John Piper and Women Preachers

From Christian Daily: Name them: Deborah, Huldah, Junia, and Priscilla.

Theologian John Piper was recently asked if the Bible allows women to preach as long as they do it under the permission of church elders. Piper answered, “No.”

“A woman teaching men with authority week in and week out … or regularly … under the elders is not under the authority of the New Testament … and neither would they (elders) be for putting her in that situation,” the Baptist preacher stated….

Paul, Piper explained, provided two reasons for why he would limit the teaching and governing office in the church to spiritually qualified men. First, Adam was formed before Eve. Second, Eve was deceived by Satan. Paul was not trying to absolve Adam of blame (Paul lays all the guilt on Adam in another text) but the main point of 1 Timothy 2:14 is to show that Satan’s first assault was on the order that God appointed, Piper explained. “Paul is saying Satan undermined the order of creation and focused his deceptive words on Eve and made her the spokesman, not Adam, and she became the focus of deception,” said Piper. “Adam failed in his leadership and she was willing to take it up and the result was the fall.”

Responding to the question on women preaching even under the authority of elders who govern and teach in the church, Piper clarified that the issue is not about competency. “Don’t ever think … a woman … is incompetent,” he said.

Rather, “the issue is that it would compromise the way men and women are supposed to relate to each other,” he stressed. Allowing women to preach would compromise God’s order, he said.