THE SPRINGFIELDER March 1970 Volume 33, Number 4 ' Some Thoughts on The Role of Women in The Church A SL'BST,%STI:l L SEG 11EST of cunen t exegetical opinion has n,o\ccl to a different pwition in interpreting the directives of the apostle Paul in 1 Car. 14 : 34-5, and I Tim. 2 : 1 1-1 2, forbidding women to tcach or even speak in the public worship (and other) * assemblies of the church. Furthermore it seems that as writers have considered thc qucstion of equal rights for men and women in the church and the ordination of ivo1nt.n to the full office of the public ministrv, the! have forgotten that women are forbidden to ---- - exercise donlinion over men in the course of congregational activity. A rathcr cster~sivt. survr!., The Office of \.170~aalt- iff the Church,' \\-ill provide vou with a helpful overview of various modern view- pints and of significant theological literature through 1954. Since therc will be man! formal considerations of the ordination of worn- en in the ncar future, !ou will have no little opportunity to fur- ther familiarize !.ourself with present thinking as \veil. >lost Lutheran Churches in Europe and Scandinavia, and \-arious Kefornled bodies on the Continent, have formaliv insti- tuted the woman's pastorate, thus giving expression in practige. to new theological opinions concerning women's roles in the church. The same is true of a nu~xlber of denominational groups in the United States and Canada. So Lutheran body in the United States has al- lon,ed women to serve as pastors or congregations or has approved an ordination of women for some kind of modified ministerial serv- ice. It appears that this situation ma? change. The ordination of women u-as the subject of serious study at \\'artburg Scminarv as representatives of the Lutheran Council in the U.S.:11. met.' Ih addition, the 1970 conventions of the Arneri- can Luthc~ran Church and the Lutheran Church in America will probably be asked to deal with the question of the ordination of women. A recent studv . bv . Luther Seminarv's faculty asserted that '*\ire can see no valid reason why wornen candidates for ordination who meet the standards normally required for admission to the min- istry should not be recommended for ordination."" The Lutheran Church-Slissouri Synod approved women's suffrage in the congrega- tions of the svnod, and their election to boards and commissions of the church. Fkwever, it also warned that wornen must neither serve as pastors of churches nor exercise authority over men in the course of congregational life and activity.' In terms of the life of congregations, it goes without saying that parish pastors and alike are well aware of the great bless- ing to the congregation which the consecrated labors of women members represent. Ladies assist with Sunday School teaching, participate in the youth, evangelism. and \.isitation programs of the church, busilv promote a variety of organirational actj\'itics, and serve on boa'& and cornlnittccs of thc Incd ~o~~grcgation~, Many \\-omen serve with great distinction ant1 arc a true crccti[ to the work of the Church. Xlanv avenues of servicc in the homc., the local congrcgntion, and the larger programs of thc church arc indeed opcn to Chrisrim women. The patterns for this service can he dcmonstratcd cjtlite adequately from the Ye\\. Testament. \\-omcn lilic .\far!., Trvpf1c.na, Tryphosa, and Persis have done hard aork for thc Ir~itl cr;ngrrgs- tion (Roni. 16: 6, 12). Eudoias and Synt:chc h;i\.c. tfonc thcit- ut- most along with Paul for the promotion of the Gospcl (Phil. 4 : 2-3 3 >. Dorcas dernonstratcs hen- a woman pro\-itlctl ph!sit.al aid for tIlc poor and the widows in a congregation <.\cts 9 : 3 6, 39). \\ ido\\s performed manv works of nlercy (I Tim. 5 : 9- 10;. \\'omcl11, like Lydia in philippi, (Acts 16: 14-1 5). Priscilla in C'orintli I.-\cts 18 : 1-3 ), and perhaps the mother of Rufus (Ham. I h : 1 3:. provided the apostle Paul with gracious hospitality. Priscilla ;tntl her hus- band Aquilla pro\.idc a worshipping unit of !hc IIoma11 con$rcg,i- tion (Kom. 16: 3, 5). Priscilla gave prii-ate instruction in 5c.i~ Testament Gospel truths to Apollos (Acts 18: 26). I'inloth\-'s grnnd- mother Lois and his mother Eunice arc esalnp1t.s for C'hristinn mothers ever~w-here as they reared Tininthv as a Christian (I1 Tim. 1 : 5). Older women have the duty to teaci~ the younger \volnr.n do- mestic virtues (Titus 2: 3-5). and the list could hc csl7anclc.d to include even more." In addition to traditional functions of \vomcn in thc \c.~v Testament, the office of deaconess is nientionetl in connection with Phcbe. (Rom. I6 : I, and again at I Tim. 3 : 1 1.) Thc office of tlc.:~- coness probably came into being as an outgro\vth of the offcr of the deacon, and operated as an adjunct to it. (Cf. .Acts 6: 1-6 and other passages). It should be nientioncd in this connection that opportuni- ties to foIlo\v a full-time service. career in the church arta similarl? pro~ided for \$-omen todav. They can choose to be deaconcsscs. Chris- tian Da? School ~eacheis, and parish workers. Itrornen also may have, or can cultivate, and can employ the Spirit-given aptitr~de which the Sew Testament calls prophesying. that is, exercising the gift to speak the Gospel and present the doc- trinal teachings of the Scriptures, generally, to others. All preachers and teachers of the IVord as well as Christian lay persons who are able to impart Biblical truth privately, can exercise thc gift of proph- ecy in this general or broad sense. Paul told the Corinthians to strive far the gift of prophecy (I Cor. 13: 1). Peter spoke of this gift (Acts 2: 16-1 8), and the four daughters of Philip the evangelist were said to possess and exercise this same gift (Acts 2 1 : 9)." \ire have not examined all of the instances of women in the New Testament, but it is readily apparent that therc js a wide range of service activities open to Christian women. However, nowhere Sornc TI?OLIJZ~\ ON 7'hc Role of Women in The Clirtrc;.h - --- - -- -- -- 3 5 y-- does \- T'cstnmcnt invite wo~llcrl to occ~ipv the pastora] office ,, t]i;lt \ronic11 uere cngag~d in teaching and preaching in the public iIsscl~ibI\ of tht* penl)ic of God. In fact, there are passages r,hicl~ spcrihc;ill~ dclly this right to n-omen. .\ quc*st ion noa prc~e~l ts itself. Do the passages that speci&ally forbid \yonien to oCCUp!- the pastoral office still appl\/ to Christian congregations t~~lil\. Or ivere these passages only intended for the church to counteract the existing cultural and smiologital conditions? Oug11t nomen be able to occupy the pastoral in our tinle? ~onsidcr \\ ith me the 11assages that deal lvith this probIem. i\s in ;rll thc i~sscmhlies of the silints, let the women keep silence in thc asscmb1ic.s; for it is not perri~itted them to speak; on the contrary, kt them bc in subjection, as also the Law says. And if rhvrc is imytl~ing the!. desire to learn let them ask their own hush;lnds (or, menfolk) at homcl; for it is shameful for a \\oman to speak in an assembl>,. The opening phrase of verse 34 suggests that the practice in all of the C:hristian congregations of Paul's day is that the \\.omen are to keep silence in church assemblies. The context of this passage ~nnkcs clear that the ekklesiai referred to are the assemblies of Chris- tians gathc9rt.d for congregational \\-orship. Paul directs the Corinthian \voIncn nut to spe;rk on their own in the public church assemblv. They are not cr.en allowed to ask a question! They are to main- tain a strict si1t.nc.c at these gatherings, and to do this as a delib- erate csprrssiun of suhjectinn to the men present. \\.ith the. clause kathos kni ho ?to?ncrs Irgei, Paul indicates that the regulatiori and practice of women maintaining silence in the ;~sscrnhlies of the saints, and thus subjecting themselves to the men, has its ultimate source in the Law, which is here the Old Testament. The best commentarv on the thinking of the apostle at this point in thc discussion is I rim. 2: 11-14. X literal translation reads: Lct a lvoman learn in silence, in all subjection. Now I permit no \roman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Atlam n.as not beguiled, but the woman having been com- plete]! beguiled became a transgressor. Paul, in the wider context of Chapter 2, gives instruction concerning conduct at ~ubIic worship, or perhaps some other church wtfing, the verses do not preciselv specify, and again require the subjection of \r.onlen to men in terms of keeping silent at assemblies. The teaching or preaching or engaejng in an\ other activity involv- ing the exercise of authority over men in the congregational meet- ings is prohibited. The reason for this prohibition comes ill thC form of certain facts from Genesis 2 and 3. The first of these facts is that Adam was created before Eve. According to thc Crcnt~~.~ intent, this prioritv in creation bt.sto\ved on ;idan1 ;i dignity ;Inti headship ~vbich not shared b! E\e \vho \v;is created 1;itu ;ind second. (Cf. I Cor. 1 I : 3, 8-9). The order of creation established the hardship of' illan ant1 the subjection of xvonlan to man for the entire raw. Furthcrmorc. dc- tails OF the first prents' fall into sin de~llonstrate thc i11ilwrt;ince of Christians' keeping in mind the divinel! fixed relatianship c)f ~nan's superordination and \\-oman's subordination. F\.c fnilcd to rc.111~~111- ber this relationsl~i~ after she was hcguilc.cl b!. Satan and had fa:l~n into transgression. llisregarding her concreatc.cI sribjcction tc: ;\ct:irll, she took leadership into her own hands and urpctl hcr h~~sbantl tr: violate the conl~nandment of the Lord. This is also \\.h;it i\tliilm f;liletl to do. In full realization of what he \\.as about illltl ~OI- f~~~i~ki~l~ his position of leadership, he obeyed Eve and ate of the forbidden fruit. \Irhat Paul endearors to sho\v in the I C'ori~~thians 14 and I Timothy 2 passages. is that God \\-ants the fact of I\-on~cn's diiinc- ly arranged subjection to men. a conditiol~ foundcd on thc ortlcr of creation, to find an expression jn the \\.orsllipping ;is>c.mlllic.s of his people. \\-omen \\.ill keel-, silent. not speaking or nskins ques- tions, not teaching or preaching, in the asscn~bli~s of the 11co~lc of God. In the learning espcrience at \vorsliip. it is propci- for \\-onlcn to participate. They have the right to scek clarification on Jnilttcrs that they do not understand. Thcy can asli their husbands 01- othcr men such as fathers, brothers, or sons about issucs. Ho\\.~>\.cr. tllc~! are to do their inquiring at home. An\ arrangc~ncnt othcr than thiit of women being silent 3t worship is not at a11 permissablc. as far as the Lord and the Lord's apostle arc conccrncct. It is shameful hr- fore God, and consequently before thc pcopIe of Go<{, for a \\-oman to speak in an assembly of the saints. Sothing in the tests \ye hair esaminctl suggests that the I'ilulinc. prohibition concerning the teaching. preaching. and speaking of women in church services is dictated t.sclusi\;ely b!. circumstancrs of the contemporary cultural or sociologica1 si tu;~tion \~i th \x.hicli first century Christendom, or certain local congregr\tions, had to contend. The texts offer no justification for an assu~mption that thc apostle was issuing instructions which \\.ere to be observed in the primitiire church only, which later generations of Christiiuls might ignore. We conclude that Paul is setting up regulations irhidl hc cs- pets the church to follo~v throughout the entire Scjv Testament perid. His appeal is to Fundamental facts recorded in Genesis, facts which permanendy affect the human race and the re1ations)lip of the sexes. These facts are also not aItered by the Gospel or the order of redemption' (compare Gal. 3 : 2 8 ) . oLII- l-LlthCr;,I1 ~.htlr~.h-\lissoUTj Synrxl. will denlonstrate fi- dclit, t(, - nrlci crbcdicncc to the will of God if it will rr- , I,I-Ls,cnhiil? cc~l~sia.tiinl pi-essures to open the full pastoral nfiL.r to ,,o,nr.Il ,,f the cllnrch. The synod ail1 do well at the same jlc,,, c., c.,-. to ck.t.r) encouragement that women mem- hr3 ,,cli, cl, I,.irric.ip;ttc> in thc. man) areas of church n-ork which lhc\ pnlmotl- ulldcr the f-ortl's blrssirig with eminent effectire- ,It',, ,11111 ~llC.C.t'S3. FCBTTOTES 1 ritz ~~~},~t, -1-1~~ C)tfic~* of 12'r)inun in thc Church: A Stud? in Practical 7.jlc.,,frrr?. transjatccl from the Gernlar~ h\- .Albert G. Alerkens (St. Louis: ( (,ncr,rtli,a 1'ui)lishing Hnnsc.. 1955)- 1 \?, rc.pc,rtctl in ,ln artjc.le titled "Ordination of IVomrn Aired by Lutherans" -. ,,llictl ,c~~pp,+rc.tl in the Octnhcr 5, 1969, issue of the Ltcthcrnn Zi'itness i:t.port~'r. 3, 1,. \\ hat i, not clear in thc rcprt of thc Dubuquc conference and the I fikcLtlt! opinion is \\ hcthcr the advocates of rvoman's ordination art. rc;iti! to appro, c \\ urnen-s serr in:: as pastors of congregations with nli~~ij :rn;llr and fc.m;rle> memkrship. Exactly what kind of ordination is being rc~cornrnendecl? 4. Th;,t thcrc. is Biblical tvarranty for the granting of this suffrage to \\.amen is hv t1o nlcans agrceci upon hy man!- members of the synod. 5, I'urtht.r suggestions as to women*s opportunities for servicc in the church ma? I,c obt;*incd from a study of the Sew Testament e\angeIists' reports c~f the rnrirrus kinds of ministrations women rendered Jesus Christ. 6. \cts 2 I :I) speaks of thew daughters, as "prophesying" (rhr Greek has the p;~rticiplt. prophcteunsai>. This is best taken to mean that thew women Itcrt. t-n~plo\ing the charisma of prophesying in the gencral, 1 Corinthians '14 srnsc.. f'ossessors of this spiritual gift arc. to be distinguished from pcrsr)ns to whom thc Sew Testament assigns the technical designation of "prophet." Such prnphtsts are presented AS men of minor importance