I’m a Christian woman who writes Christian fiction novels meant solely for other women. I frequently include biblical truths. Is this form of teaching okay because it’s directed only to other women? Do I need to make sure I’m not too authoritative in what I say?<\/p>\n
Thanks!<\/p>\n\t
“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<\/em>” (Titus 2:3-5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The prohibition in the Scriptures is not against women teaching but against women placing themselves in a position of authority over men in religious matters. “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet<\/em>” (I Timothy 2:12). Thus, public teaching of men is forbidden because that puts the woman as telling them what is to be done. However, private teaching is still allowed. Priscilla, along with her husband Aquilla, taught Apollos (Acts 18:24-26). The Samaritan woman told people in town that a man at the well might be the Messiah, which led to many people believing in Jesus (John 4: 28-31,39-42).<\/p>\n
The reading of a book is a private thing and if some happen to learn more about God as a result, that is a good thing. It would be difficult to construe a novel as authoritative teaching on the religion.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thanks so much for your quick and helpful reply!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I’m a Christian woman who writes Christian fiction novels meant solely for other women. I frequently include biblical truths. Is this form of teaching okay because it’s directed only to other women? Do I need to make sure I’m not too authoritative in what I say? Thanks! Answer: “Older women likewise are to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[82],"class_list":["post-41889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-womens-roles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-listening-to-a-female-vocalist-violate-the-command-against-women-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":41889,"position":0},"title":"Would listening to a female vocalist violate the command against women teaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding music: Would listening to female Christian vocal artists break the command for women not to teach men? Answer: Much would depend on the message of the song. If the song demands that the listeners do as the singer directs, then there would be a problem. \"A woman must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31432,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-women-have-the-same-job-as-men-in-teaching-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":41889,"position":1},"title":"Don’t women have the same job as men in teaching the Gospel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have been reading through some of your interpretations of biblical scriptures on your website and I felt it necessary to tell you that while whoever is writing them is knowledgeable on the scriptures, they seem to have missed the point of them, particularly in regards to women\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-role-of-women-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":41889,"position":2},"title":"The Role of Women in the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson via Seeking Things Above The role of women in society has changed dramatically in recent years.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some changes have been good, but many have not.\u00a0 Societal changes eventually filter into the church.\u00a0 Renewed discussion is occurring on this issue, and some are contending for an expanded role\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43174,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-women-help-in-serving-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":41889,"position":3},"title":"Can women help in serving the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently worshiped at a congregation where they allowed women to assist in serving the communion. The women stood alongside the men in front of the congregation while one man read Scriptures and prayed, then the women helped to serve communion with the men. Is this in violation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-younger-woman-to-teach-older-women\/","url_meta":{"origin":41889,"position":4},"title":"Is it wrong for a younger woman to teach older women?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have been in several small congregations and my wife has been asked to lead woman's classes or has started one where there wasn't one. The problem is that she feels a little strange about it because she is a young woman teaching older women some twice her age\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/objections-to-biblical-limitations-on-womans-role\/","url_meta":{"origin":41889,"position":5},"title":"Objections to Biblical Limitations on Woman’s Role","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bobby Graham From beginning to end under every dispensation, the Bible is clear about the role of woman in relation to men.\u00a0\u00a0 Hers is a secondary role of submission to her husband in the family and to men in the local church (Ephesians 5:22-24;\u00a0I Corinthians 14:34-35;\u00a0I Timothy 2:8-15).\u00a0\u00a0 Whatever\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}