50 Crucial Questions - Question 43

Why is it acceptable to sing hymns written by women and recommend books written by women but not to permit them to say the same things audibly?
We do not say that a woman cannot say the same things audibly. When Paul says, “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:18-19), we imagine women in the congregation reciting or singing for the church what God has given them (perhaps, in some cases, as a kind of “prophecy,” like that mentioned in 1 Cor. 11:5). Moreover, we rejoice in the inevitable fact that men as well as women
will learn and be built up and encouraged by this poetic ministry.
We have not, of course, ruled out either small or worldwide ministries of women teaching other women. The issue for us is whether a woman should function as part of the primary teaching leadership (i.e., eldership) in a fellowship of women and men, and it seems to us that publicly teaching a congregation from the Scriptures does just that. By contrast, when an individual person reads a book written by a woman (even a Bible commentary that “teaches” Scripture), the dynamic is closer to that of the private conversation among Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila in Acts 18:26 (see question 20) than it is to the public teaching of a congregation that Paul prohibits in 1 Timothy 2:12. We also recognize the ambiguities involved in making wise and thoughtful distinctions between the kinds of public speaking that are appropriate and inappropriate. Our expectation is not that we will all arrive at exactly the same sense of where to draw these lines but that we might come to affirm together the underlying principles. Obedient, contemporary application of ethical teachings (e.g., the teachings of Jesus on poverty and wealth, anger and forgiveness, justice and nonretaliation) has
always been laden with difficult choices.