Meat Head wrote:Softball, do tell. Sounds interesting.
Baptists are very unified on one issue, baptism.
They believe that only believers should be baptized. No infant baptism.
When it comes to other doctrines, Baptists hold a pretty wide array of views.
Among Baptists, the issue of female pastors has been very divisive.
There are many who are adamant that only men are to be pastors, and there are a handful of passages that are cited to back this view.
1Corinthians 11:3-12
1Corinthians 14:34-40
1Timothy 2:11-15
Some others, also.
When it comes to making the argument for keeping women out of the office of pastor, 1Timothy2:11-15 is probably the most compelling passage that is used.
The reason it is compelling is because Paul brings it back to God's creation of humankind.
Paul notes that God created man first, and it was the woman who was deceived by Satan.
Therefore, "a woman should not teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but remain silent."
My view is that Paul, in both Corinthians letters, and in both Timothy letters, was seeking to have the believers be in happy harmony under Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church.
Paul wanted the believers to keep unity and order in the church, and part of the
order in those times and places involved recognizing the cultural norm that women are to be subordinate to men.
A woman should not "usurp authority" over a man.
It might appear that Paul, by hearkening back to the creation of man and woman, and noting that it was the woman who was deceived, was saying there is something different, fundamentally and universally, about a woman that makes her weak, or unsuitable for the office of pastor.
However, the case is made by those who think having female pastors is okay, that Paul was not making a universal statement about the unsuitability of women, but was instead just using the example of Eve (who was created
after Adam, and as a helper for him - Gen. 2:18) being deceived by Satan, to bolster his assertion that women in Ephesus at that time should respect the cultural norm and remain subordinate to men.
Eve, a "helper," stepped out of her lane, fell, and also gave the forbidden fruit to Adam.
"Usurp" means illegally, or by force.
I don't think a woman being a pastor is her "usurping authority" over men.
If a woman
does usurp authority over a man, and she then takes a position where she is teaching and leading in a church, I would not be in favor of that.
Both men and woman are in God's image, and both have authority to rule and subdue the earth (Genesis 1:27-28).
So long story short, it is okay, imo, if a woman is a pastor.
