When considering whether women can or should attend seminary, the conversation often centers around differing interpretations of biblical teachings and roles within the church. On one hand, some Christians point to passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-12, where Paul instructs women to learn quietly and not to assume authority over men. For those who hold this view, leadership positions like pastoring are reserved for men, and seminary training for women should focus on roles that align with their biblical calling, such as teaching children or other women.
However, others argue that women attending seminary is not only permissible but beneficial, as it allows them to deepen their theological knowledge and prepare for non-pastoral leadership roles in the church. These roles might include missions, education, or specialized ministries. Supporters of this view often highlight examples of women in the Bible—such as Priscilla, who taught Apollos more accurately about the gospel (Acts 18:26), or Deborah, who led Israel as a judge (Judges 4-5)—as evidence that women have played key leadership roles in God's plan.
As with many theological questions, the answer is not always clear-cut. This article explores the biblical foundations and varying perspectives on whether women should attend seminary, providing both scriptural references and commentary to help guide this important discussion. Ultimately, each Christian must seek God's will through prayer and careful study of His Word.
- by Jenna Brooke Carlson
Paul instructs women to be silent in the church. As with all Scripture, it’s important to look at passages in context. Since Paul wrote these words, is there any place for women to lead in the church? Many students attend seminary with the goal of becoming a pastor, but that’s not the only result. Let’s take a closer look at the role women played in the ancient church and how we can use those examples to guide us today.
Before we look at the reasons women attend seminary, let’s look at the mission statements of a few well-known seminaries. Dallas Theological Seminary’s mission “is to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide.” Fuller Seminary is “dedicated to the equipping of men and women for the manifold ministries of Christ and his church.” Lastly, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary strives “to advance Christ’s Kingdom in every sphere of life by equipping Church leaders to think theologically, engage globally and live biblically.”
While a debate exists if women should be allowed to become pastors, we can see students attend seminary for other reasons. In the mission statements above, seminaries equip servant-leaders and prepare students for ministry. Women hold a vital role in the church; attending seminary can help them gain better knowledge and understanding of whichever area of ministry they may find themselves in.
Sharon Hodde Miller identifies that many women attend seminary for educational purposes. Females students desire to learn more about the Bible, study ancient languages, and gain a deeper understanding of theology. Top reasons also include feeling led to attend seminary, experience in ministry, or their community affirming their gifts. While many students enter seminary with the end goal of pastoring a church, this isn’t true for all. Some women may see a unique need in their congregation and enter seminary to study more about the subject. Others may desire to be well-learned to teach and lead other women. Miller states, “Clearly, theology is not just a male endeavor. Evangelical women want meatier teaching grounded in the Word of God, and they aren’t always finding it in the resources and messages offered to them.” Seminary gives women a space to dig deeper into the Bible.
Perhaps one of the greatest examples of women leading other Christians is when Mary Magdalene, Mary Mother of James, and Salome find the empty tomb shortly after Jesus’ resurrection. The women head to the tomb to anoint Jesus’s body with traditional burial spices. When they arrive, the stone is rolled away, and the tomb is empty. An angel appears. Mark 16:6-7 says, “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
The women run to the disciples with the news and lead them to the empty tomb. At first, they don’t understand Jesus has risen from the dead. Thinking someone stole his body, Mary Magdalene cries outside the tomb. Then Jesus appears and shows her he is alive. John 20:17 states that Jesus tells her, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary goes to the disciples. In John 20:18, she says, “I have seen the Lord.” The central message of the gospel, Jesus’s resurrection after death, is shared by a woman to a group of men.
Many Biblical events can be labeled as before Jesus’s birth or after his death. Before Jesus’s birth, God’s people were bound by sin. Laws and traditions existed to help the people access God, but they couldn’t go to him themselves. Animals needed to be slain as offerings, and the veil’s thick fabric blocked people from God’s presence in the temple. When Jesus died, the temple was torn from top to bottom. The old way of living was gone. New possibilities shone for all God’s people when Jesus rose from the dead. Who first saw and heard this news? Three women.
Another example of a woman leading another Christian is found in Acts 2:18-28. Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, leave Corinth and head for Syria with Paul. During the journey, the boat docks in Ephesus. Paul continues traveling, but Priscilla and Aquila stay in the town. While they are there, they come across a well-taught preacher named Apollos. Being raised in the Jewish faith, Apollos knew the beginning of Christ’s message but did not know It fully. His knowledge went up to the baptism of John. Priscilla and Aquila taught Apollos the rest of the story, and he is able to bring a more accurate message of the gospel to the people. Priscilla and Aquila write him a letter of recommendation, and he goes to the Achaia province to continue preaching. Acts 18:27-28 says, “When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.” Because of the leadership from Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos learned the full meaning of the gospel and could therefore lead others.
A third influential woman can be found in Judges 4-5. Deborah was a judge and prophetess. Christianity.com explains that “As a prophet, Judge Deborah was said to hear God’s voice and share God’s Word with others. As a priestess, she did not offer sacrifices, as the men did, but she did lead worship services and preach.” On a typical day, Deborah sat under the palm tree between Ramah and Bethel, ruling on different issues in the community. One day God told her to tell Barak, son of Abinoam, to prepare for war with 10,000 troops. Deborah relays the messages, and both of them head to war. While Deborah didn’t fight herself, she was there with Barak, and her message from God led him to victory.
Many who oppose women leading in the church cite 1 Timothy 2:11-12 as a Biblical source for this opinion. The text reads, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” When studying the Bible, however, it is essential to remember the full context.
Craig Keener notes this specific passage was written for a particular community during a particular time. In Paul’s day, women were less educated than men. Keener explains, “In ancient Greek and Jewish lecture settings, advanced students or educated people frequently interrupted public speakers with reasonable questions. Yet the culture had deprived most women of education.” It was considered rude for any uneducated person, man or woman, to interrupt a speaker. Therefore, Paul provided readers with an alternative. Since most women were uneducated, he encouraged them to hold their questions. After the lecture, they could ask their husbands, the educated men, in the privacy of their home. This would lessen possible public embarrassment. Keener further notes this could be interpreted as progressive in Biblical times. Paul essentially gave women the benefit of the doubt, assuming they were smart enough to have questions but constricted by their educational limits.
In 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul acknowledged that women prayed and prophesied in the church, which makes it difficult to support the view that women should have complete silence. Joel 2:28-29 confirms that both men and women will receive the Spirit and prophesy.
Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 12:28 reads, “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.” The order of spiritual gifts lists prophecy as a higher-valued gift than teaching. Matthew Henry explains, “They are here placed in their proper ranks. Those of most value have the first place. Apostles, prophets, and teachers were all intended to instruct the people, to inform them well in the things of God, and promote their spiritual edification: without them, neither evangelical knowledge nor holiness could have been promoted.”
Analyzing specific verses of the Bible could lead to the argument women should wear head coverings (1 Corinthians 11:5). However, this is not a popular opinion in churches today. Again, the context is important. During the New Testament period, it was customary for women to cover their heads to discourage men’s lust. Married women were labeled promiscuous if they did not cover their heads, and their husbands could divorce them. Similar to verses addressing the silence of women three chapters later in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, we cannot take Biblical teachings out of context. It’s important to understand the world in which they were written.
When Jesus gave The Great Commission, he addressed the entire crowd: men, women, and children. In Mark 8:34-35, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Jesus invited all his followers to go out into the world and spread the gospel’s good news.
Additionally, both men and women received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Acts 2:17-18 states, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy … Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Another example is found in Acts 2:8-11 when Philip’s four unmarried daughters prophesy. Christianity.com defines “prophecy as the message and prophesy as delivering that message.” Those who prophesied carried messages from God to other believers.
It is a widely accepted view that women can teach women and children in the church. In Titus 2:3-4, Paul writes, “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children.” Older women are to be role models for younger women in the church, teaching them how to live out their faith and care for their families.
We can see from what the Bible says about women’s ministry positions that they played a vital role. Seminary is meant to equip Christians to go out into the world and serve him. This is not a role saved for men. Women also can pursue God’s teachings and attend seminary. They can come alongside others, teaching, leading, and furthering God’s kingdom with that knowledge.
In the current maelstrom of feminism, the world believes a woman should be empowered to do anything a man can do. How then can we answer the question whether a woman should enter seminary?
Ligonier Ministries recounts a 1992 TIME Magazine cover story which “asked the question ‘Why Are Men and Women Different?’ In much smaller letters, almost as if apologizing, the thesis of the cover story was suggested: ‘It isn’t just upbringing. New studies show they are born that way.’”
According to Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis, however, “Most of us today would agree that yes, men and women are different, and move on. But without a clear biblical definition of manhood and womanhood, without a clear vision of how they are different and why, both men and women have trouble separating life-giving pursuits from mistakes and mirages. There is nothing specific to aspire to, strive for, or check ourselves against. ‘Am I a good woman?’ ‘Did I behave like a man today?’ If God really has created us male and female for a purpose, those are absolutely essential questions. And the only place the life-giving, encouraging answers can be found is in a biblical understanding of maleness and femaleness.”
Yes, the Bible, God’s Word, tells us men and women are different, and it’s a mandatory starting point for our discussion about whether a woman can go to seminary.
Believing women, both single and married, are part of the church and, as such, will have a pivotal role in its health. To handle this as best we can, we should look at a woman’s total role, first in the home and then in the church.
All general commands to the church body apply to both men and women, but church leadership has a specific order according to God’s perfect will and wisdom (1 Timothy 3:1-16; Hebrews 13:17). Not all women will serve as wives, but their role within the church follows the same commands as given to wives.
A woman’s role is first served as a child of God, and then as a wife to her husband. Pastor Paul Washer describes it this way:
“The roles that they [men and women] play in the marriage has nothing to do with a lack of equality. When we will get to the point where it says that the man is the head of his home and a wife is to live in submission to her husband, it does not mean that the wife is less than her husband. It does not mean that. If you think it does, [then] guess what? You’ve just destroyed the trinity. Because, did not the Son submit to His Father? So, did that make the Son less than His Father? If you say “yes”, [then] you have just committed heresy. Within the trinity itself, the Son submitted to His Father and yet the Bible says the Son and Father are one and they are equal.”
Pastor Washer goes on to say he and his wife are equal but with different roles. What Pastor Washer illustrates is also true in the roles men and women are given in their church body. He continues by saying, “Women were created to grow with their husbands, with the help of their husbands, under the tutelage of their husbands. That does not mean he lords it over her or he knows more than her, but she was just made for that reason. You leave her alone, or think that she’s strong and can make it on her own, which is often times my sin, and you’re going to mess up the whole thing of what God is wanting to do. So, my wife and I, we are one and we are equal, we function in different roles.”
God-ordained leadership responsibilities exists both in the home and in the church.
In Genesis 1:27, we read man and woman were created in the image of God. Imago Dei. Both have equivalent status before God. In Ephesians 5:22-27, God tells us, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is Himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
It’s only logical then, that a woman’s role in her home is mirrored by her role in the church.
A seminary is a graduate-level institution for people interested in pursuing a career in ministry. Therefore, the curriculum is mostly focused on those subjects which train a man to be a pastor/teacher. The degrees commonly offered are Master of Divinity, Master of Arts, and Master of Theology. A sample course of study may be found here.
Many of Jesus’ followers were women, but nowhere in the Gospels or epistles does the Bible depict women in an authoritative position teaching men. Instead, women in a solitary and corporate function (as in groups of women) are shown listening to Jesus (Matthew 15:38), attending/ministering to Jesus (Mark 15:41), praying with others (Acts 1:14), helping the disciples (Philippians 4:3), and doing good works (1 Timothy 2:10).
Titus 2:3-5 further defines their roles, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”
Three instances in particular show women who came alongside men in private settings to explain and/or encourage other believers. Acts 18:24-28 relates the account of Priscilla (a woman) and Aquila (a man), who took the man, Apollos, “aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” This was not a case of a woman exercising authority over a man. The Bible does not specify Aquila and Priscilla were husband and wife, but she—in effect—was fulfilling her role as a helper (Genesis 2:18). The original Hebrew word used is ēzer, which means one who helps.
Philippians 4:3 includes an exhortation by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian church to, “…help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Romans 16:1 introduces us to Phoebe, “a servant of the church at Cenchreae…” The Greek word used here is diakonos (deaconess). This role is not that of a leader within the church, but as a servant under another’s authority.
In none of the three reports is it said a woman (or women) stood before men to teach them. Individually, a woman can offer wisdom privately to a man which may include biblical correction, yet not in an official, authoritative church government role. Any Christian, including women, can refer to and employ Scripture to correct a man’s false teaching or wrong thinking. Men may do this in a corporate setting; women may not, as we see in the following verse references.
As defined by the Scriptures—which are our authority—the roles of pastor and elder belong to men, and those men who are called are the ones who teach the body of believers. The following passages serve as an introduction to the behavior of women within the church setting:
1 Corinthians 14:34, “the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.”
1 Timothy 2:9-10, “…likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.”
1 Timothy 2:11-14 answers the question definitively. Paul commands, “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” Inherent in this passage is something we do not want to miss—a protective factor.
Women can absolutely go to seminary, but obedience to the Bible (and therefore to God) means women cannot study to be a pastor who would corporately teach men. Seminary provides a logical and ordered structure to theology, so all who attend learn how to handle God’s Word rightly (2 Timothy 2:15).
A woman may attain a degree, and many seminaries have curriculums for women who are called into ministry. As examples, women are blessed to be able to pursue training in missiology (mission work), women’s ministry, children’s ministry, theology, apologetics, and many other avenues of ministry. Even if her knowledge and godly growth is engaged solely in her home and in her area of friends and familial influence, a woman is able to make great contributions to the kingdom of God.
All that being said, women are not “left to do nothing,” as many fear (or accuse). The work for every believer is manifested in their gifts, talents, and calling. It’s not easy for men or for women, especially with the antagonism and persecution of contemporary society against true believers, but the rewards of following and teaching others about Christ are joyful and eternal.
- by Lisa Loraine Baker
To read more perspectives on this topic, go to:
Can Women Be Pastors? The Ordination of Women to Pastoral Ministry
Should Women Be Pastors? What Does the Bible Say?
What Does the Bible Say about Women Pastors?
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Melyna Valle
Jenna Brooke Carlson is an elementary dual language teacher in the Chicago suburbs. As a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Word Weavers, she enjoys spending time with other writers and perfecting her craft. Her debut novel, Falling Flat, spreads the message that healing can occur, even after tragedy. Along with writing, she’s pursuing her dreams of creating a community of brave young women, who she can encourage to live out their dreams amid challenges and imperfection. Her days are busy, but she’s determined she can conquer anything with a fuzzy blanket and a hot cup of tea. To find out more about Jenna, visit her website at jennabrookecarlson.com.