Can Women Wear Pearls in Church (pt.2) by Emily E. Wallace

ARE COMPLEMENTARIANS GUILTY OF USING THE CULTURAL EXCUSE?

The first passage in question is 1 Timothy 2:9-10, “In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing” (NKJV). To interpret this passage correctly the reader must apply two basic principles of hermeneutics. The reader must look at the passage in its context of the chapter and book, and the reader must let Scripture interpret Scripture. [1]

First Timothy is a pastoral epistle which deals mostly with the “ecclesiastical affairs and operate on a practical level.”[2] This certain passage occurs in a section (2:1-15) dealing with public worship.[3] Two main areas that concern women are addressed in this passage: appearance and actual conduct. In verses 9-10, Paul addresses modest dress and good deeds. According to John MacArthur, a godly woman should be mortified if she distracts someone from worshiping God. [4] Women need to dress modestly in the worship service. When a woman dresses for worshiping God to attract attention to herself, she has violated the purpose of worship (1 Peter 3:3-4). [5]

Women in the worship service should not dress in extreme fashion with braided hair, gold, pearls or costly clothing. The reader can be aware of the fact that women, back in the time that Paul was writing, only had three dresses and often wore gold and pearls in their hair to draw attention to themselves (like many pagan women).[6] However, the point Paul is making is in contrast to “moderation.” Paul says to dress in moderation or hidden truth, not in contrast to out of control fashion. If a woman comes to a worship service with jewelry to flaunt her wealth or draw attention to herself, then she is not honoring God. Women should be more concerned with her good works instead of her apparel.

First Peter 3:3-5 speaks in the context of marriage and how to live within the covenant of marriage. In verse three, Peter moves to the wife’s beauty, which is not just on the outward appearance of the woman, but the inner spiritual beauty which is eternal. The word "adorning" used in this passage focuses on the attention for attractiveness to others. Christian wives should not rely on their own attractiveness by focusing on “arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel”(1 Peter 3:3). Instead, a Christian wife should focus on her heart and striving for a gentle and quiet spirit “which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:4). Wayne Grudem asserts that the Greek text does not include an adjective for modifying clothing; therefore, the literal translation is “putting on clothing.”[7] Therefore, “it is incorrect, therefore, to use this text to prohibit women from braiding their hair and wearing of gold jewelry, for by the same reasoning one would have to prohibit ‘putting on of clothing.’”[8] Peter is not prohibiting women from wearing any of these; rather he is saying that “adorning” should not be her source of beauty.[9] This is an important point: no where in the text does Peter prohibit wearing braided hair, gold jewelry or fine clothing, but rather states that these should not be a Christian wif'e’s focus. Any act that draws attention to a wife is contrary to what is very pleasing to God - a gentle and quite spirit.

In this verse, Peter is contrasting the outward adornments with good deeds, in the same ways of 1 Tim. 2:9-10.[10] The historical-critical method of interpreting Scripture understands that the reader needs to look at the historical context of the passage. Nonetheless, the reader needs to look at the context of what the author is stating, and if the author is forbidding an act. Complementarians ethically and hermetically, are not guilty of using the culture excuse, because, unlike submitting, outward adornments were not forbidden by Paul or Peter. Furthermore, outward appearances in both passages are not the principle (or focus) of the passage. Women submitting to their husbands, good works, and having a gentle and quite spirit are the keys to both passages (also see 1 Cor. 11: 2-16, 1 Cor. 14:33-36, Eph. 5:21-33, Col. 3:18-19). It would be wrong to say that these instructions by Paul and Peter are no long relevant today (and complementarians assert this statement). [11]

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[1]James E. Rosscup, “Hermeneutics and Expository Preaching,” in John MacArthur, Jr., Rediscovering Expository Preaching (Dallas:Word 1992): 123-24,132-33.

[2] Grant R. Osborne, “Hermeneutics and Women in the Church,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 20 (1977): 346.

[3] Ibid.

[4] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary:1 Timothy (Chicago: Moody Press1995).

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Wayne Grudem, The First Epistle of Peter: An Introduction and Commentary (Leicester, England: Intervarsity Press, and Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans 1988), 140.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ramsey J. Micheals,, ed., 1 Peter: The World Biblical Commentary: 1 Peter vol. 49 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1988), 159.

[11] John Piper and Wayne Grudem, “An Overview of Central Concerns: Questions and Answers,” in John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (Wheaton: Crossway, 1991), 74.