Women were active, commended helpers in Paul's ministry — not sidelined — while Paul still gave instructions for orderly church conduct.
Paul conspicuously named women in Romans 16 who laboured with him, and he entrusted the letter to the Romans to Phoebe. Les Feldick reads this as clear evidence that Paul recognized a legitimate role for women in Christian service. At the same time, Paul's "let your women keep silence" instruction is explained by Les as an order-and-context issue in the immoral city of Corinth, not as female exclusion from ministry.
Romans 16:1-2 — This passage shows Paul publicly commending a woman's service and instructing believers to help her — directly answering what role women had.
1 Corinthians 14:34 — This verse is the main 'restrictive' text about women in church, which Les explains in its Corinthian context.
The clearest biblical evidence for women's service is Romans 16:1-2, where Paul commends Phebe, calls her "our sister" and "a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea," and tells believers to receive her in the Lord and assist her because she had been a helper to many, even to Paul himself. Acts 16 shows Paul speaking to women gathered for prayer at a riverside in Philippi, and Lydia is called a seller of purple who worshipped God (Acts 16:13-14). In the Corinthian letters, the Bible also gives instructions about women's conduct in church. 1 Corinthians 11:3 says the head of the woman is the man, and 1 Corinthians 14:34 says, "Let your women keep silence in the churches" — a command immediately connected to order and obedience. In context these instructions address the public assembly rather than denying that women served in the church.
Les Feldick consistently defends Paul as a champion of women. He points to Romans 16 as proof: Paul commends many women who helped him in ministry and even entrusted the letter to the Romans to Phoebe, a woman. Paul's words in Galatians 6 ("brethren") are a generic term that includes women; Les insists women are not left out of Christian church life. At the same time, Les explains Paul's hard-sounding instructions in 1 Corinthians by looking at Corinth: a wicked, pagan city where gross immorality was commonplace. The instructions about women covering their heads and being silent were tied to order in the church and the cultural circumstances of the Corinthian congregation. Women were to recognize the man as head and be subdued under the church service, but this was not anti-feminism. On the contrary, Les says Christianity is the greatest feminist movement in history.
Paul's final chapter to the Romans is, for Les Feldick, a decisive proof that Paul valued women. Les notes that Paul "commends so many women who helped him in the ministry" and alludes to eight or ten women in Romans 16 alone. The most striking example is Phoebe: of all people in the Roman world, Paul entrusted the letter to the Romans to Phoebe, a woman. Les also points to Lydia from Acts 16, a distinguished business woman and seller of purple who worshipped God. Christianity, Les says, is not anti-feminist — it is the greatest feminist movement in history.
Les explains that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 14:34 for a reason: Corinth was a wicked city marked by gross immorality. Paul's instructions were about order — "let everything be done decently, and in order" — and women were to recognize the man as the head and be subdued under the church service. Les insists these words were not written because Paul was anti-feminist; rather, he was dealing with a church in a pagan environment.
Les does not exclude women from the practical instructions of the epistles. When Galatians 6 says "Brethren," Les says it is a generic term — "Don't think for a minute that the women aren't involved in the Christian church." At the same time, he treats the Corinthian passages about women's covering as culturally distant from modern American life, calling them "far removed from us in America." The consistent point is that women are not left out of Christian service.
Why Did God Entrust Romans to a Woman? Romans 14-16 Explained
under the covenant promises tonight. They are out there sinners in need of salvation, but if God didn�t have His sovereign thumb on them, somehow or other, they would have long disappeared from the sea. That little nation would have been swallowed up by assimilation of all the other nations of the world. The other Hitler�s would have totally annihilated them, and he wasn�t the only one.
Paul Commends Women in Ministry
Les points out that in Romans 16 Paul commends many women who helped him, showing he recognized a genuine role for women in the church despite his later instructions in 1 Corinthians.
Women Not Left Out of Church Life
Les says Galatians 6:1 addresses 'brethren' as a generic term that includes women, and he reminds listeners that Paul entrusted the Roman letter to Phoebe, a woman.
Corinthian Context for Head Coverings
Les sets the 1 Corinthians 11 passage in the context of a mostly Gentile congregation, explaining the subject of women's covering was culturally far removed from modern American life.
Corinth's Wicked Culture Shaped Paul's Words
Les explains that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul's instructions about women because Corinth was a wicked city with gross immorality, not because Paul was anti-feminist.
Christianity, Not Paul, Is Pro-Woman
Les argues anyone reading Romans 16 can never call Paul anti-feminist, and he calls Christianity the greatest feminist movement in human history.
Order and Headship in Church Services
Les teaches that Paul expected women to recognize the man as the head of the woman and be subdued under church services, and that Paul's commands were the Lord's commandments.
Lydia: A Business Woman Who Worshipped God
Les uses Lydia in Acts 16 as an example of a distinguished business woman whom Paul encountered, showing women's important place in early Christianity.
Romans 16:1-2: I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.
Shows Paul's commendation of a woman as a servant and helper in the church.
Galatians 6:1: Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Les says 'brethren' here is a generic term that includes women.
1 Corinthians 14:34: Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
The key 'silence' verse Les explains in its Corinthian context.
1 Corinthians 11:3: But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Lays out the headship Paul references when speaking of women in the church.
Acts 16:13-14: And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
Shows women gathered for prayer and Lydia the business woman hearing Paul.
No, according to Les Feldick. Anyone who reads Romans 16 can see Paul naming woman after woman who helped him in the ministry. Les calls Christianity 'the greatest feminist movement that ever hit the human race.'
Phoebe was a sister in the Lord and a servant of the church at Cenchrea. Paul instructed believers to receive her and assist her, and he entrusted her with carrying the epistle to the Romans.
Les explains that Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 14:34 was given in the context of Corinth's wicked, immoral culture and dealt with order in worship. Women were to recognize the man as head and be subdued under church services, but this was not anti-feminism.
Yes. Les points to Romans 16, where Paul commends several women who helped him, and to Acts 16, where Lydia hears Paul at a riverside prayer place.
Watch the Teaching: Why Did God Entrust Romans to a Woman? Romans 14-16 Explained