Is the Holy Spirit God the Mother? Part 5: Implication 2- The Role of Women in the Church

Women: Apostles, Leaders, and Teachers

Given the Holy Spirit and the Father are 2 distinct persons, though both fully God, the Bible reveals that the Holy Spirit and the Father do have different, but equal, roles. This is evidenced throughout the Bible as the Father is described as acting in certain ways and the Spirit is described in acting in other ways. Nevertheless, the Father and the Spirit are one (Deuteronomy 6:4), and the different roles they have in the Bible in no way limit the Spirit, the feminine nature of God, from teaching or leading, for example. These are roles that both the Father and the Mother have.

The Bible actually emphasizes the Spirit’s unique role in teaching and leading given the Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom (as shown in the Wisdom books) and how Jesus describes the Spirit in John 14-16 (as Helper, Teacher, Counselor, and Advocate). Notably, the Spirit’s designation as “helper” harkens back to Eve, called the “helper” in Genesis 2:18. The Hebrew word for helper, “ezer” does not mean assistant or subordinate. It literally means, along with the word’s modifier, “kenegdo”, “saving strength corresponding to him [Adam]”. “Helper” indicates complete equality with savior connotations (Payne, 2023). This Spirit empowered both Joshua, Jesus, and multiple others to lead and teach. The Father and the Holy Spirit, the Mother, work together to bring God’s kingdom to earth in complete unity and equality.  The Spirit is never limited in teaching, leading, and preaching as compared to the Father: the Bible presents the opposite picture.

Similarly, men and women are called to work together to bring God’s kingdom to earth in complete unity and equality. It is clear that the Holy Spirit, the feminine nature of God, is fully God, has all the attributes of God, and empowers the gifts of apostleship, teaching, and preaching. It is these gifts that I would like to focus on as the Church has largely limited women in using these gits by prohibiting them from teaching men. While I do think men and women are different, I do think this prohibition has not been from God, and a close study of Scripture shows that. The differences between men and women are part of the reason both genders should be empowered to lead, teach, and preach, as men and women bring unique perspectives to these roles helpful to building God’s kingdom. Moreover, I think this prohibition has hurt both men and women and the Church’s overall witness. 

If women really are the image of the Holy Spirit, which I propose in this blog, it follows that women should be able to lead, teach, and preach to both men and women. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers these gifts in the first place! The Holy Spirit, the Mother, the Spirit of Wisdom, leads, teaches, and preaches with God the Father throughout the Bible – no distinction is ever made between the Spirit and the Father’s ability to do those things. Rather, again, God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Father and the Spirit, then, teach and lead together. Galatians 3:28 also reveals that the Church should be one in Christ Jesus, “neither male nor female”. If the Holy Spirit really is the feminine nature of God, who partners with the Father to lead and teach all people, the Church should reflect that and not place extrabiblical limits on women giftings.

The Church generally agrees that Scripture makes no distinction between male and female roles in terms of the gifts empowered by the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12’s description of these gifts by Paul, he gives no indication that some gifts are only for men. Therefore, both men and women are uniquely empowered by the Spirit in gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). What is more, God, in unity with the Holy Spirit, places in the Church members of both sexes to be apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, those who speak in tongues, and interpreters (1 Corinthians 12:28-31). This is God’s Church, and in it “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:38). There is no evidence in the Bible that these gifts are more for one sex than the other: they are free gifts from God for the empowerment of the Church, both men and women. Yet many in the Church believe that some of these gifts should be limited for women, specifically regarding women’s ability to teach and lead men. 

In light of the revelation that God is 2 in 1, Father and Mother, how does this impact the role of women in the Church? This issue has divided the Church for centuries. While some churches in today’s age have female leadership even in the absence of male leadership, most churches are only led and taught by men. Women are not allowed to teach men over a certain age. These rules are put into place based on Scriptures like 1 Timothy 2:11-12, where most English translations have Paul saying something like, “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”  Many consider this passage to be clear: women should never teach or be placed in any sort of authority role over men in Church. The other best-known passage used to show that women cannot teach in Church is 1 Corinthians 14:34-38, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people I has reaches? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.” Many consider the apostle Paul to be clear on this matter: women should not teach or lead in Church, end of story.

But is this really what Paul was saying? Is this really the message of the Holy Spirit to the Church? If Paul’s message was so clear, he contradicts himself in other parts of Scripture where women do lead and teach, and God’s Word does not contradict itself. For example, a woman named Phoebe is a deaconess (Romans 16:1), and the woman Junia is “prominent among the apostles” (Romans 16:7). “Apostles” are listed as the first gift in 1 Corinthians 12:29. Aside from Christ himself, there was no higher authority than an apostle, and here we see Junia, a woman, occupying that role. Priscilla and her husband Aquila were teachers (Acts 18:26), specifically of the man Apollos. God empowered Priscilla to teach a man.  Scripture gives specific examples, then, of female leadership, even to the level of apostleship, and women teaching men (Payne, 2023). This is remarkable given the patriarchal culture of ancient Rome. Christians were revolutionary in their equal treatment of men and women. In our society how much more should this be the case! But in many churches it is not.

Further, nowhere in 1 Corinthians 12 on the spiritual gifts to the Body of Christ does Paul ever say some are only reserved for men or some gifts have limitations for women. The implication is that the gifts are for anyone in the Body of Christ. This is part of what made Christianity so unique and revolutionary in the time of the apostles. Paul writes in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” One of Paul’s primary messages was the equality between the sexes: that gender no longer defined someone because in the Church, we are all one in Jesus. This oneness extended to roles in the Church, for Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, and men and women. 1 Corinthians 11:11 highlights the apostle Paul’s perspective further when he writes, “woman is not separate from man, nor is man separate from woman in the Lord” in the context of church worship.

Jesus himself modeled this by inviting women into his circle of followers, which rabbis at his time did not do. He also revealed himself first to a woman, Mary Magdalene, who as a result was the first Christian evangelist. She could even be referred to as the first apostle, an apostle to the apostles, if the basic definition of an apostle is accepted: “one on mission from God”. The kingdom of God Jesus founded empowered and honored women in a context that did the opposite.

How can the first verses I quoted be reconciled with these other parts of Scripture elevating women as teachers and leaders? Understood in context and in the original Greek, these verses show that Paul was not forbidding women to teach or lead in Church. Moreover, understood in context and in the original Greek, these verses show that Paul is not inconsistent in his stance on women leadership and ability to teach. He affirms it.

First, the general English translation for 1 Timothy 2:11-12, “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet,” is very misleading. The Greek word for “quietly” is “hesuchia”, and it means “a state of stillness and peace”. The word refers to a God-produced calm that includes an inner tranquility (Strong’s Greek: 2271). The term does not mean “speechlessness”. The word for “speechlessness” in the Greek is “sige” (Strong’s Greek: 2271).  Paul directed women not to be silent, but to trust God inwardly in a state of stillness and peace. The Greek word for “submissiveness” here means a “state or attitude of yieldedness to an acknowledged authority” (Strong’s Greek: 5292). Paul is exhorting women to learn with respect for authority. This is something highlighted for women here that Paul expects of every Christian. Ephesians 5:21 calls all believers to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. This is not a unique command for women, though Paul specifically is referring to women here.

Verse 12 is more confusing. “Teach” in this verse in the Greek plainly means “teach” (Strong’s Greek: 2271). “Quiet” in verse 12 does not mean she does not speak, it is the same word from verse 11. It means she is to remain trusting God and with the peace of God. “Authentein” is the Greek word translated here as “authority”, but this is not the best translation based on the historical context. In the first few centuries, the term “authentein” could mean “having dominion over” or “dominating” a man (Wallace, 2022). Paul used this word to refer to abusive authority (Wallace, 2022).  “Authentein” is translated as “domineer” in the Latin Vulgate and New English Bible and as “usurp authority” in the Geneva and King James Bibles (Wallace, 2022). At the time Paul wrote this letter, Timothy would not have understood this as a prohibition against female authority. Rather, this was a prohibition against female authority abused. What is more, this word “authentein” is only used in the Bible once, in this passage. Whenever Paul refers to the use of authority in the church elsewhere, he uses a different Greek word, “exousia” (1 Corinthians 6:12, 7:4, 1 Corinthians 6:12, 7:4, 9:4-6, 9:12, 11:10, 2 Corinthians 2:8, 10:8, 13:10, Colossians 1:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:12, Romans 6:15, 9:21) (Wallace, 2022).  Given that he did not use the general Greek word for authority in this verse, it follows that he is not talking about women exercising authority over a man. This verse is better understood as Paul exhorting women to not “dominate” a man in any way but be respectful. Understood in this way, there is no prohibition to female leadership in the Church by Paul, which is consistent with the rest of the New Testament.

The second passage is also best understood in its historical context. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:34-38, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people I has reaches? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.” Beth Allison Barr has valuable insight into understanding this verse which she shares in her book, “The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth.” She explains that Paul may have been using a rhetorical practice commonly used in the Roman empire where an author corrects faulty understanding by quoting the faulty understanding and then refuting it. Paul does this in 1 Corinthians 6 and 7 when he says “all things are lawful for me”, “food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food” and “it is well for a man not to touch a woman”. In these examples, Paul quotes a faulty view and then gives the correct viewpoint (Barr, 2021).

This may be what is happening in this passage concerning women. Paul knew the contemporary views about women in the Roman empire that women should be silent in public and gain information from their husbands at home. In the verses in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is describing how Corinthians were treating women given their own cultural expectations and values in conflict with Paul's teaching. Barr suggests that Paul quotes the bad practice of the Corinthians to address it. Consider how this passage could be read if this was a quote. Paul would say, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” Pause here. Paul then addresses the wrongness of the belief he quoted: “Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.” Understood like this, Paul is actually pointing out that the word of God did not only originate with men or reach men only. The word of God is for both men and women (Barr, 2021).

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible synchs well with this understanding, adding to the second part: “What! Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones it has reached?” Read this way, Paul is clearly quoting a Corinthian practice, distinguishing what the Corinthians were doing (“women be silent”) to show that the Corinthians practice should not be followed (“What!”). Barr concedes that while she cannot prove this is what Paul was intending, her interpretation makes a lot of sense historically. Barr is a history professor and wife of a Baptist pastor. She says in her commentary on this passage, “If Paul is indeed quoting the Roman world view to counter it with the Christian worldview, then his meaning is the exact opposite of what evangelical women have been taught. Could it be that, instead of telling women to be silent like the Roman world did, Paul was actually telling men that, in the world of Jesus, women were allowed to speak?” (Barr, 2021)

Further, given the context of the entire Bible, why are many in the Church so opposed to considering other interpretations of 1 Corinthians 14 and opening the door for more women teaching and leadership? Historically, her interpretation seems to make sense. Her interpretation certainly makes more sense than the interpretation that accepts that it is disgraceful for women to speak in Church as that directly contradicts other parts of Scripture where women do speak. Aside from what has already been mentioned, 1 Corinthians 11:5 talks about women prophesying and praying in the context of a community of believers. Paul clearly does not think it is disgraceful for women to speak in Church. As such, given the context of the whole Bible, the conservative interpretation of this passage that women should not speak in Church should be rejected. An argument from logic and consistency shows that was not what Paul meant.

Even if this understanding of 1 Corinthians 14 is incorrect, this cannot be a blanket statement for women to be silent in Church as this would be inconsistent with other passages of Scripture, and Scripture does not contradict itself. What is more, there are many contradictions even if only Paul’s writing is regarded.

There are other understandings of this 1 Corinthians 14 passage beside Barr’s that agree these words on women submission and silence are not from Paul. Many scholars believe that 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 was an addition to the Bible in the 4^th century and not Paul’s original words (Payne, 2023). These scholars do not make this conclusion lightly and have done lengthy research and Bible scholarship in considering this (Payne, 2023). Christians who do think these words are directly from Paul should have a solid argument as to why Paul in other places in Scripture contradicts these words here for women to speak in Church. No one can use only this passage, given the context of the whole Bible, as an argument against women leading, preaching, and teaching.

 Junia, Phoebe, and Priscilla, women in leadership already mentioned, surely spoke in Church as an apostle, deaconess, and teacher. Moreover, these women are referenced by Paul himself, not another writer of the New Testament. Paul affirmed women leadership and teaching. If you think, “well, you just keep referring to primarily 3 women, and that does not prove any sort of norm”, you need to seriously consider the biblical context during the Roman Empire. Even having women be taught the Bible in Jesus’ time was revolutionary, let alone them being given leadership and teaching roles, particularly in a society where women had very little access to education. The Bible witnesses that the churches of that time had more female leadership and teaching than many churches in our context, where men and women are equally educated. Is this the work and leading of the Holy Spirit? Or the quenching of the Spirit, who gave gifts of apostleship, pastoring, and teaching to both men and women since the inauguration of the Church in Acts 2? Is our witness stronger in the world or weaker because of limiting women’s role in the Church? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone involved for the Church to have more pastors and leaders, regardless of sex?

Additionally, God is consistent and does not change (Malachi 3:6). His empowerment of Deborah to lead the people of Israel is an example of female leadership on the level of that of apostle. While more conservative Christians may try to explain away her God-ordained role, it is clear that God does not have a problem with women teaching, leading, and having “authority” over men, as long as it is done with love and respect.  Deborah taught, led, and had authority over the entire nation of Israel. The few examples of female leadership in the Bible, though they are still there, point more to the reality of patriarchy, which has often oppressed women throughout history, than God’s intended design.

The reality of female leadership and teachers in the Bible actually highlights God’s heart for including women in His kingdom work in spite of the surrounding, often oppressive, patriarchy. Given that this oppression does not exist in our current context, at least in the West, our churches should reflect that. Female leadership, though it existed throughout the Bible and in the early Church, was naturally limited by its historical context and the fact that women were generally uneducated. Again, given that we have no such limits now, at least in the West, the Church should look markedly different and reflect God’s design from the beginning: equal partnership between men and women.

Genesis 1:28 makes this clear: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God spoke to Adam and Eve together and told them to rule together and have dominion over the earth, equally. God did not only speak to Adam about ruling; he spoke to Eve as well. It was only after the fall that the battle of the sexes began, as shown in God’s words to Eve: “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). This situation was not what God originally intended (Payne, 2023).

Churches that are so strict against female leadership and teaching are not acting in accord with the Spirit of God, who empowered female leaders, apostles, and teachers like Phoebe, Junia, and Priscilla. They are handicapping half of their Church from being fully empowered in the Holy Spirit, who may otherwise lead women in their congregation to lead and teach. They are weakening their witness to a world who is ahead of much of the Church in terms of believing in true male and female equality. Men and women are not equal in churches where women who are gifted in teaching cannot even teach a message on a single Sunday. May those gifted in teaching and leading be used by the Church for God’s kingdom regardless of gender.

Finally, if the Holy Spirit is the feminine nature of God as I believe the Bible clearly shows, this even further demonstrates that the way many churches have prohibited women from leading and teaching is dishonoring to God and of the way God created women. Many women have great giftings in teaching and leading as images of the Holy Spirit. God wants those gifts to be used for His kingdom and His glory. It is shocking that a significant part of the Church has allowed largely two passages to define how they view women and their role despite so much evidence, in God’s Word and in creation, to the contrary.  

Obviously, men and women are different, which is part of why it is so key to God’s kingdom that both sexes are fully empowered to be a light in a dark world. This difference is part of God’s purpose, I think, in calling both men and women to lead, preach, and teach, because men and women offer unique perspectives and strengths in their leading, preaching, and teaching that the opposite sex does not have. We will be stronger as a Church if men and women are empowered to live out whatever giftings they have received from the Spirit without manmade limitations.

Finally, the stance that women should not teach men is impossible to hold with much consistency in today’s environment. Given that, by God’s grace, the Western world teaches both men and women, the Western world lives in a society where both men and women are, generally speaking, equally educated. As such, Christian women have written many books, articles, blogs, created podcasts, and created videos that teach the Bible to anyone interested. Is it wrong for adult men to consume this material? Are Christian women only prohibited from teaching from a “pulpit” at Church? Adult men do consume their material: because much of it is very good, a product of the Holy Spirit’s gifting to women. This is a form of teaching. If Churches want to be consistent in their stance that women should not teach men, they should prohibit the consumption of Christian women’s teaching by adult men in every form. Otherwise, they are not really staying true to the “spirit” of what they think God is saying in Scripture about women not teaching men. How different, really, is a man watching a video of a woman teaching on the Bible than a man watching a woman preach from the pulpit?

I hope we can agree that it is decidedly not different, and this reality further demonstrates the illogical and unbiblical teaching that is women being prohibited from teaching men. Further, at what age should a woman not be allowed to teach a man? 13? 15? 18? 21? The Bible gives no guidance on what would be a very silly rule. Churches should decide who teaches their congregation not based on sex, but on gifting.

But what about passages like Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 that outline the way men and women should treat each other in a marriage? Isn’t male headship and authority clearly shown by Paul? Philip B. Payne, in his book “The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood”, exegetes these passages, explaining that Paul’s intent here is show marriage relationships, as well as any relationships in the Church, should be defined by mutually submitting to one another in love and mutually sacrificially loving each other like Christ loved the church. Male headship is not stated or defined in these passages by Paul. Rather, Paul presents a picture of marriage of equal, loving partnership (Payne, 2023).

This is also the picture God gives us between the Father and the Holy Spirit. They are both fully God, they are fully united as One, and they work together in equal, loving partnership to lead, discipline, sanctify, and empower the Church. Notably, the Holy Spirit as described in the Bible does not have any spiritual empowerment that the Father does not have, nor does She have any sort of limitation. In the same way, men and women in God’s own image should be equally spiritually empowered to bring God’s kingdom together without any limitations for women, who are made in the image of the Holy Spirit, God Herself.

So, what does this mean for the Church practically? I think God’s ideal is for the Church to have both male and female pastors, teachers, and apostles. Particularly given that even a woman during that patriarchal society was given the role of apostle, Junia, I think men and women are gifted by the Holy Spirit to do any of the spiritual gifts and roles in 1 Corinthians 12. Women can and should teach and lead both men and women, as the Holy Spirit leads. Philip B. Payne, in his book “The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood”, explains that Paul’s descriptions for overseers, deacons, and elders is actually gender inclusive and in no way prohibits women from serving in any of those rules (Payne, 2023). This understanding synchs with the rest of Scripture that has examples of female leadership.

The Bible does not provide any explicit rules prohibiting a woman, for example, being the lead pastor of a church. Given God’s intended design in Genesis 1 for men and women to rule together, I think the ideal situation for any Church is male and female leadership, preaching, and teaching. In our broken world this is often not possible for various reasons, even in the church communities where this is desired. While I think male and female leadership, preaching, and teaching is God’s ideal to strive for in the Church (Genesis 1:28), there is certainly nothing sinful about churches functioning outside of this ideal, provided this ideal is sought after.

In this short section I have barely scratched the surface of a topic that has been a debate for centuries. I highly recommend Philip B. Payne’s book, “The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood”, where he examines what the Bible says about male and female roles from Genesis to Revelation, including historical and cultural context and the necessary Greek and Hebrew to best understand this confusing topic. His conclusion is that in every Biblical passage referring to male and female roles, God shows that His ideal is an equal partnership between men and women with no limits placed on women in ministry. He agrees with me that, “prohibiting women from exercising their leadership and teaching gifts limits the proclamation of the gospel and the advancement of God’s kingdom.”

Another very helpful book is Beth Allison Barr’s book, “The Making of Biblical Womanhood”. Barr is a history professor and pastor’s wife who examines biblical womanhood primarily from a historical perspective, revealing that much of what Christianity today deems “biblical womanhood” is not from the Bible but unbiblical patriarchy. She has the same conclusion as Payne, that God’s ideal is an equal partnership between men and women with no limits placed on women in ministry.

Their books provide a depth in history and biblical studies that this short reflection could never do. Whether you agree with me or not, I recommend both of these books for deeper understanding and a fuller perspective on this very important topic. Payne also has a book that goes into even more depth, “Man and Woman, One in Christ” that could be helpful. Payne also recommends the following writers on this topic: Beth Allison Barr, who I already mentioned, Michael Bird, Aimee Byrd, Manfred T. Brauch, Felicity Dale, Peter Davids, Eldon J. Epp. Gordon Fee, Kevin Giles, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Mimi Haddad, Richard Hess, Jamin Hubner, Carolyn James, Walter C. Kaiser, Scot McKnight, Ronald W. Pierce, Jackie Roese, G.J.A. Sitther, Aida Besancon Spencer, and Ben Witherington III. The Christians for Biblical Equality website is also a helpful resource, found at www.cbeinternational.org.

Grieving the Spirit

If the Holy Spirit is Mother, the divine feminine of God, and Scripture shows that, contrary to popular belief and practice, women and men are given equal ministry roles by God to build up the kingdom, the Holy Spirit must be sad. Sad, because although history’s witness, Scripture, and creation point to the divine feminine of God, that belief and tradition have been forgotten. Sad, because hardly anyone in the Church has questioned the Trinity doctrine’s image of God as being fully male. Sad, because women have been prohibited for centuries by unbiblical doctrine by Christian men (and women) from fully living out their callings. Consider: if our image of God was equally male and female, would women have been as marginalized throughout Church history? In our society now? The Trinity’s image of God does impact the Church’s view of women, however subtly.

Perhaps you think I am being dramatic. Surely God cannot care too much: God would have emphasized the Spirit’s femininity more in Scripture if God cared. God would have made male and female roles more clear in the Bible and less confusing. The Church as a whole cares deeply about God and has understood God only in a masculine way for centuries. The Church as a whole cares deeply about women and has generally held women’s roles in the kingdom to be different than men’s but still equal. This is nothing for the Holy Spirit to be sad over.

While male and female roles in the Church as explained in the Bible, particularly the New Testament, are confusing, they are not that confusing. Even if a deeper understanding was not readily available to the Church on more difficult passages, the fact remains that much of the Church has overemphasized a few passages, explaining away many more with a different view, to ensure women cannot lead or teach men. Meanwhile, the very Spirit that wrote the Bible, that empowers these men to teach and preach, is, ironically, the feminine nature of God, as shown in Scripture.

Both men and women are made in the image of God, but are women made in the image of the Father? Women will never be a father. Women are made, then, in the image of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit who teaches, counsels, and leads the Church. Not only does the unbiblical teaching placing limits on women in ministry contradict the Bible, this unbiblical teaching attacks the very heart of who women are, made in the image of the Spirit. Women are designed by God to equally co-labor with men in every way, as the Spirit gifts and God leads. Given these truths, the current situation in the Church must grieve the Holy Spirit deeply.

I do not doubt the sincerity of faith of Christians who disagree with this egalitarian perspective. I do not think they are trying to hurt women or God’s kingdom. This is not something unintentional. But, unintentional sin – and it is sin, as it not loving to women to limit them in ways contrary to Scripture – is hurting God, women, and God’s kingdom. If you disagree with the egalitarian perspective set forth in this book, please seriously reconsider, for the sake of God, women, and God’s kingdom. Ephesians 4:30-31 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit is certainly grieved over this if what I write is true. God’s kingdom would be stronger if women could fully live out their callings, which include preaching, leading, and teaching. God’s Church would be a better witness in a dark world if the Church displayed God’s intent from Genesis 1:28 of equal partnership between men and women, “ruling” together in this world.