This is a long post but I would say it is worth reading.
This was your statement:
God specifically says that women are not to pastor or teach.
You can learn anything from anybody so anybody can teach you something. To say a woman cannot teach does not make sense. Women teach you in school. Our mothers teach us things as children and even as adults. Are we saying that mothers should not teach? Are we saying that mothers should not teach males when they become men? Are you saying women should not teach men anything about the word of God? If a newly saved brother asks a woman about something in the word of God should she refer him to a man? Are these two passages forbidding women to speak or teach anything? I Timothy 2:12, I Corinthians 14:34-35.
In Acts 18:26 the bible tells us that Aqulia and Priscilla expounded the way of God more perfectly to Apollos. Even if you say the context of this was that they took him aside. Priscilla still took part in instructing Apollos. If you say that a woman cannot teach a man at all then Priscilla was out of order. This example raises the question if women were not to teach(men) then why is Priscilla doing this? In Luke 2:36-38 Anna spoke of Jesus to all those who would listen. Does this mean she only spoke to women? Deborah in Judges 4:6 instructed told Barak what the word of the Lord was. Going back to the original statement these few scriptures show that women can teach on some level else all of these women were out of order. If the women were not out of order, then that means there needs to be a correction in the interpretation of what the means when it says women should not teach. The scriptures cannot be saying that a woman cannot teach at all. Someone who is convicted that she cannot will not see it no matter how many scriptures you give.
Here are some thoughts on some of the familiar scriptures people use to say that women cannot teach. I Tim 2:12 says the woman should learn in silence with all subjection. People debate over whether this is talking about all women or only married women. Either way you get the impression from the surrounding scriptures that this passage is outline God's order of roles.
I can give a natural example of one understanding of this scripture. If you were enrolled in school you have the roles of teacher and student. The teacher instructs the class as they learn in silence. Does that mean that the student cannot say anything? No. If the student interrupts the class, he or she will be out of order unless given space to speak. If the student speaks out of turn, he or she is usurping authority over the role of the teacher. If the student raises his hand or the instructor gives them the freedom interupt at anytime without raising a hand the student would not be usurping authority because he was given freedom to do so. In spite of this the student could still usurp authority over the teacher with this freedom if the teacher told the student to stop and he or she does not. The student could also be out of order if he or she uses that moment as a chance to take over the class. In essence trying to teach the class when that is the role of the teacher. That does not mean that the student could not teach the class if allowed by the teacher. If the teacher decides that one day he will give each class member a chance to instruct the class that still does not make any student the teacher of the class because that is not his role. His or her role is student. If you look at the I Tim 2:11-12 in this way it is simple to understand. Many cannot see this because they see the language through the eyes of staunch dogma. If the teacher told the students to be quiet while teaching it is the same as saying learn in silence. This in no way makes the students any less than the teacher or gives the impression that the teacher is being harsh in some way.
I have heard different interpretations of Corinthians 14:34-35. Some people say it was referring to women speaking in tongues in church and others say women are not permitted to say anything in church. Some also teach that this refers to women prophesying the in church. In verse 28 it says an individual should keep silence in the church if there is no interpreter and speak to himself and God. If you understand silence to mean complete silence then its makes no sense to say speak to himself and God. The preceding scriptures were talking about getting up before the church to communicate to the congregation. The person is allowed to speak in unknown tongues to himself and God but not in addressing the congregation to give a message.
Moving back to verse 34 in I Corinthians 14, it says that the women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak and in verse 35 it adds that if they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. The use of the conjunction "and" clearly connects these two verses with married women. It does not refer to all women because verse 35 says let them ask their husbands at home. There was obviously more going on in this passage that we are not privy to. There may have been some specific church issue with married women and their behavior in the church. You get the sense that they were speaking out of turn in the church which may have been shameful at this time. In my earlier example I spoke of the student that speaks to class out of turn which could be seen as shameful because the person is out of order. Some will still interpret I Corinthians 14:34-35 as meaning women cannot say anything but I have shown you that it could mean that in this context there was a certain structure for married women's conduct in the church. That does not mean that women could not speak at all but for whatever reason the married women were not to speak out of turn. This passage could use more in depth study but it is definitely not saying that women cannot speak in church at all. I have given reason to question the meaning of terms used in it.
Many Christians take what we learn from others as being God without checking to see if it is true. We need to learn to ask ourselves more questions when challenged by the scriptures. Do not interpret a writer as expressing something that he or she is not. I could write more in supporting my understanding of the subject but this would be much longer than I would like to post.
