"Can women be church leaders?" (Alleged Contradiction #E6902)
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
I Timothy 2:11-12
And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
Acts 18:26
I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea … Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Romans 16:1, 7
See also: I Corinthians 14:34-35
Response
A woman is not to be a teacher in the church. However, women are just as important to the life of a church as men are, and a woman can certainly help out with many other church activities (being “a servant of the church”), can be “of note among the apostles,” and can help “[expound] the way of God more perfectly” to people personally. None of these things contradicts the rule against a woman being a teacher in the church.
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