WOMEN IN MINISTRY: AN INTRODUCTION

I've been wanting to do this post for a good while now, and I'm finally getting to it. I'm not going to post it all at once because it will take too long for me to write in one sitting and too long for you to want to read it, so I decided to do a series. Part one will be an introduction...

I firmly believe that the church, especially the fundamentalist church, has wrongly left women out of leadership roles. I believe the New Testament reveals that in the early church women played a huge role in ministry. There are really only two passages in the New Testament that would seem to suggest otherwise, and I believe that those who use those two passages to discriminate against women take these passages out of context. Not only do they take these passages out of context, but they ignore the rest of the New Testament. Don't get me wrong, though, I am not trying to bash those who think this way. I believe that those who are against women in ministry mean well. They want to follow the scriptures, and they want to follow God's plan. However, I can't get past the rest of the New Testament, and I truly believe that their interpretation of these passages is misguided.

The two passages I'm talking about are 1 Timothy 2:9-15 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35...

In Timothy it says:
[9] I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, [10] but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
[11] A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. [12] I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. [13] For Adam was formed first, then Eve. [14] And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. [15] But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

In Corinthians it says:
[34] women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. [35] If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

Before I delve into these two passages, I'm going to take a look at the passages that would support women leadership in the church. Stay tuned.