It's interesting that many are claiming, "The Word of God says so!" and yet, the strongest backing to the argument that women have no place in the Church comes solely from misogynistic Church tradition.
Im curious, I didnt see any posts that said that women have no place in the church, would you point them out?
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No where did anybody state women have no place in the church. It’s all perception I guess. Once one stands firm on what the Word of God clearly states, then, we are perceived to have said such. Perception is not truth.
I am willing and able to answer Theo’s question. From what I have experienced in 25 years of the ministry, if the person holding the offices as stated are no longer able to fill those requirements, then YES, they should step down. I have seen 2 Deacons and 1 Pastor step down from their offices on their own choice because they no longer fill the requirements as stated in 1 Timothy. One of those was for an unruly child, while the other two had to do with their marriages.
Now, in all instances, they were not asked to step down, but as I said, they made this choice themselves. It was not an “instant” decision and we had several months of prayer and fasting for the situations to change. When the issues did not change, the men made the hard decision to step down. They were indeed Godly men who knew what the Word of God stated about the matter.
Now let’s get into Theo’s harder question:
“What if the pastor's wife dies, does he have to resign, since he no longer fulfills the requirement of having one wife?”
This is indeed a tough one unless you read it in the Greek. When this is done, you will see there is neither such a word as Husband or Wife. The words used are ‘anēr’(man) and ‘gunē’ (woman). The Greek really reads it as a ‘one woman man’. IMO this is talking about sexual purity and conjugal fidelity and so long as the Pastor fits this requirement, he would be able to continue to serve.
To answer Theo’s other point:
“Some here have used I Tim. 3 and Tit. 1 to support their views. If I am understanding correctly, their reasoning is that since they are required to have wives, and women can't have wives, then pastors have to be men (someone please correct me if I've misunderstood).”
It is not so much the thought of women can’t have wives, but the fact the word Paul used is ‘anēr’, which means an ‘adult male’. Simple as that.
I would also like to address the fact several post have included the following scripture:
Acts 2:17 in the KJV states: <sup id="en-KJV-26967">17</sup>And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
I see nothing in the above scripture that states women are to hold offices as stated in 1 Timothy 3. What I do see is that they will prophesy. Now, to open another ‘can of worms’, I will suggest that we may not be living in the “last days” as it is depicted in this scripture. Maybe a further study is needed on this subject as well? Somewhere in your study you should come to Mathew 9: 14-17.
Now, how about an answer to my question that has been ignored as well? Why did Paul , in 1 Timothy 3, use the Greek word for adult male ‘anēr’ instead of using ‘anthrōpos’ which means it could be a male or female and not gender specific?
Hope all is well with you!
