetical statement. It functions as supporting evidence for Paul’s reasoning; it is not the crux of his argument.
God made Adam first – as the first human son of God (Luke 3:38) – and this status came with priestly duties. Adam was to guard the garden (Genesis 2:15), which is what the Levites would do at the tabernacle (Numbers 18:1-7). Adam was given a dietary restriction from the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 2:17), just as the Israelites would have dietary restrictions (Leviticus 11). Adam was to share God’s spoken word with others (Genesis 3:2-3), which is what the priests would do with God’s written word (Deuteronomy 17:18). Adam being made first meant that he was to lead, or initiate, in worship. This is why ministers must be sons. They function as representatives of the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, our great high priest.
Eve being made second meant that she was to be led, or to respond, in worship. Adam was to instruct Eve on how to obey God, and Eve was supposed to submit to that leadership. This is where verse 14 comes in as supporting evidence. Adam failed in his duty to lead his wife, and the result was that Eve was deceived by the serpent. Adam’s failure didn’t mean that Eve wouldn’t be led, it meant that she would be led by someone else. Eve would be led in righteousness or wickedness, but either way, she would be led. The feminine role of responding in worship is never negated, for better or for worse.
We could summarize Paul like this: “I do not permit a woman to have teaching authority in the church, because Adam was to lead in worship and Eve was to respond in worship. Don’t you know? When Adam failed to lead, Eve was led by the serpent. That is proof that the feminine role in worship is to respond, not lead.”
If you think all of this is demeaning to women, think again. The roles of men and women are equally ultimate and equally necessary. When Christians assemble for worship, they do so as the corporate bride of Christ, which is a feminine designation. The mixed multitude of men and women are the one bride, a new Eve. The men are to be led just as the women are. But the pastor – the leader of worship – represents the one husband, the eternal son, Jesus Christ. The pastor must therefore be a son.
Adam McIntosh is pastor of Saint David’s Church in Tomball, TX.