Bible Study Women in the church

[Scotth1960]

Well, Phoebe was a pastor. Do not tell me she was a servant in the sense of the weaker helping the stronger--she was a pastor or servant in the sense of the strong leading the weak. The word used for servant in the scriptural passage of Romans 16:1 is "diakonos" in Greek. This word is used everywhere in the NT to designate the office of "minister". This same word is used to denote the office that Phoebe had in Cenchrea, but somehow the bias of the translators entered here and was translated as "servant"(upon encountering a female!). Both translations are correct, but the wrong connotation has been taken. Pastors indeed ARE servants! Elsewhere, wherever a minister was spoken of, if he was male, the word "diakonos" was transcribed as "minister", where "servant" is just as appropriate.

When Paul spoke of Phoebe as a helper of many as well as himself, he used the word, "prostatis", meaning "helper". In this sense, the word, "prostatis" means helping in the manner of one with authority, a master, and a leader. This word was used by Josephus in describing Caesar, one of supreme authority. A leader is a helper, and in this sense, it denotes one who helps from a place of authority and strength, not one who helps a strong person out of a place of lesser strength.

Dear Alabaster, Women are not second class Christians, but neither are they said to have power over men. But next to Jesus, the one who has a role over all men is the Blessed Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary Theotokos, the God-bearer. She intercedes before Christ God by her many prayers for the Church.
We need to respect a normal woman like Mary, a woman who "knew no man".
She knew God, she did not need to know a man. Her sole role in life was simple: To bring Christ Saviour of all people into the world. Not to provide somebody to satisfy Saint Joseph.
Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, and adulterers God will judge.
But it is also blessed to be called to an unmarried life. But it is not required of all.
What can give any Christian hope is God's mercy and forgiveness.
Among those who committed fornication, they came to Christ and were forgiven by Him.
But there are other kinds of transgression besides erotic sins.
All sin needs to be forgiven and cleansed in God's mercy.
St. Paul was not misogynist.
All feminism may do for women today is give them a "right" to die in a war, to serve in the military as combatants. This was never meant to be by God.
War is always a sin of some kind, no matter how necessary and just it may be, it can be just, but war can never be good. Women shouldn't envy men's right to serve as soldiers in the army of America. Without the US military, we would all be victims of Islam.
In Erie PA Scott Harrington

 

[Alabaster]

Dear Alabaster, Women are not second class Christians, but neither are they said to have power over men. But next to Jesus, the one who has a role over all men is the Blessed Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary Theotokos, the God-bearer. She intercedes before Christ God by her many prayers for the Church.

That is false and unbiblical.

We need to respect a normal woman like Mary, a woman who "knew no man".
She knew God, she did not need to know a man. Her sole role in life was simple: To bring Christ Saviour of all people into the world. Not to provide somebody to satisfy Saint Joseph.

She had sex with Joseph as any wofe does her husband. Stop making her out to be a goddess.

Marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, and adulterers God will judge.
But it is also blessed to be called to an unmarried life. But it is not required of all.
What can give any Christian hope is God's mercy and forgiveness.
Among those who committed fornication, they came to Christ and were forgiven by Him.
But there are other kinds of transgression besides erotic sins.
All sin needs to be forgiven and cleansed in God's mercy.

Kinda meandering here, aren't you?

St. Paul was not misogynist.

No, but he appeals to them, out of their ignorance.

All feminism may do for women today is give them a "right" to die in a war, to serve in the military as combatants. This was never meant to be by God.
War is always a sin of some kind, no matter how necessary and just it may be, it can be just, but war can never be good. Women shouldn't envy men's right to serve as soldiers in the army of America. Without the US military, we would all be victims of Islam.
In Erie PA Scott Harrington

More meandering.

 

[jasoncran]

he has a point on that last alabaster. would you like it if your husband said honey i know that the box is 150 lbs(70kg) and you weigh 80kg. but its time that you pull your load after all we are all equal in strength.

is that what you want?

 

[Sam21]

Wow! Those were some scary quotes about women. I see none of that in the New Testament but I do see that God ordained that men should be in authority in an assembly of mixed believers. It seems that people tend to go way to far one way(women are just bad and men should wipe their feet on them), or women are just men with a little different plumbing and should be treated accordingly.
God made male and female and the original poster was pretty close to the truth, I don't blame women for being angry at some of the things taught by men in history, however to move into the feminist camp is to move out of the christian camp.

 

[Alabaster]

he has a point on that last alabaster. would you like it if your husband said honey i know that the box is 150 lbs(70kg) and you weigh 80kg. but its time that you pull your load after all we are all equal in strength.

is that what you want?

We are not discussing physicality, are we?

 

[jasoncran]

scott brought it up about women in combat and you said more meandering.
that is a valid point he made even though a bit off topic.
irrevelent to the idea of women in the church in a role of pastors and other offices but quite revelant in the sense of roles in society and laborous jobs.

are all jobs in a church or ministry non-physical. i think not. churches here do have outreaches that involve heavy labor ie the salvation army!