They’re not even hiding it anymore: Beth Moore, preaching, and how to get women into the pulpit. Bonus: Moore’s teaching on 1Tim2:12
By Elizabeth Prata
Beth Moore is preaching at Duke University chapel today. She is named as a preacher, welcomed as a preacher, and her sycophants are trumpeting their (seeming) victory of women as preacher, preaching.
The Baptists and the Anglicans are hosting the Sinning Jezebel after she finishes, sinning er, preaching.
Do they not know how Romans 1 ends? —>
and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. underline mine.
Obviously, the women do not think they are sinning by preaching in church. They do not think they are sinning by applauding women who preach. They are also experts at twisting God’s word. The very first words from satan in the Bible were an undermining of what God had said, by asking: ‘was that really what God said?’ and the second words were a flat contradiction of what God had said. (Genesis 3:1-4)
I remember waaaay back on, oh, lemme see, it was the Spring of ’19 when Beth Moore let slip that she was preaching er, speaking er, doing Mother’s day at a church. Things were more coy then. Now they just say the sinning part out loud.
I’m doing Mother’s Day too! Vicki, let’s please don’t tell anyone this.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) April 27, 2019
Just four years ago word manipulation was necessary. Moore used to say she was “speaking” at a pulpit.
How to subvert God’s word: 4 steps to female preachers
1. First, ask if God really said what He said. Did God really say that women may not preach?
To install a woman at the pulpit, one must subvert traditional interpretations of what God hath said. To wit: when the serpent asked Eve if God really said what He said, Eve answered the serpent correctly, mostly, but he no doubt noticed Eve had added a Law to what God had said. She repeated God’s command not to eat the fruit, but added to it- “nor touch it.” Since the interpretation varied from Adam to Eve, the serpent took that crack in the wall and ran with it.
Next, simply ignore thousands of years of settled interpretation with a snap of the fingers, by mirroring satan’s contradiction of the plain command. This implies that interpretations are never settled. No, God didn’t say THAT, did he? No you will not die. Yes you can preach.
They say they will review the verse to understand the interpretation. They look at word studies, (and cherry pick their preferred definition), and review previous interpreters (cherry picked, of course). They do this with an agenda, not looking for exegesis, drawing meaning out of what is there, but for ways around it. Here’s how-
The people who harp on women belonging in the pulpit say that the phrase in 1 Timothy 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet, doesn’t mean what it appears to mean.
The word at issue with the ‘let’s all interpret this differently’ crowd is authentein.
Strong’s Definition: to govern, exercise authority
Strong’s Usage: I domineer, govern, have mastery over.
This ‘reverend’ below is in the comments where it was announced Moore’s preaching at Duke, and applauding it. He says to study authentein.
This ‘word study’ involves re-interpreting the verse to say that as long as a woman doesn’t become a tyrant at the pulpit, it is OK to preach. They say that since the word in one of its usages means domineering, if a woman preaches humbly, it’s OK.
I’m not kidding. This “teaching” is what Beth herself taught in her 1995 book “To Live is Christ: Joining Paul’s Journey of Faith“. It’s an overview of Paul’s life and teaching. Here is how Beth Moore interpreted authentein, what follows are Beth Moore’s words, with a discernment mini-lesson for each paragraph from me:
“If you glance through the Book of 1 Timothy, you will notice a continuing exhortation for order in the churches. Paul wrote about servants (deacons), overseers, widows, elders, and slaves. In stressing order in the church, he made some statements about women that raise controversy. Although these statements are not my focus, I do not want to be charged with cowardice by omitting any mention of them. We are wise to view Paul’s exhortations in context. He used far more ink to address deacons and overseers.” ~Beth Moore
[My note: the verse wasn’t “controversial” for 2000 years .By dubbing the verse “controversial” it slyly insinuates there is something wrong with it.]
“In 1 Timothy 2:11–12, Paul wrote, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” When he said, “A woman should learn in quietness” and “be silent,” he did not use a Greek word that meant “complete silence or no talking. [He used a word] used elsewhere to mean settled down, undisturbed, not unruly.” 1 Remember, Paul’s primary ministry was geared toward Gentiles who had never been trained to have respect and reverence in worship. Paul encouraged women to observe traditional customs lest the young churches suffer a bad reputation.” ~Beth Moore
[My note: It was cultural, Beth Moore says. Nope, it was a command.]
“Consider a traditional Jewish worship service. Men sat on the lower floor of the synagogue while women sat in the balcony or at the back of the room. Women were not allowed to utter a word; they merely listened. Contrast this picture with a Christian worship service in the New Testament world. The men and women were together in a private home. The worship centered around praising God, singing, fellowshipping, eating together, sharing testimonies, and receiving instruction in their new faith. Women were included as never before. Talk about a radical idea!” ~Beth Moore
[My note: This is true. Truth is often mixed in with false teachers’ lessons, in order to confuse the undiscerning.]
“The Christian movement was new and fragile. Any taint of adverse publicity could greatly hinder the mission of the church and mean persecution for believers. Women had to restrain their new freedom in Christ (Gal. 3:28) so as not to impede the progress of the gospel. Paul’s “weaker brother” principle (1 Cor. 8:9) applies. He said, “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” Thus, women were to learn quietly, without calling attention to themselves.” ~Beth Moore
[My note: The faith was never “fragile”. We don’t need to delicately walk on eggshells lest it all collapse. Women didn’t have to ‘restrain their freedom.’ In the paragraph above, Moore lauds their new freedom! Now suddenly women are unhappily restricted. Genesis 3:5, ‘God’s holding out on you!’]
“In regard to instructing women not to teach men, you must understand that most women in Paul’s day were illiterate. They were not taught in synagogue schools or trained by a rabbi. Paul goes on to say in verse 12 that women should not usurp authority over men. The Greek word authenteo, “one who claims authority,” is used only this one time in the Greek translation of the Bible. This word refers to an autocrat or dictator. Paul says women were not to come in and take over!” ~Beth Moore
[My note: Lydia, Priscilla, Lois, Eunice and other women were lauded as teachers and disciples of the word. Moore is stretching things now. But yes, women were not allowed to come in and take over… THE PULPIT. Why? God doesn’t want them preaching there.]
“We cannot regard verses 11 and 12 as a prohibition against women opening their mouths in church or men learning anything biblical from women. Paul gave instructions for how women are to pray and prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5). He was fully aware of Priscilla’s role in teaching Apollos in Ephesus (Acts 18:26). Paul issued differing instructions for churches based on their cultural settings and his desire for order in the church.” ~Beth Moore.
[My Note: Priscilla’s “role” was not a role, as in, an office of teacher in the church. She didn’t teach in church. The verse explicitly says she and her husband took Apollos aside. Priscilla is mentioned 6X in scripture and every time, with her husband.]
But a careful study of that word [authentein] means, leads us to understand that it means to take authority, period. It has nothing to do with abusive authority. In fact, if he was talking about abusive authority he wouldn’t be just talking about women; he’d also be talking about what? Men, because it would be just as much a sin for them as for women.
John MacArthur, “God’s High Calling for Women”
Remember, the false teachers like Beth Moore are wordsmiths. They know what to write to create doubt, they make allusive remarks, and they reinterpret traditionally interpreted verses to match their own agenda. Usurp means usurp. Take authority over means to take authority over.
3.After causing one to doubt that God actually said, then reinterpreting the verse, the next step is to designate the unwanted verses as Clobber Verses. In this, one must diminish the verse’s importance by saying it’s numerically insignificant compared to ‘the rest of the Bible’ or, by its nuance etc. AKA, it’s a “Clobber Verse”. Here’s Beth again on 1 Timothy 2:12 from the same book, this time, the introduction:
“Having admired the apostle Paul for years, I was somewhat surprised by a few comments made by people who learned I was writing a Bible study on his life. I received questions like, “How can you, a woman, write a Bible study about a man who obviously had no tolerance for women in ministry?” Sadly, the controversy surrounding small bits of the apostle’s teaching has often kept students from delving into the heart and liberating theology of the whole man.”
Wordsmithing: Moore said “no tolerance for women in ministry“. No, Paul (via the Spirit) had no tolerance for women in preaching. He welcomed Prisca, Phoebe, Susannah, Lydia and many other women in their ministries. Just not preaching.
Clobber verse: Moore said, “small bits of the apostle’s teaching“. Small bits? Like those verses don’t matter? No, all scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; (2 Timothy 3:16). How many times does God have to say it before it isn’t a “small bit” any more?
4.Next on the agenda for feminists to get women behind the pulpit is to pretend there’s “tension” between what ‘Paul has said’ and ‘what Christ has said’. Drive a wedge between them, like satan did with Eve and Adam. Once Eve ate the fruit and handed it to Adam, he had a choice to make. We know what he chose.
4a.Include other verses that SEEM to affirm your position (but don’t really.) This is another masquerade at seeming pious and theological. Currently Psalm 68:11 is being used to support women preaching. Duke Chapel did in the photo screen shot at top, and many others did in Moore’s Twitter comment stream.
The Lord gives the command; The women who proclaim good news are a great army: (Ps 68:11)
No tension exists. That would be saying that there is tension between the Holy Spirit in one book and the Holy Spirit in another book. But the idea is to appear pious, eagerly and sincerely delving into the word of God so as to rightly divide it. Appearances are everything to a false teacher.
No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
Tim Bates at Things Above Us parsed Moore’s statement of alleged ‘tension’ in his article –
DON’T MENTION THE TENSION: STTA! by Tim Bates
Beth Moore, a teacher who is tossed about by every wind of doctrine, recently cited “tension” between the books of the New Testament that—through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—recorded Jesus’ earthly ministry (Matthew-John) and the epistles that were also inspired by the Holy Spirit. In the context in which she jumped headlong into inevitable heresy (i.e. Jesus and Paul disagree or, better stated, the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit disagree) it was appropriate to call out her use of the word tension. There are not irreconcilable tensions about gender roles anywhere in the New Testament. The Bible has no contradictions because God cannot lie.
LOL, that was just the first paragraph. I love it.
Armin J. Panning, a Lutheran professor and Seminary president (passed on now) published a well-written, clear, 4 page word study of the word authentein, here, if you are interested. He rebuts the modern interpretation soundly and theologically.
Conclusion
Steps to get women preaching:
1.Hath God said? Pious doubt.
2.Contradict God’s word.
3.Declare your hated verse a ‘clobber verse’ and dilute its importance by burying it in a numerical pile under other verses.
4.Mourn an alleged ‘tension’ in God’s word between the hated verse and more preferred verses, driving a wedge between them.
4a.Misuse other verses to continue to appear pious and theological.
5.Emerge with a new interpretation, and stick to it.
Beth Moore ended her introduction to her book on Paul’s life this way:
Our focus today is on Paul’s personal exhortations to Timothy, his son in the faith. Midway through my preparation for this study, I began to realize that one of God’s priority goals is to raise up and encourage passionate, persevering servants who are completely abandoned to His will. Paul’s exhortations to Timothy stand as timeless words of advice to every servant of the living God, regardless of generation or gender.
“Regardless of gender”. There you have it.
