In previous times, an older woman teaching younger women, if not in the context of the assembled church, would by necessity be in some form of in-house small-group meeting. Now, with podcasts and conferences and social media, a conservative female influencer may be targeting an audience of females, but her teaching is definitely public. What do we do here? We press in to Biblical wisdom.

In which I seek to articulate a Biblical and wise Patriarchy regarding these two topics without erring to the right or to the left.

1. Conservative Female Influencers

I am here fleshing out “the other side” of the conversation in my recent post about Allie Beth Stuckey.

A good litmus test for conservative female influencers when it comes to their trajectory is this:

Are they more interested in telling young women that they do not have to get married, have children, and keep house, or in encouraging them to do so? (Titus 2)

Would they wince at the idea of telling their followers to be like Sarah, who obeyed her husband and called him lord? (1 Pet. 3)

Do they encourage women to have a gentle and quiet spirit, or to be fierce, brave and strong?

Do they model lovely womanhood, or “FAFO” womanhood (to quote Katy Faust)?

I know there are caveats. I know there are exceptions. But we do not have to create a legalism to be able to embrace Biblical normatives.

Ladies, if you do not like the men online who are yelling at women and telling them to go home, and you wish that they would instead lead out in Godly, honorable masculinity (and they should), then you need to lead out in embracing femininity.

Just like it is a shame for men if they have left a void in the political arena that women must step up and fill, so it is a shame to women if they have left a void in the Titus 2 discipleship that men must step up and fill.

Glow about your husband. Fawn over your kids. Extol the glories of submission to a Godly man. Spend time on tips and strategies for making a beautiful home.

Just because Scripture doesn’t say that this is the only thing you’re allowed to talk about does not remove the clear fact that this is Scripture’s focus for Christian women.

The fact that, whenever this conversation is had, the same six or seven Biblical heroines are pointed to is very instructive. Yes, there are exceptions. Also, in the entirety of Scripture, the number of exceptions probably doesn’t even break single digits.

Our job as Christians is not simply to obey God on a technicality. We want to embrace His heart. We want to pursue wisdom, love, what is good, and delight in what He delights in. If a gentle and quiet spirit is precious in the sight of God, then it should be something that every Christian woman aspires to, and that every Christian man wants to marry.

I say all of this being well aware that there are plenty of ladies who would like to be wives and mothers, but have not yet had the opportunity. I understand. I am not suggesting some sort of legalistic construct in which ladies are not allowed to leave the house or have a job or speak their mind.

I am rather saying that we should glory in what God says is good, not see how far we can push the boundaries.

So ladies. Trade the pantsuit for a dress and the brazen face for a smile. Call your husband “my lord.“ Cook an amazing dinner.

Not because you are a weak doormat playing the tradwife role in some sort of fetishistic cosplay of a 50s family.

No, because you’re a strong daughter of the King, you are fearless in His service, you trust Him, and you glory in fulfilling what He calls you to be as a woman.

In a world of OnlyFans starlets, Hollywood warrior-women, and hardened boss babes, weaponize the kind of power that only the Christian woman has.

Glorious, radiant, feminine beauty.

You have no idea how powerful it is.

2. Ladies’ Bible Studies

With all due respect to Ethan Holden, I cannot get behind his argumentation condemning all women’s Bible studies, and here is a point-by-point discussion, including quotes from his OP, of why.

Point 1: “Women are to remain silent in church.”

Response: Amen. Explicitly Biblical. If the ladies’ Bible study in question is happening during the general assembly of the congregation of the saints (which is the consistent usage of the Greek word for “church” in the referenced 1 Cor. 14), then I would have a problem with it.

Point 2: “If they have questions, they are to ask their husbands.”

Response: 1 Cor. 14:35, the referenced passage here, is specifically and obviously referring to ladies wanting to learn more about what is being taught during the assembly of the congregation. Paul says, to paraphrase, “be silent in church, ask your husband at home.” He literally concludes his command for wives to ask their husbands at home by reiterating that the point is “it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.” This is an issue of church order.

To turn this into a unilateral prohibition of any woman asking any theological question to anybody other than her husband is going far beyond the Text.

It is also worth noting that Jesus interacted with many women, some of whom we may assume asked Him questions (Luke 10), and some of whom Scripture specifically records as having theological conversations with Him (John 4). He did not rebuke these interactions in the slightest.

Point 3: “Older women may teach younger women, but only in a limited area: to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, and obedient to their own husbands. That does not require a formal Ladies’ Bible study.”

Response: This is simply adding to Scripture. Let’s look at the Text:

“Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” (Titus 2:3-5, NASB)

Is there a feminine focus commanded in these instructions? Absolutely! Is there a marriage/parenting/homemaking focus commanded in these instructions? Absolutely! Does the context of these instructions necessitate that we understand this teaching to be a private instruction of females and not a public instruction of males or mixed audiences? Absolutely!

Do any of these truths equate to a blanket prohibition of any level of theological instruction towards other women? Absolutely not.

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