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    The Role of Women in The Church

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    joshlumpkin22
    This document discusses the debate around the role of women in the church. It examines biblical passages related to the roles of elder and deacon and whether they prohibit or allow women in those positions. While some verses seem to indicate only men can be elders and deacons, others show women in positions of service. The document concludes that women can hold all church positions except elder, as that is the highest ordained role and biblical passages refer specifically to men in that role. It also addresses women's roles outside the church in relation to their husbands.

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    The Role of Women in The Church

    Uploaded by

    joshlumpkin22
    163 views4 pages
    This document discusses the debate around the role of women in the church. It examines biblical passages related to the roles of elder and deacon and whether they prohibit or allow women in those positions. While some verses seem to indicate only men can be elders and deacons, others show women in positions of service. The document concludes that women can hold all church positions except elder, as that is the highest ordained role and biblical passages refer specifically to men in that role. It also addresses women's roles outside the church in relation to their husbands.

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    The Role of Women in the Church

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    This document discusses the debate around the role of women in the church. It examines biblical passages related to the roles of elder and deacon and whether they prohibit or allow women in those positions. While some verses seem to indicate only men can be elders and deacons, others show women in positions of service. The document concludes that women can hold all church positions except elder, as that is the highest ordained role and biblical passages refer specifically to men in that role. It also addresses women's roles outside the church in relation to their husbands.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    163 views4 pages

    The Role of Women in The Church

    Uploaded by

    joshlumpkin22
    This document discusses the debate around the role of women in the church. It examines biblical passages related to the roles of elder and deacon and whether they prohibit or allow women in those positions. While some verses seem to indicate only men can be elders and deacons, others show women in positions of service. The document concludes that women can hold all church positions except elder, as that is the highest ordained role and biblical passages refer specifically to men in that role. It also addresses women's roles outside the church in relation to their husbands.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 4

    Joshua Lumpkin THEO202 Short Essay # 3 24 April 2011 Short Essay on the Role of Women in the Church Throughout

    the history of the Church, but especially during the last two centuries, the role of women in the Church has been a topic of wide debate. Some would say that the desire of women to serve in the clergy is directly due to the 1920s and womens suffrage. Others would claim the event is much more modern, citing the sexual revolution and the womens rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. While these things have certainly contributed to the discussion, the fact is that this conversation has simply been around for a long, long time.1 Because this debate gets heated at times, it is important to begin with a few disclaimers: 1. God esteems each of His creation, including men and women, with equal value.2 2. There are positions and places that women can and should lead. 3 With this being said, it is even more important to go to Scripture in order to find out what God says about the role of women in the Church. By way of practicality, we should begin with defining, in no uncertain terms, the most debated roles in the Church: elder and deacon. The references to elder and bishop, which are words that are sometimes used interchangeably, and deacon are found, for the majority, in the Pauline epistles to Timothy and Titus, and also in the first Petrine epistle. In each of these references, we find not only definitions, but also qualifications.4 The most interesting thing to take note of in these definitions and requirements is the consistency of the authors to attribute these roles to men, but not women, never specifically qualifying men or women, but almost assuming that the Church knew that
    1 2 3 4

    Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 1286. Genesis 1:27 Titus 2:3-5 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:7-9, 1 Peter 5:1-4

    only men were suitable for these roles. In addition to these, the Bible includes other passages that forbid women to teach or use authority over men, as well as passages that admonish women to be silent in the church.5 While the preceding assumption of only men being suitable for the roles of elders and deacons seems clear, there are some verses written by Paul that indicate women in positions of service. 6 In light of these verses, it seems clear that women are acceptable for all positions in the Church, with the exception of elder. Because the position of elder is the highest ordained position in the Church, the egalitarianists who oppose the complementarian view quarry into the Greek language searching for connotations and speculations that provide license for their resistance. Such defenses include the reference to Galatians 3:28, where Paul is clearly insisting equality among those who are in Christ. The problem with interpreting this verse in defense of egalitarianism, as is common with most misinterpretation of Scripture, is a lack of context. In Galatians 3: 26-29, Paul is not writing about something as trivial as a position in the church, but about the magnificent fact that we, who are in Christ, are all equal heirs according to the promise. However, this does not indicate that women are called to leadership in the same way that men are. While the Bible is clear about leadership in the Church, it does not speak on the role of women in work outside the Church. However, the Bible does address the role of married couples, how husbands are to work and provide for their families and how wives are to be keepers at home and obedient to their own husbands.7 Because of this admonishment, it is apparent that married men and women have duties outside of the Church that are relative to their work within the Church. However, the prohibition to work outside the home does not seem to be for unmarried women without children.
    5 6 7

    1 Tim. 2:11-14, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Romans 16:1, 6 1 Tim. 5:8, Titus 2:4-5

    Putting the apparent chauvinism aside for a moment, women are wonderful, created with equal dignity and value to men by God. Also, there is no ambiguity among men and women with regard to the promises God makes. The role of women in the Church is one of learning and training, just as is the role of men in the Church. Older women should train the younger women in godliness and can certainly contribute to management and leadership within this field. However, it is apparent that throughout the time of the Church, the leaders God made were men, from Jesus to Peter, from John to Paul, from Augustine to Luther, from Calvin to Edwards, from Spurgeon to Graham.

    Word count: 770

    Bibliography

    Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology: Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001.

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