WOMEN
In the Ministry
~INTRODUCTION~
THE “Women In The Ministry” teachings began
years ago. Since this issue on the role of
women in the ministry continues to be a heated
controversy, I feel it would be beneficial to our
readers, once again, to go over this controversial
subject.
Let me state here that I do NOT believe that
any and all women are qualified to teach and
preach God’s Word—any more than all men are
qualified to do the same. Some of these
contemporary women we have “on stage,” on
TV, behind pulpits and desks, are a literal
disgrace and a reproach to the very Name in
which they claim to preach and teach. These
pants-wearing women (whose pants are usually
very tight-fitting) are decked out in paganism’s
finest make-up, jewelry, and clothing (many, in
lack of clothing!). I do not champion such
women or their causes, for I do not champion
unrepentant sinners or their sinful ways. It’s
really bad these days. There are practicing
lesbians, bi-sexuals, and jezebelian feminists
who use their worldly acumen to undermine the
Word of God; and being scantily dressed, they
lure many AWAY from the truth, not draw people
into it.
Some of the Scriptures we will study in this
series will be examined in several different ways
at different times, in order to bring you, the
reader, into the proper overarching focus and
understanding of the Word.
The Core — The Heart
1 Timothy 2:8-15 has unfortunately and
unnecessarily incited much perplexity, confusion,
hatred and bigotry. Many a qualified woman of
God has been denied the right to teach and
preach God’s Word because of the
misunderstandings surrounding these and other
verses.
If we embrace the anti-women tradition and
are thereby forced to deny that God continues to
use women in the ministry to preach and teach,
then we have denied God the sacred right to
express Himself in any other way than through
(the accepted image of) MALENESS. Has God
really put Himself in that position, or have men
shoved God into the mold of their biases?
Sexes In The Church
It is my goal to present sound exegesis, not
eisegesis. On this particular issue, it seems like
very few people really want to study thoroughly.
Opinions abound, but not true Biblical opinions.
What was Paul’s goal, or rather, what were
the Spirit’s intentions for verse eight? “I will
therefore that MEN pray every where, lifting
up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”
Forgive me for being facetious, but these folks
on an anti-women kick, ought to lift up a holy
heart unto the Lord, without wrath also! Anyway,
the verb rendered “I will” means “I intend.” It is
“boulomai” (“βούλομαι”), and according to Arndt
and Gingrich, it is used of “decisions of the will
after previous deliberation” (cf. Vine’s Expository
Dictionary, p. 218). That means Paul had
thought this through, under the Spirit’s unction.
So, here we have the Apostle Paul stating
that “men” (“andras”—“ἄνδρας”—specifically
“males”) should “pray every where.” Does that
mean women shouldn’t? Also, was Paul
referring to both the public and private sector, or
just one of the two?
One writer brags, “The word andras must be
translated as ‘males.’ It is not the generic term
which would include ‘women.’ ...The ‘men’
ONLY and NO women WHATEVER are to do
the praying in the public worship of
congregations...in every place—in every city or
town where there is a congregation” (Lenski).
Most anti-women folks echo this belief, and they
often add that most commentators have
(supposedly) agreed with this interpretation
throughout Church history. We are speaking
about praying, mind you, not yet about
prophesying or preaching and teaching. But
they are setting the stage for the belief in ALL
MALE leadership, which, they say, is a belief
strongly held and promoted by the Apostle Paul.
Of course, they love to quote I Corinthians 14:37
to emphasize their “Pauline” doctrines: “If any
man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let
him acknowledge that the things that I write unto
you are the commandments of the Lord.” “See,”
they say, “this is not just a matter of Paul’s
opinion.” True, but do the Scriptures really agree
with their opinions of Paul’s doctrines?
Generic And Specific Terms
PAUL, in I Corinthians 14, deals with
prophesying and speaking in tongues. Notice
that he makes no distinction between the sexes.
He uses the generic Greek term which is
translated “men” and “man” but which may
include women as well as men. This is important
to understand. At least part of the controversy
on “sexist texts” comes from a misunderstanding
of the fact that people don’t interpret the words
“man” and “men” to include women too. But
even the English language has historically used
the word “man” to speak of both men and
women. In any case, poor scholarship in Bible
study will naturally guide us into a number of
catastrophic directions.
There are many generic Biblical terms that
are like the word “chairman,” which could
indicate either a male or a female and is not to
be interpreted only as “chairmale.” Then there
are other very specific terms as well, but we
need to be careful that our interpretation of those
specific terms does not go beyond what the text
is saying.
In Greek we have the words “anthrōpos”
(“ἄνθρωπος” — “man,” generically) and “anēr”
(“ἀνήρ” — “man,” or “male,” specifically). Often,
when the Bible says, “If any man...” or something
like that, it means “If anyone (ἄνθρωπος — male
or female)...” In other places, “man” specifically
means “males.” In all instances, particularly in
verses that use specific terms, we must be
careful not to read meanings into the text or
apply more to them than was originally intended.
In the Hebrew text, “adam” is the term used
in the first three chapters of Genesis for “man,”
meaning both male and female, and is also the
personal name of the first man, Adam. The root
word is believed to suggest ruddiness and is
related to the word for “ground” (“’adamah”).
Remember, God had formed man from the dust
of the ground.
We could also speak of “̕Îsh” and “̕Ishshah”
(“man” and “woman”). Both “adam” and “̕îsh”
emphasize the value of “humankind,” while
“̕enôsh,” another word, is the term for “mankind”
that often refers to morality and human frailty.
“Geber” and “gibbôr” both come from the root
“gâbor,” meaning “to prevail; be strong or great”;
the first word occurs 66 times in the Bible and
describes a man at the height of his masculine
strength (akin to the Hispanic term “macho”); the
second word, “gibbôr,” is usually a military term
for warriors and heroes , like David’s mighty men
mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:8.
I Corinthians 14
LET us turn to verse 34: “Let your women keep
silence in the churches: for it is not permitted
unto them to speak...” Before making any
decisions about this verse, let’s think about a few
things. Were tongues, the interpretation of
tongues, and prophecy just for men? Just a few
chapters previous, in 11:5, Paul said that women
can pray and prophesy if their heads are
covered. Even if you say they could only pray
silently, what about prophesying, speaking in
tongues and interpreting tongues? How can you
prophesy and speak in tongues and interpret
tongues for others in the churches and always
remain silent in the churches? More on this
later.
The author of a little tract I have before me
stated this: “The Gospel had brought
tremendous freedom and a sense of worth and
value to women, who in some cultures were
viewed as inferior to men and often as pieces of
property [e.g., nowadays, that’s how it is in
Islamic countries!]. While there is no difference
in their spiritual relationship to God (Galatians
3:28), Paul INSISTS that in society and in the
Church, sexual roles should be observed—the
MAN IS TO BE THE LEADER!” That means,
according to him, that women should shut up
and let the men do the teaching, preaching, etc.
Well, we can thank God for the author’s small
compromise, in saying, “...of course, group
singing and joining in the ‘AMEN’ are excluded.”
How generous! Thanks, brother, for giving them
awful women a break! He further states, “...she
is to accept her subordinate role completely.” I
agree with this for probably most of these
jezebelian church ladies of today; but did Paul
mean that ALL women must be silent in ALL
ways at ALL times in public services? I assure
you, that author I quoted above, my dear friends,
is one that has done little Bible research, or
much misguided Bible research, on this
important subject.
The “ALL MALE” stuff is really frightening.
Seems to me a lot of men have a very limited
understanding of the subject at hand . . . and
they are to be our teachers? Women are to
“keep silence”? Not bad, if we’re talking about
such darlings as Jezebel in Revelation 2:20. On
the other hand, ol’ Ahab isn’t much better behind
the pulpit! And now we have male (if you can
call them “male”) homosexuals and bi-sexuals
teaching us God’s Word. Insane! Although
some of the “straight” male teachers of today are
equally sickening and are literally damning souls
with their twisted ideas of Christianity.
Oh, how these men love to blame Eve for all
this trouble in the world! They go into all this
“Eve made me eat” business. They love to
quote Genesis 3:17—“Because thou (Adam)
hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife...” The
author mentioned above quotes from Alford: “As
the woman was last in being, so she was first in
sin—indeed the only victim of the Tempter’s
deceit.” He then tells us that Paul emphasized
that the woman was “completely deceived.”
Well, if we want to briefly get on this issue, let’s
think . . . who had the greater sin here? Adam,
or Eve? Obviously, Adam, being the HEAD, the
CHIEF, the “BOSS” (as these men would call
him). For if Eve was “completely deceived” and
Adam wasn’t, and if Eve was not the CHIEF
vessel of the two, how could she have committed
the BIGGER sin?
What’s the author of that tract getting at?
Here is his conclusion: “Sin disturbs God’s order
and creates confusion. Tragedy resulted from
Eve’s LEADERSHIP and Adam’s weakness.”
Sin does disturb God’s order, but does that
man’s conclusion about women really line up
with the whole Bible? According to his
conclusion, my dear women of God, you are
cursed forever to “keep silence”! Never are you
allowed to teach or preach or even lead prayer in
a church. Just “zip the lip” forever in public
gatherings. Friends, that kind of reasoning from
these kind of men is just scary and absolutely
un-Biblical. With this in mind, seeing the giant
misunderstandings we must combat, we’ll
commence our study on “Women in the
Ministry.”
~ General James Green
NOTE ON TERMS:
“TRADITIONAL JEWS”
Throughout this series, when you see the phrase "Traditional Jews," it signifies those who adhere to Jewish Traditions (i.e., the
Talmud) and hold these Traditions as true. Orthodox Jews, Zionist Jews, Conservative or Reformed Jews are all included if they follow these rabbinic Traditions. Such men remind us of those whom Jesus referred to in Mark 7:8, when He chided the religious leaders —
“For laying aside the commandment of
God, ye hold the tradition of men...”
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