Nbadan
08-21-2006, 06:24 PM
WATERTOWN, New York (AP) -- The minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church.
The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.
The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/21/menonly.sundayschool.ap/index.html)
Paul wrote to Timothy regarding the church in Ephesus. He never told Timothy that women should not teach men.
There were many false teachers in Ephesus and many women were susceptible to these false claims by false teachers. And, as it was, those women were not knowledgeable, experienced, or mature in "biblical" knowledge to be able to teach. Therefore, since Ephesus was having problems such as this, Paul advised Timothy to not allow anyone (including women) IN EPHESUS into positions of leadership who were not yet mature in the faith. That is what this particular passage is all about. It is not about women NOT teaching men!
What amazes me is that church leaders, as well as lay people, get ahold of a passage and, given that it is God's "Word," they use it to make decisions that affect the lives of other people thinking that it must be right!
The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on August 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years.
The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent."
The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday school would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/21/menonly.sundayschool.ap/index.html)
Paul wrote to Timothy regarding the church in Ephesus. He never told Timothy that women should not teach men.
There were many false teachers in Ephesus and many women were susceptible to these false claims by false teachers. And, as it was, those women were not knowledgeable, experienced, or mature in "biblical" knowledge to be able to teach. Therefore, since Ephesus was having problems such as this, Paul advised Timothy to not allow anyone (including women) IN EPHESUS into positions of leadership who were not yet mature in the faith. That is what this particular passage is all about. It is not about women NOT teaching men!
What amazes me is that church leaders, as well as lay people, get ahold of a passage and, given that it is God's "Word," they use it to make decisions that affect the lives of other people thinking that it must be right!