Doug Wilson Says ‘Paul Says That Women Who Turn Aside After Satan Are Women Who Avoid Marriage, Avoid Having Babies, And Who Avoid The Domestic Arts.’
“And Paul says that women who turn aside after Satan are women who avoid marriage, avoid having babies, and who avoid the domestic arts. That’s how women turn aside after Satan. And all God’s people said yikes.”1 — Doug Wilson
OPINION: These are strong words with serious implications. As someone who did not marry until almost thirty (which was practically a spinster in my circles), I have a particular heart for single women in the Church, especially those within conservative communities, such as the CREC, where there seems to be an underlying belief that “Man’s2 chief end is to glorify God,”3 but a woman’s chief end is to get married and make babies.
But what of single women? Can they glorify God while choosing to remain unmarried? Or are they instead following Satan, as Doug claims Paul is teaching? Let’s first address the verse that Doug is using to prove his statement:
“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan” (1 Timothy 5:14, 15, KJV).
At first glance, it appears that Paul is warning these younger women to marry or else risk following Satan, as “some” have already done. But Doug slightly modifies Paul’s words to imply that all women who avoid marriage (and babies and domestic arts) are following Satan.4 It is a subtle but significant distortion. Further examination of the entire chapter reveals that Paul is not actually writing about younger women in general, but a certain subset of women—younger widows—as is evidenced when the verse is read in its proper context:
“But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan. If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” (1 Timothy 5:11–16, KJV).
When reading the surrounding verses, it is clear, even in the KJV (Doug’s translation of choice), that Paul is specifically addressing “younger widows,” and modern translations leave no room for misinterpretation.5 We cannot judge Doug’s heart, but at best, this is an ignorant misapplication of Scripture, and at worst, an intentional misuse of God’s Word for his own theological and cultural agenda. While he does mention that this passage refers to “a certain class of people,”6 he fails to clarify that it is specifically addressing young widows and instead, states that the admonition is referring to young women in general.7 He has twisted God’s Word, whether intentionally or not, to support his own theological system, which largely depends on married women having babies.8 Lots of babies—“eight babies in a row…at least six of them to have chubby cheeks!”9
This is yet another example (click here for more) of Doug Wilson not “accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB), which is concerning for someone claiming to be a minister of the Gospel of Christ, particularly when biblical requirements for an elder or pastor include: “skillful in teaching” (1 Timothy 3:2, NASB) and “holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9, NASB)
When we choose to read our own beliefs into Scripture (eisegesis), versus extracting our beliefs from Scripture (exegesis), we potentially flirt with heresy and expose ourselves and others to great harm. When Doug, as the spiritual authority, declares that the single young women in his congregation are following Satan if they choose to remain unmarried, he condemns them unnecessarily and places heavy burdens not found in Scripture. What does Paul say about single women who choose not to marry? Basically, it is the opposite of what Doug is claiming:
“But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:8–9, NASB95).
“Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. I think then that this is good in view of the present distress,10 that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from your wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you…But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 7:25–28, 32–35, NASB95).
Doug teaches that single women are turning aside after Satan if they avoid marriage, a very serious accusation, while the Apostle Paul encourages single women to remain single, but assures them that they are not sinning if they decide to marry. These are two diametrically opposed beliefs regarding singleness, though both Paul and Doug agree that marriage is a valid, God-honoring choice. The difference is that Paul recommends singleness as his preferred choice, as he considers it easier for a single woman to be more spiritually-minded than her married counterpart, for she is “concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:34). And let’s not forget that Jesus was single, “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15) and definitely did not turn aside after Satan.
As much as Doug would have us believe that single women are sinning if they avoid marriage and that they must cheerfully embrace “the central domestic calling of women,”11 God’s Word is clear that single women are free to choose either path without condemnation—marriage or singleness. Neither is elevated over the other and the Bible supports both options, with Paul expressing his opinion that singleness is the better choice (1 Corinthians 7:32–40). As the Westminster Shorter Catechism declares: [woman’s] “chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever”12—no husband, children, or domestic skills required. In fact, singles are simply getting a head start, since we will all be single13 in eternity (Luke 20:35).
My prayer is that Doug would correctly teach the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15) regarding single women and that he and all of us in the Church would view single women as God sees them and not through a distorted theological or cultural lens.
Want More Context?
Here are some links to other blogs, videos and podcasts dealing with this and other issues in more depth:
https://theocast.org/church-discernment-and-purity-culture/
https://bredenhof.ca/2023/07/03/doug-wilson-the-bad/
https://bredenhof.ca/2023/07/10/doug-wilson-the-ugly/
https://rachelgreenmiller.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/a-question-for-wilson-fans/
https://kaeleytrillerharms.substack.com/p/pastor-doug-wilson-above-reproach
https://thewartburgwatch.com/2013/04/05/doug-wilson-on-doing-the-dishes-and-discernment-blogs/
Footnotes
Footnotes
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https://web.archive.org/web/20241005165608/https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/and-at-least-six-with-chubby-cheeks.html ↩
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This is an archaic usage of the term “man” and was originally intended to include both male and female as shown from the usage by the same authors: “After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female” https://thewestminsterstandard.org/the-westminster-confession/#Chapter%20IV ↩
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https://thewestminsterstandard.org/westminster-shorter-catechism/ ↩
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Doug’s interpretation also overlooks a key point about what Paul likely meant by women turning aside after Satan. Philip H. Towner addresses this in his commentary: “Apparently, Paul envisions young widows led by their enjoyment of promiscuous behavior to marry unbelievers. Since typically the wife would adopt the religion of the husband, remarriage to unbelievers would involve actual rejection of the widow’s ‘first/prior faith in (commitment to) Christ.’ Indeed, Winter suggests that abandoning their Christian faith may have been a precondition of marriage to unbelievers. When Paul turns to encourage young widows to remarry in v. 14, he assumes marriage to believers.”(Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006, p. 352). ↩
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“Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (1 Timothy 5:14, NKJV). ↩
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https://web.archive.org/web/20241005165608/https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/and-at-least-six-with-chubby-cheeks.html ↩
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Doug writes in the same article: “Paul’s instruction here is being given to the younger women—you and your girl friends.” https://web.archive.org/web/20241005165608/https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/and-at-least-six-with-chubby-cheeks.html ↩
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Doug Wilson links having children to God’s command to humanity to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28, 9:1; known as the Creation Mandate or Cultural Mandate) and appears to suggest that those who do not have children are in direct violation of this command, thus living in sin. However, a simple rebuttal to this view is that Jesus himself had no children yet was without sin. Therefore, choosing not to have children does not inherently mean a person is sinning (Matthew 16:24; 1 Corinthians 11:1-2). Moreover, the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28 is spiritual in nature—focused on making disciples—rather than tied to the physical act of bearing children as Doug implies in his teaching. Here are some portions where Doug expounds on his theology regarding this “Cultural Mandate”:
“In Malachi, where wives are described as wives by covenant (2:14), we also see why God intended this covenantal union in the first place: ‘But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth’ (Mal. 2:15). The reason God brings husband and wife together in federal union is so that they might bring up godly offspring before Him. Not surprisingly, there is a deep federal connection with the children. Water does not rise above its level, and a covenantal marriage cannot bear non-covenantal fruit” (Douglas Wilson, Federal Husband, Canon Press, 1999, p. 85, Kindle Edition).
“Having created them, God blessed them and gave them their marching orders—he told them what they were to do. This is the task before you: 1. be fruitful; 2. multiply; 3. replenish the earth; 4. subdue it; and 5. exercise dominion over all living creatures… . This great creation mandate was not undone by the effects of sin. Immediately after history’s greatest judgment on sin, God renews this cultural mandate, with some modifications. Sin has never altered the task assigned to man—but it has destroyed our ability to fulfill it. The coming of Christ addressed this shortcoming, and was not an instance of God giving up on the task. Now, in the coming of Christ, we now see the only possibility of fulfilling the task.” https://web.archive.org/web/20250203011226/https://dougwils.com/the-church/s8-expository/marriage-as-manifest-glory-xxiv.html
“The task was now far beyond us, but the task was not removed from us. After the judgment of God that fell on the earth with the Flood, this cultural mandate was repeated (Gen. 9:1). Despite our sin, we still have all the same responsibilities. Because this is our house, we are the ones who have to mow the lawn. But God saw our inabilities and promised a Messiah, one who would enable us to fulfill and discharge the responsibility that He gave to us.” https://web.archive.org/web/20240723044636/https://dougwils.com/the-church/s8-expository/spiritual-disciplines-work.html “The Advent of this Christ was a really big deal—in fact, as you may have realized, we even continue to celebrate His birth, down to the present day. And just before He ascended into Heaven, when He gave His disciples the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-19), this was the cultural mandate assigned to us yet again, but this time with the promised Spirit accompanying us… . The Church holds the keys, but the basic doors that must be unlocked are the doors between man and woman, and father and children, and mother and children, and father and mother and children.” https://web.archive.org/web/20230330090217/https://dougwils.com/the-church/shawn-and-gloria.html ↑ ↩ -
https://web.archive.org/web/20241005165608/https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/and-at-least-six-with-chubby-cheeks.html
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For further discussion: https://web.archive.org/web/20240228160854/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/as-if-not/ ↩
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https://web.archive.org/web/20241005165608/https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/and-at-least-six-with-chubby-cheeks.html ↩
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https://thewestminsterstandard.org/westminster-shorter-catechism/ ↩
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Yes, we will all be the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7–9, 21:1–2L), but we will not be married in the earthly sense of the term. We will be single. ↩