ManofChrist101
Member
1) What Approach to women in ministry is consistent with Precise Biblical Teaching?
My understanding is that it is Errant for a church to appoint a woman as a pastor because in (1st Timothy 3) the list of qualifications for a pastor include that he be a MAN and faithful to his wife. Since one has to be a man to be a faithful husband it is only logical that women are excluded from this office. Furthermore (1st Timothy 3:5) likens church shepherding to FATHERHOOD and NOT MOTHERHOOD, thus making it pretty obvious that God intended this to be an office that only men should hold. All of the references to being a pastor address men and not women. From this it's clear that God reserves the role as shepherd to men. More evidence is in (1st Corinthians 11:3 indicates that man is head of woman).
However, what does the Bible say about ordaining women as ministers, preachers, and under-shepherds? The specific scripture that makes this question a difficult one is (1st Corinthians 14:34) which says "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."
Now after researching the topic there seem to be two schools of thought on this matter.
Though A is that Paul's letter was specifically to the church in Corinth whose female population may have been unruly and Paul's intention wasn't to silence women everywhere but the specific church women who were in Corinth. People with this belief also look at the Greek translation of the word for "women" in this verse which is GYNAIKES. This word also means "wife." For example: in (Ephesians 5:22) where wives are told to submit to husbands, the word GYNAIKES is used for the word "wife." (Fun-fact: that's how we get the word "gynecologist" in English.) They use the fact that the word for wives also means women, to mean that Paul wasn't talking about all women just the wives in Corinth and how they ought to defer to their husbands in terms of teaching and leadership. People who interpret the Scripture this way will often cite examples of female leadership in the Bible such as; Priscilla, Deborah, and Anna-the-prophetess as evidence that a female can be a minister or a pastor. Overall they dismiss the need to apply this scripture to every woman in every church and limit it to Paul's intent to address a specific problem in Corinth.
Now onto School of Thought B
These people believe the Bible prohibits women from holding positions of leadership in the Bible Citing the same chapter and verse in 1st Corinthians as is mentioned above (1st Corinthians 11:34). Moreover they refer to Paul's letter to timothy (1st Timothy 2:12) where it states "I do not permit a woman to teach." In response to School of though A, they state that the word GYNAIKES is used many other places to refer to women in general and not just wives such as (Luke 24:22) where women are amazed at the resurrection of Jesus. Because the word is used so widely to apply to both married and un-married women, they state that there is no reason to assume Paul was just talking about the married women and that he must have been addressing the church as a whole. Also they argue that nothing else Paul said in those verses indicated that he was trying to address only Corinth.
Personally I believe that God's law is sovereign so i will not accept any answer such as "the church needs to get with the times: (which i heard when i asked a presbyterian chaplain). Man has an obligation to reflect God's law, not the other way around!
With all of that said, it's clear the Bible forbids women as pastors but considering those verses: What is the Correct teaching on women as leaders or teachers in any capacity in church?
2) What is the exact meaning of Paul's teaching about hair and coverings of hair in (1st Corinthians 11: 13-15)
That's it!
It's a short question
My understanding is that it is Errant for a church to appoint a woman as a pastor because in (1st Timothy 3) the list of qualifications for a pastor include that he be a MAN and faithful to his wife. Since one has to be a man to be a faithful husband it is only logical that women are excluded from this office. Furthermore (1st Timothy 3:5) likens church shepherding to FATHERHOOD and NOT MOTHERHOOD, thus making it pretty obvious that God intended this to be an office that only men should hold. All of the references to being a pastor address men and not women. From this it's clear that God reserves the role as shepherd to men. More evidence is in (1st Corinthians 11:3 indicates that man is head of woman).
However, what does the Bible say about ordaining women as ministers, preachers, and under-shepherds? The specific scripture that makes this question a difficult one is (1st Corinthians 14:34) which says "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."
Now after researching the topic there seem to be two schools of thought on this matter.
Though A is that Paul's letter was specifically to the church in Corinth whose female population may have been unruly and Paul's intention wasn't to silence women everywhere but the specific church women who were in Corinth. People with this belief also look at the Greek translation of the word for "women" in this verse which is GYNAIKES. This word also means "wife." For example: in (Ephesians 5:22) where wives are told to submit to husbands, the word GYNAIKES is used for the word "wife." (Fun-fact: that's how we get the word "gynecologist" in English.) They use the fact that the word for wives also means women, to mean that Paul wasn't talking about all women just the wives in Corinth and how they ought to defer to their husbands in terms of teaching and leadership. People who interpret the Scripture this way will often cite examples of female leadership in the Bible such as; Priscilla, Deborah, and Anna-the-prophetess as evidence that a female can be a minister or a pastor. Overall they dismiss the need to apply this scripture to every woman in every church and limit it to Paul's intent to address a specific problem in Corinth.
Now onto School of Thought B
These people believe the Bible prohibits women from holding positions of leadership in the Bible Citing the same chapter and verse in 1st Corinthians as is mentioned above (1st Corinthians 11:34). Moreover they refer to Paul's letter to timothy (1st Timothy 2:12) where it states "I do not permit a woman to teach." In response to School of though A, they state that the word GYNAIKES is used many other places to refer to women in general and not just wives such as (Luke 24:22) where women are amazed at the resurrection of Jesus. Because the word is used so widely to apply to both married and un-married women, they state that there is no reason to assume Paul was just talking about the married women and that he must have been addressing the church as a whole. Also they argue that nothing else Paul said in those verses indicated that he was trying to address only Corinth.
Personally I believe that God's law is sovereign so i will not accept any answer such as "the church needs to get with the times: (which i heard when i asked a presbyterian chaplain). Man has an obligation to reflect God's law, not the other way around!
With all of that said, it's clear the Bible forbids women as pastors but considering those verses: What is the Correct teaching on women as leaders or teachers in any capacity in church?
2) What is the exact meaning of Paul's teaching about hair and coverings of hair in (1st Corinthians 11: 13-15)
That's it!
It's a short question