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Female leadership in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament)
Quotations on, and introduction to, this topic
Sponsored link.
Quotations:
 | "...Paul mentioned 40 names in his letters...and talked about the big missionary enterprise of which there are dozens of people or participants... Of those 40 people, 16 are women. That's a considerable proportion of women involved in the Pauline missionary effort." Helmut Koestler 1 | ||||||
| "...it is not admissible to ordain women to the priesthood, for very fundamental reasons. These reasons include: the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church." Pope Paul VI 2 | ||||||
| The evolution of Romans 16:7:
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Introduction:
As in so many religious beliefs, we see a major division between conservative and liberal Christians concerning female ordination:
| Many conservative Christian denominations allow only men to be ordained. A major support for this decision is Paul's statement in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in which the author did "not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." Further, 1 Timothy 3:2 specifies that overseers and deacons must be men. Finally, 1 Corinthians 14:34b-35 states that women must be silent and in submission when in church. If they want to clarify some theological point, they should wait and approach their husband at home. Any of these statements would totally preclude women becoming ministers or pastors. Much of their opposition to equal treatment of women is derived from their concept of the inerrancy of the official canon of the Bible and of the b iblical doctrine of the Headship of Man. Most conservative Christians believe that such books as Timothy and Titus were written by Paul prior to his death circa 65 CE. | ||||||||||
| Many liberal theologians note that:
Liberals would argue that the policies of Jesus and Paul in the area of gender equality are a higher moral standard than the oppression of women which is expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures and in some of the pseudonymous epistles. They believe that the present North American secular standard should be followed with respect to female ordination. They would prefer to abandon the restrictions on women that were implemented within Christendom, starting in the late 1st century CE. |
Until the early years of the 20th century, very few Christian faith groups allowed women to be ordained. Since then, most of the liberal denominations have accepted female ministers and pastors. Mainline denominations followed. Very conservative denominations generally do not. The historical trend appears obvious - it may be just a matter of time before almost all denominations will remove their gender barrier, and finally match the rest of society.
References used:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Dr. Helmut Koester, "The role of women in the Christian churches of Paul's day." This is a series of excerpts from his speech titled "St. Paul: His Mission to the Greek Cities & His Competitors," given to the Foundation for Biblical Research, Charlestown, NH, on 1997-SEP-13. It is available at: http://www.bibletexts.com/
- Pope Paul VI, "Response to the Letter of His Grace the Most Reverend Dr. F. D. Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood," 1975-NOV-30: AAS 68 (1976), Page 599.
- "Aquilla and Priscilla, Companions of the Apostle Paul," at: http://elvis.rowan.edu/
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Copyright © 1999 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-JAN-10
Author: Bruce A. Robinson
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