Do Biblical Prohibitions Against Female Clergy Apply To Other Spheres Of Authority?
Since there are certain Biblical passages that do not allow for female clergy, a number of hardcore legalists also insist that the doctrine forbids women from holding elected political office.
The logic behind such a position contends that there is no distinction between what contemporary society views as secular and sacred authority.
Thus, it is immoral for a man to submit to a woman in either cultural sphere.
If we are obligated to be this rigorous in our religious thinking, there are other applications of this principle that you are required to implement if you are insisting that you are only striving for consistency in these matters.
Foremost, to say that one is under such and such pastor or minister is to say that one regularly subjects oneself to their teaching.
A book is nothing more than an extended lecture or sermon committed to print.
Thus, shouldn't those wanting to present for public display as evidence of their piety how enthusiastically they adhere to the admonitions of Scripture refuse to set their eyes upon any text composed by a woman?
The aspiring canonists advocating for the extremeism of their initial hypothesis will no doubt try to wiggle out of this corner by saying at most such an interpretation would only apply to doctrinal expositions or monographs.
But if we are operating from the principle that all authority is sacred authority, then why does one suddenly attempt to hide behind the distinction between secular knowledge and sacred knowledge in the area of epistemology?
Next, if one holds to the position that women should be forbidden from holding elected office because such would violate Biblical prohibitions against women exercising spiritual authority over men, on what grounds does the person advocating such a perspective then work for a corporation that allows for female managers, supervisors, and executives?
For if the political realm is to be viewed as another sphere of ministry, on what grounds does one then say that economics and business are separate and distinct from the spiritual?
And most importantly, isn't the person that is employed in such an organization adamant about female exclusion from public life guilty of possessing the same kind of dead faith they are extremely eager of insinuating and accusing so many other Christians around them of suffering from?
Frederick Meekins is an independent theologian and social critic. Frederick holds a BS in Political Science/History, a MA in Apologetics/Christian Philosophy from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a PhD. in Christian Apologetics from Newburgh Theological Seminary.
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