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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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