Is It Scriptural for a Woman to Be President?

John McCain certainly shook things up when he chose Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his vice-presidential running mate. Not only did he surprise his own political party, but he also shocked the opposing political party, so much so that at the time of this printing that party was still showing disarray as to how they can answer the Sarah Palin move! Should they completely discredit her character? Should they change their vice-presidential candidate to the female senator from New York who ran for president in their primary? Only time will tell. However, another, more spiritual, question has arisen in the midst of these unprecedented political moves: Is it even Scriptural for a woman to be president or vice-president? Doesn’t the Bible say that a woman is not “to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:12)? In answering the question at hand, let us consider three practical considerations.

Context of First Timothy 2:9-15

First Timothy 2:9-15 teaches that women are to be in subjection to men as it concerns spiritual matters. This is seen by both the immediate context as well as the total teaching of the Bible. Concerning the immediate context, the chapter begins with teaching concerning prayer (1 Tim. 2:1-3), takes an aside by describing “God our Savior” and Paul’s responsibility to His Gospel (1 Tim. 2:4-7), and then goes back to the subject of prayer (1 Tim. 2:8). Here, he says that “men” ought to “pray every where,” which implies an important, though often overlooked, lesson: women’s role would not be so confused in some churches if men would be the spiritual leaders God intends! Paul then goes on to show the attitude women are to reflect by their outward appearance and behavior (1 Tim. 2:9-12). “Usurp authority” means that the woman is not to “have authority” (NKJ) over the man in the church. It does not address authority in civil matters. This requires a look at the total teaching of the Bible.

Biblical Examples of Women as Civl Authorities

The fact that God allowed women leaders in the past shows that women leading in civil government is not something, like homosexuality and idolatry, that is inherently sinful. It may be instrumentally sinful, but it is not wrong, in and of itself, for women to lead in civil government. The two most praiseworthy female civil leaders among God’s people in the Old Testament were Deborah and Esther. First, consider Deborah. She was a judge whose account is revealed in the Book of Judges 4-5. In the time of the judges, “there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 21:25). There was a cycle of rebellion against God, repression by the enemies of God’s people, repentance, rescue, and restoration (cf. Judg. 2:11-19). The text explicitly says that “the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them” (Judg. 2:16). Thus, Deborah being a judge in Israel was the Lord’s doing, and she directly led the people through the guidance of God (Judg. 4:4, 14-15, 23). Would God raise up a woman to serve as judge if it were sinful for women to lead in civil government? Second, Queen Esther was the Jewish queen who saved her people from the plot of wicked Haman who intended on wiping out the entire Jewish race (Est. 3:8-15). The providence of God placed her in “the kingdom for such a time as this” (Est. 4:14). Would God have done that if it were sinful for a woman to serve in civil government?

In the New Testament, there are no explicit mention of women among God’s people who served as civil authorities. One relevant observation here concerning the possible reason why is that the Law of Moses was both a civil law and a religious law under which Israel was to live. In other words, God’s people were both a religious people who were to live under His law (Ex. 19:3-6), as well as the civil government in charge of enforcing His law (cf. Num. 35:6, 13, 15-34). The New Testament Gospel, however, is not civil law, though it does teach us how to live in harmony with civil law (Rom. 13:1-7 cf. Acts 5:29). The Law of Moses was not universal (cf. Deut. 5:1-3), and could only be lived under the conditions present in the Old Testament (i.e., the necessity of the temple and its sacrifices, the Levitical priesthood, tribal lineages and inheritances, etc.). The Gospel, on the other hand, can be followed no matter what kind of civil government exists!

Although there are no female civil leaders of God’s people mentioned in the New Testament, the mention of “Candace queen of the Ethiopians” sheds light on the subject (Acts 8:27). The Ethiopian eunuch worked under her charge, and while returning from Jerusalem, he was taught the Gospel and obeyed it (Acts 8:30-39). It seems that if serving under a female ruler were inherently sinful, then the eunuch would have been told that to become a Christian he would have to quit his job (cf. Lk. 3:1-14), but he was not!

. Consistency

If it were sinful for a woman to be president, then it would be sinful for a Christian to be in subjection to her—civil disobedience would be required (cf. Acts 5:29)! To be consistent, if female authorities were unscriptural, then it would be sinful for Christians to submit to them on every level! Try telling a female police officer the next time she gives orders, whether it be at a traffic stop or even directing traffic, that we do not have to obey her because she is not “to have authority over a man” (1 Tim. 2:12, NKJ), and see what happens! She might give us two tickets! Why stop there? To be consistent, it would be sinful to submit to any woman, whether she be a cashier at Walmart, a librarian, a supervisor at work, or possibly even the one who signs our paycheck!

This is not to say that we necessarily should vote for a woman president or vice-president, anymore than that we should vote for a candidate merely because the color of his skin—our vote should be based on “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Pr. 14:34). However, we must “rightly divide the word” (2 Tim. 2:15), and know the difference between civil government and the church!