Does the Bible Support Ordaining Women as Elders or Pastors? Part 1

By Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, PhD

Director, Public Campus Ministries , Michigan Conference

Author, Must We Be Silent? and Receiving the Word

Introduction

Regardless of one's position on women's ordination, this one fact is incontrovertible: Ordaining women as elders or pastors is new light that the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist church is being urged to embrace. 1 For more than 100 years, Adventists have been unanimous in their view that no precedent for the practice of ordaining women can be found in Scripture or in the writings of Ellen G. White and the early Seventh-day Adventist Church . 2

By the 1970s, however, this established position began to be reversed in favor of ordaining women as elders and pastors.

This new trend was created by the converging interests of feminism; liberalism; church leaders' desire to enjoy United States tax law benefits to ministers; questionable church policy revisions and Church Manual alterations allowing women to serve as elders; calculated attempts by some influential North American churches unilaterally to ordain women as pastors; the silence of leadership to this defiance of two General Conference (GC) session votes against women's ordination; a well-orchestrated strategy by influential thought leaders and pro-ordination groups to domesticate the practice in the church; a determined effort by some church scholars to reinterpret the Bible and early Adventist history to justify the practice; the systematic and aggressive lobbying by liberal and feminist groups for the church to issue unisex ordination credentials for ordained and nonordained employees of the church; the hijacking of official church publications, institutions, departments, and certain other organs and events of the church for pro-ordination propaganda; and the silencing, coercion, or persecution of individuals who challenge the un-Biblical practice of ordaining women as elders or pastors. 3

Initially, the campaign to overthrow the long-standing Biblical position of the Seventh-day Adventist Church was spearheaded by a relatively few, but influential, liberal and feminist thought leaders within the church. But today, as a result of the converging interests identified above, and as a result of a wide range of arguments being employed, an increasing number of church members are not sure about what the real issues are in the debate over women's ordination, nor about the Biblical correctness of the practice.

In this article, I will (1) briefly summarize the arguments that have been employed over the years in defense of women's ordination, (2) identify the crucial issues in the campaign for women's

ordination, (3) discuss the role differentiation between men and women, and (4) set forth the Biblical and theological obstacles against ordaining women as elders or pastors.

I'm writing this article from the perspective of one who used to support the practice but who has since changed my mind on the strength of the evidence from the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, as reflected also in the understanding and example of the Adventist pioneers, including Ellen G. White. 4

The Evolving Arguments for Women's Ordination

Since the 1970s, several arguments have been employed in the church in an attempt to overthrow the church's long-standing position against ordaining women as elders or pastors. During this period two major pro-ordination works have come to embody the most reasoned defense of women's ordination: (1) The Welcome Table and (2) Women in Ministry .

The Welcome Table. In 1995, fourteen (14) pro-ordination thought leaders produced the 408-page book, The Welcome Table: Setting a Table for Ordained Women. 5 Published shortly before the 1995 General Conference session in Utrecht , this volume was designed to convince the world church to approve the request by the North American Division to ordain women.

In this work some of the authors argued that Bible passages (like Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18, 19; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 11:3, 11, 12; 14:34, 35; 1 Timothy 2:11-14; 3:2; and Titus 1:6) which Adventists historically understood as having a bearing on male-female role relations in both the home and the church, are the product of the Bible writers' faulty logic or mistaken rabbinic interpretations in vogue in their day.

Reasoning along feminist and higher-critical lines, some of the writers maintained that the apostle Paul erred in his interpretation of Genesis 1-3 when he grounded his teaching of role distinctions between male and female in Creation and the Fall. They claimed that the apostle Paul's statements were merely expressions of uninspired personal opinions—opinions that reflect his culture and hence do not apply to us. To these authors, Paul was "a man of his own time." He occasionally glimpsed the ideal that Jesus established during His time on Earth; yet he never fully arrived at "the Gospel ideal" of "full equality" or complete role interchangeability in both the home and the church. 6

Despite the wide publicity given it, The Welcome Table (1995) did not gain much credibility among thoughtful Adventists because its conclusions were based on liberal/feminist and revisionist interpretations of the Bible and Adventist history. Thus, at the 1995 Utrecht General Conference session, the world church overwhelmingly voted to reject the request to ordain women. The arguments in the book, together with other pro-ordination arguments up to 1995, failed to convince the world church. These can be summarized as follows:

1. The Bible is "silent" or "neutral" on the women's ordination issue (that is to say, the Bible is "neither for nor against" women's ordination).

2. The lack of Biblical precedence for women in spiritual leadership (as priests in the Old Testament, and as apostles and elders in the New Testament) and the presence of Biblical prohibitions against women serving in those roles, is due to the nature of the Bible as "culturally conditioned" (that is to say the Bible is the product and a reflection of its unenlightened or patriarchal culture).

3. Ordaining women as elders or pastors is a "power" issue (this argument transformed the Biblical teaching of male "headship" in both the home and in the church into a symbol of male oppression of women).

4. Ordaining women as elders or pastors in the church is a "cultural" issue (in the sense that it has to do with the "cultural readiness" of groups or regions of the world Adventist Church ).

5. Women's ordination has to do with "equality," "capability," and "ability" of male and female (this argument transformed the women's ordination issue into a "fairness," "justice," or civil rights issue).

6. The issue of women's ordination is not theological but "ecclesiological" (by this argument proponents meant that the issue of women's ordination could be settled not by the Bible, but by administrative "policy" of church leaders).

7. The issue of women's ordination is an example of "unity in diversity" (this argument, which deals with pluralism in belief and practice, maintained that just as there is "diversity" in attitudes and practices within the church in such areas as Sabbath observance, worship styles, dress, participation in one's tribe's/nation's war machinery, so also on the issue of women's ordination there should be "diversity"). Some argued that "diversity" or pluralism in theological belief and practice was evidence of maturity, strength, and true unity, not of blind uniformity or lockstep conformity.

8. The issue has to do with the "Spirit's leading" or "progressive revelation" (this argument seeks to make the women's ordination issue a question of "present truth" or "new light"). 7 Not infrequently, the issues of polygamy, slavery, war, and divorce and remarriage were cited as Biblical examples to illustrate God's "accommodation" to sinful human situations in the Bible writers' times—conditions that led God, under His "Spirit's leading," to later "correct" these prior revelations. In this argument, Biblical examples and texts that teach male headship and female supporting roles, within the complementary relationship of spiritual equals in the home and church, were explained away as "culturally conditioned."

When the above arguments failed to overthrow the long-standing Seventh-day Adventist position against women's ordination, some pro-ordination church leaders in the North American Division urged pro-ordination scholars at the Andrews University Theological Seminary to "do something about it [ Utrecht 's decision against women's ordination]." The result was the 1998 book Women in Ministry .

Women in Ministry . The second major pro-ordination work was published by some 20 scholars at Andrews University . 8 The book, Women in Ministry: Biblical and Historical Perspectives

(1998), prepared by an Ad Hoc Committee from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan, was supposed to offer the much desired justification for the new light of women's ordination. 9

Unlike the authors of The Welcome Table , many of whom seem to put their liberal and feminist commitments above Scripture, the authors of Women in Ministry consciously underscore the claim that their approach to the Bible is different. They disavow the feminist and higher-critical method of their ideological cousins. 10 Although the actual practice in the Women in Ministry book was inconsistent with the authors' claim, at least for the first time a group of church scholars attempted to present conservative arguments to justify women's ordination.

The Seminary book presents new arguments and, in some instances, articulates more carefully old arguments to justify women's ordination. The following are the essential contours of the Biblical and historical arguments advanced by Women in Ministry : 11

(1) Genesis 1-3 teaches that God did NOT institute headship and submission or male-female role distinctions at Creation. Adam and Eve enjoyed "full equality" of "shared leadership" or "shared headship." Male headship and female submission were introduced by God after the Fall ; even then, this was a nonideal arrangement designed only for the governance of the home, not the of the church or covenant community.

(2) New Testament teaching on headship and submission (Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:18, 19; 1 Peter 3:1-7) suggests that today Christians should aim at reaching the Creation ideal of "total equality," understood to mean the obliteration of any gender-based role differentiation.

(3) A careful study of the Bible reveals that there was actually at least one "woman priest" in the Old Testament. God Himself ordained Eve as a priest alongside Adam when, after the Fall, He dressed both as priests in the garden of Eden using animal skins. Prophetesses Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah exercised headship or leadership roles over men.

(4) The Bible also reveals that there were actually "women apostles and leaders" in the New Testament. Junia (Romans 16:7), for example, was an outstanding "female apostle," and Phoebe (Romans 16:1, 2) was a "female minister."

(5) The New Testament teaching of "the priesthood of all believers" suggests that women may be ordained as elders or pastors.

(6) When correctly understood, Biblical texts (like 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35, etc.) that seem to preclude women from headship responsibilities in the home as husbands and fathers and in the church as elders or pastors, are temporary restrictions that applied only to specific situations during New Testament times.

(7) Careful study of early Seventh-day Adventist history reveals that women actually served as pastors in those days and were issued ministerial certificates. Ellen G. White apparently endorsed the call of such women to the Gospel ministry.

(8) The 1881 General Conference session voted to ordain women. This vote, however, was apparently ignored or killed by the all-male General Conference Committee (comprised of George I. Butler, Stephen Haskell, and Uriah Smith).

(9) A landmark statement in 1895 by Ellen G. White called for ordaining women to the Gospel ministry. This statement could have spurred on the male brethren who were reluctant to implement the alleged 1881 General Conference decision.

(10) Ellen G. White was herself ordained and was issued ministerial credentials.

In two later chapters I will argue that the above assertions are based on speculative and questionable reinterpretations of Scripture as well as misleading and erroneous claims regarding Adventist history. Yet on the basis of such "Biblical, theological, and historical" evidence, Women in Ministry seeks to convince readers of the "new light" of ordaining women as elders or pastors .

But there is also a moral/ethical argument. Emphasizing the ethical necessity of ordaining women as elders or pastors, some of the Women in Ministry authors argue that "it is morally reprehensible to hold back from women the one thing that formally recognizes their work within the church." "It is imperative" that the church act "with justice, with mercy, and with courage on behalf of its women." The failure of the church to act ethically, or a delay on its part to do so, will compel "the forces of history" (such as the churches in North America that unilaterally engaged in "congregational ordinations") to drag the church along. 12

Moreover, we are told, unless the new light of women's ordination is implemented, the witness of the church will not only be discredited in countries where it is wrong to "discriminate" against women, but it will make God "look bad." Thus, the church's rejection of women's ordination will be an affront to the character of God, even as slavery was in the nineteenth century. 13

If the reader were not yet convinced by the Biblical, theological, historical, and moral or ethical arguments of Women in Ministry , there is one final argument: We must listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He calls upon us today to change our patterns of ministry in response to the pragmatic needs of a growing church. Writes the editor in her summation chapter:

"If circumcision, based on divine [Old Testament] mandate, could be changed [by the apostles, elders, and believers, together with the Holy Spirit, at the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15], how much more could patterns of ministry [ordaining women as elders and pastors], which lack a clear ‘Thus says the Lord,' be modified to suit the needs of a growing church?" 14

Today, Women in Ministry has become the basis for some to see t he campaign for women's ordination as an issue of the "individual's moral conscience." (This argument, which is another way of saying "I'll have my own way, regardless of what others think," offers a moral basis for advocates of women's ordination to go against the decision of the world church on the matter.) The Seminary book is also the reason why some view the question of ordaining women as a "moral imperative" (in the sense that it is "immoral" for the worldwide church to refuse to ordain

women as pastors). This argument offers the ethical basis to silence any objection to the practice and to coerce or persecute anyone who objects to the practice).

Women in Ministry is the most recent attempt by well-meaning church scholars to provide a much-desired Biblical, historical, and ethical justification for ordaining women as elders and pastors. But as some other church scholars have argued in their Prove All Things: A Response to Women in Ministry , the Seminary book suffers from some serious shortcomings. Prove All Things reveals that the Seminary book is based on: (1) ambiguity and vagueness, (2) straw man arguments, (3) substantial leaps of logic, (4) arguments from silence, (5) speculative interpretations, (6) questionable reinterpretations of the Bible, (7) distorted Biblical reasoning, (8) misleading and erroneous claims regarding Adventist history, (9) a seriously flawed concept of "moral imperative," and (10) a fanciful view of the Holy Spirit's leading. 15

The Evolving Arguments. Perceptive observers of the Adventist theological landscape will discover that the arguments for women's ordination have evolved, some overlapping, and others contradictory, during the past four or more decades. In recent times there has been a 180-degree change in some of the arguments that had in the past been advanced in favor of women's ordination.

For example, during the initial phase of the church debate, proponents of the practice argued that the Bible was either "silent" or "neither for nor against." But now, since women's ordination is believed to be a "moral imperative," it means the Bible is for women's ordination! The Bible is no longer to be seen as "neutral" on the issue of women's ordination; Scripture is now decidedly for it!

Also, proponents in the past admitted that there was no Biblical precedent for women serving in the roles of spiritual leadership as priests, apostles, and elders in Bible times. But now, under the "Spirit's leading" (or His work of "progressive revelation"), advocates are now preaching the "new light" that there were in fact women priests, women apostles, and women elders in the Bible!

Furthermore, because it was originally believed that the Bible was "neither for nor against" women's ordination, the decision was to be determined by each "culture" according to the "cultural readiness" of the respective divisions. In other words, women's ordination was to be settled by regional administrative "policy," but the decision was not to be binding on all. Yet now, since women's ordination is believed to be a "moral imperative," it would seem to follow that, sooner or later, the practice would be urged as binding upon all, with moves to encourage it in all areas of the world church.

In view of the orchestrated attempt to impose women's ordination on the Seventh-day Adventist Church , and in view of the confusing, sometimes plausible-sounding, arguments being advanced for women's ordination, it is important that we identify the crucial issues that are at stake and find out what the Bible has to say on the issue.

_______________

Endnotes

1. Christians must always welcome new light from God's Word, as long as the proposed new light does not contradict an established Biblical truth. For a careful summary of what Ellen G. White taught about "new light," see P. Gerard Damsteegt, "When Is a Doctrine New Light?" at the Web site: AdventistsAffirm.org.

2. In my Receiving the Word: How New Approaches to the Bible Impact Our Biblical Faith and Lifestyle ( Berrien Springs , Mich. : Berean Books), pp. 123-126, I have challenged revisionist reinterpretations of Adventist beliefs and practice of ministry (see also pp. 138-140, nn. 34-44 of my book).

3. See Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Must We Be Silent?: Issues Dividing Our Church ( Ann Arbor : Berean Books, 2001), pp. 161-189. Cf. C. Mervyn Maxwell's "How Money Got Us Into Trouble," in Here We Stand: Evaluating New Trends in the Church ( Berrien Springs , Mich ,: ADVENTISTS AFFIRM, 2005); Laurel Damsteegt's "Shall Women Minister?", ibid., nn. 28-30.

4. See, for example, my Searching the Scriptures: Women's Ordination and the Call to Biblical Fidelity (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventists Affirm, 1995), my articles in Prove All Things: A Response to Women in Ministry (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventists Affirm , 2000), and part II of my book Must We Be Silent?: Issues Dividing Our Church (Ann Arbor: Berean Books, 2001).

5. The Welcome Table: Setting a Place for Ordained Women , edited by Patricia A. Habada and Rebecca Frost Brillhart (Langley Park, Md.: TEAMPress, 1995). The "fourteen prominent SDA historians, theologians, and professionals" who contributed essays to the book are: Bert Haloviak, Kit Watts, Raymond F. Cottrell, Donna Jeane Haerich, David R. Larson, Fritz Guy, Edwin Zackrison, Halcyon Westphal Wilson, Sheryll Prinz-McMillan, Joyce Hanscom Lorntz, V. Norskov Olsen, Ralph Neall, Ginger Hanks Harwood, and Iris M. Yob.

6. For a brief evaluation of the pro-ordination arguments by some of the authors in The Welcome Table , see my Receiving the Word , chapter 5, part 2, pp. 126-129.

7. During the discussions that culminated at the General Conference session in Utrecht , some voices heralded the ordination of women as elders and pastors as new light for God's church in the last days. For example, in a letter dated June 1, 1995, given out to delegates at the 1995 General Conference session in Utrecht, the president of a major North American conference, in support of women's ordination, presented new interpretations of "new light," "present truth," and "progressive revelation," arguing that "present truth" represents "truths that were not present in earlier times"—i.e., "the prophets and disciples of old" were not privileged to have the "new light" that our (then) twentieth-century progressive culture needs.

8. The 20 scholars whose works are published in Women in Ministry are: Nancy Vyhmeister, Jo Ann Davidson, Richard Davidson, Walter Douglas, Jacques Doukhan, Roger Dudley, Jon Dybdahl, Denis Fortin, Robert Johnston, George Knight, Jerry Moon, Larry Richards, Russell Staples, Peter Van Bemmelen, Randal Wisbey, Daniel Augsburger, Raoul Dederen, Keith

Mattingly, Michael Bernoi, and Alicia Worley (the last two were MDiv Students at the time the book was published).

9. The generic phrase "women in ministry," employed as a title for the book, can be misleading. For, the authors' goal was not simply the ministry of women in the church (which has never been opposed by the Adventist Church ), but rather ordaining women as elders and pastors. For an insightful background into how this book came into being and its serious theological and historical defects, see Mercedes Dyer, ed., Prove All Things: A Response to Women in Ministry (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Adventists Affirm , 2000).

10. See Vyhmeister, "Prologue," in Women in Ministry , pp. 3, 5, n. 1. Observe, however, that contrary to the church's official position in "The Methods of Bible Study" document ( Adventist Review , January 22, 1987, pp. 18-20), shortly after the publication of Women in Ministry , Robert M. Johnston (a Women in Ministry author), for example, argued for the use of the historical-critical method. See his "The Case for a Balanced Hermeneutic," Ministry , March 1999, pp. 10-12.

11. Source references from Women in Ministry for each of the following points, are provided in my evaluation of the book in Prove All Things , pp. 179-218; 287-312; cf. Must We Be Silent? , pp. 127-289.

12. Randal R. Wisbey, "SDA Women in Ministry: 1970-1998," Women in Ministry , p. 251. For my response to the unilateral post-Utrecht ordinations, see my "How the Holy Spirit Leads the Church," Adventists Affirm 12/3 (Fall 1998) :28-35.

13. Roger L. Dudley, "The Ordination of Women in Light of the Character of God," in Women in Ministry , pp. 400, 413, 414; Walter B.T. Douglas, "The Distance and the Difference: Reflections on Issues of Slavery and Women's Ordination in Adventism," ibid., pp. 379-398; Nancy Vyhmeister, "Epilogue," ibid., pp. 434, 435.

14. Vyhmeister, "Epilogue," p. 436.

15. See Prove All Things: A Response to Women in Ministry ( Berrien Springs , Mich. : Adventists Affirm , 2000).

Does the Bible Support Women's Ordination? Part 2

Does the Bible Support Women's Ordination? Part 3

Does the Bible Support Ordaining Women as Elders or Pastors? Part 2

Crucial Issues for Women's Ordination 16

What are the crucial issues in the decision the church faces regarding ordaining women as elders or pastors? This section will outline seven major issues emerging from the central question. In each case it will first distinguish the real issue from the false issues that often cloud our perceptions and keep us from dealing with the core of the matter. It will then set forth the questions lying at the heart of the issue.

1. Ordination  

What the Issue Is Not: Performing Biblically Legitimate Tasks. The issue of whether to ordain women as elders and pastors should not be confused with whether or not they are permitted to perform legitimate tasks in church. Several Greek words in the New Testament are translated "ordain" (KJV); they convey such meanings as to "choose," "appoint," or "set apart." 17 Based on these Greek words in the New Testament, we understand ordination to be the act of the church in choosing, appointing, and setting apart through the laying on of hands certain individuals to perform specific functions on behalf of the church.

By ordination, elders and ministers are authoritatively commissioned to declare the Gospel of salvation. 18 Through ordination, setting one apart by the laying on of hands, the church authorizes elders or pastors to counteract false teaching and teachers (1 Timothy 1:3; 4:1; Titus 1:9, 10) and to safeguard the sound doctrine that has been entrusted to the church's keeping. 19 As official representatives of the church, ordained elders organize churches, serving as spiritual leaders to ensure the spiritual well-being of the church (cf. Acts 6). 20

Ellen G. White also captured the Biblical meaning and importance of ordination: "The Biblical background of the rite indicates that it was an acknowledged form of designation to an appointed office and a recognition of one's authority in that office" ( The Acts of the Apostles , p. 162).

Concerning Paul and Barnabas, Ellen White wrote: "Before being sent forth as missionaries to the heathen world, these apostles [Barnabas and Paul] were solemnly dedicated to God by fasting and prayer and the laying on of hands. Thus they were authorized by the church, not only to teach the truth, but to perform the rite of baptism and to organize churches, being invested with full ecclesiastical authority." "God foresaw the difficulties that His servants would be called to meet, and, in order that their work should be above challenge, He instructed the church by revelation to set them apart publicly to the work of the ministry. Their ordination was a public recognition of their divine appointment to bear to the Gentiles the glad tidings of the Gospel" ( The Acts of the Apostles , p. 161, emphasis added).

God foresaw the difficulties that His servants would be called to meet, and, in order that their work should be above challenge, He instructed the church by revelation to set them apart

publicly to the work of the ministry. Their ordination was a public recognition of their divine appointment to bear to the Gentiles the glad tidings of the Gospel (ibid., p. 161, emphasis added).

The understanding that ordination, setting one apart by the laying on of hands, is the church's recognition and authoritative commissioning of individuals to perform certain functions for the church suggests that, within the guidelines set by Scripture, both men and women may be set apart by the laying on of hands to perform certain functions.

Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. They should be set apart to this work by prayer and laying on of hands. In some cases they will need to counsel with the church officers or the minister; but if they are devoted women, maintaining a vital connection with God, they will be a power for good in the church. (Ellen G. White, The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, July 9, 1895, p. 434.)

Though this statement has often been taken out of context and misused to claim Ellen White's support for ordaining women as elders or pastors of the church, 21 it does illustrate the legitimacy of the church to recognize and commission chosen individuals through an act of consecration/dedication ("laying on of hands") to perform designated functions. Within the guidelines of Scripture, the church may do this for both men and women.

What the Issue Is. Since both male and female, through an act of dedication (the laying on of hands), can be commissioned to perform certain specific functions , the debate over women's ordination is not whether women can or cannot be ordained in this sense. The Bible, confirmed by the Spirit of Prophecy, suggests that both men and women may be commissioned to do certain assigned tasks on behalf of the church.

The key issue to be addressed is whether, among the varied ministries of the church, women may legitimately be commissioned through ordination to perform the leadership functions of elders or pastors. These include the authoritative teaching functions of the elder or pastor, organizing churches, baptizing believers, and spiritually overseeing the flock.

In short, the issue in the Adventist debate over women's ordination is not about ordination per se, but ordination to what function . Specifically, can the church commission (ordain) a person (e.g., a woman) to the headship/leadership office of husband or father (in the home) or elder or pastor (in the church)? The issue is not about women in ministry, but rather women in what kind of soulwinning ministry. The issue is not whether women can perform the headship responsibilities of husbands or elders/pastors, but rather whether the Bible permits them to do so.

2. Equality of Women and Men  

What the Issue Is Not: Equality of Being, Worth, or Status. The question of whether or not to ordain women as elders and pastors should not be confused with whether women and men are equal. Equality of being and worth (ontological equality) is a clear Biblical teaching, affirming that all human beings—male and female—have equal standing before God as created beings, as

sinners in need of salvation through Christ, and as people called to the same destiny. The Scriptural evidence for this equality is that (1) both "male and female" were created "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6); (2) both have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, so that "in Christ" there is neither "male nor female" (Galatians 3:28); and (3) both are "joint heirs of the grace of life" (1 Peter 3:7, RSV).

Nowhere does the Bible relegate women to second-class status or make men superior and women inferior. To say otherwise is to misrepresent Biblical teaching and affront the loving character of the God Who created Eve to be Adam's "help meet for him," a partner "fitting" or "suitable" to him. Ellen White was unequivocal: "When God created Eve, He designed that she should possess neither inferiority nor superiority to the man, but that in all things she should be his equal" ( Testimonies for the Church , vol. 3, p. 484). Within this equality, just as gender differences between men and women indicate that they were created to complement one another, so also this complementary nature indicates a functional distinction between them.

The issue of women's ordination is, therefore, not a question of whether women and men are equal. The Bible, confirmed by the Spirit of Prophecy, has already settled that issue. Women and men are equal; neither is inferior to the other.

What the Issue Is. The real issue in the debate is whether the equality of male and female does away with functional differences . While maintaining equality of being, has the Bible assigned a headship/leadership role to the man and a supportive role to the woman? If so, were these complementary roles established before or after the Fall? Are these roles applicable only to the home, or are they also valid in the church? What Bible principles govern the male-female relationship?

3. Women in Ministry  

What the Issue Is Not: God's Call for Women in Ministry. The issue of whether or not to ordain women as elders and pastors should not be confused with whether women can be in ministry. The Bible clearly teaches that women have been called to the work of ministry as surely as have men.

In the Old Testament, women participated in the study and teaching of the law (Nehemiah 8:2; Proverbs 1:8; Deuteronomy 13:6-11), in offering prayers and vows to God (1 Samuel 1:10; Numbers 30:9; Genesis 25:22; 30:6, 22; 2 Kings 4:9, 10, 20-37), in ministering "at the entrance to the tent of meeting" (1 Samuel 2:22), in singing at the worship of the Temple service (Ezra 2:65), and in engaging in the prophetic ministry of exhortation and guidance (Exodus 15:20; 2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chronicles 34:22-28; Judges 4:4-14). Of this latter group, especially prominent are Deborah, "a prophetess . . . [who] was judging [NIV, "leading"] Israel at that time" (Judges 4:4), and Huldah, the prophetess to whom Josiah the king and Hilkiah the high priest looked for spiritual guidance (2 Kings 22). 22

The New Testament portrays women fulfilling vital roles in ministry. Besides Mary and Martha, a number of other women, including Joanna and Susanna, supported Jesus with their own means (Luke 8:2, 3). Tabitha ministered to the needy (Acts 9:36). Other women, including Lydia ,

Phoebe, Lois, and Eunice, distinguished themselves in fulfilling the mission of the church (Acts 16:14, 15; 21:8, 9; Romans 16:1-4, 12).

Of these, many were Paul's co-workers in ministry. Priscilla apparently was well educated and an apt instructor in the new faith (Romans 16:3; Acts 18:26); Paul calls Phoebe "a servant of the church" and a "succorer of many, and of myself also" (Romans 16:1, 2); 23 Mary, Tryphena, Tryposa, and Persis all "worked very hard in the Lord" (Romans 16:6, 12); Euodia and Syntyche were women "who have contended at my side in the cause of the Gospel" (Philippians 4:3, RSV); and Junia, who suffered imprisonment with Paul, received commendation as someone "of note among the apostles" (Romans 16:7). 24

Ellen White strongly encouraged women in ministry. "There are women who should labor in the Gospel ministry. In many respects they would do more good than the ministers who neglect to visit the flock of God" ( Evangelism , p. 472). "The Lord has a work for women as well as for men. . . . The Saviour will reflect upon these self-sacrificing women the light of His countenance, and will give them a power that exceeds that of men. They can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work that reaches the inner life. They can come close to the hearts of those whom men cannot reach. Their labor is needed" (ibid., pp. 464, 465, emphasis added). Seventh-day Adventist history and current practice illustrate the Biblical truth that indeed women have a role in ministry.

The issue of women's ordination is, therefore, not a question of whether women can labor in the ministry. The Bible, confirmed by the Spirit of Prophecy, has already settled that issue: Women may labor in the Gospel ministry.

What the Issue Is. The real issue in the debate is whether Scripture permits women in ministry to perform the oversight/leadership roles that ordained elders and pastors are called upon to exercise . Does the Bible teach that women in ministry may be ordained as elders and pastors?

4. Women as Elders But Not Pastors?  

What the Issue Is Not: Difference of Office. The issue of women's ordination to the Gospel ministry should not be confused with whether women may function as ordained elders but not as pastors. It is clear from the Bible that (1) those who are permitted to perform the oversight/leadership functions of the ministerial office are elders or pastors; and that (2) the New Testament makes no essential distinction between the two offices.

The Greek terms for elder/presbyter ( presbuteros ) and overseer/bishop

( episkopos ) are used interchangeably in the New Testament (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:1-3). The same qualifications are required of both of these offices (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). Both perform the same work of shepherding the flock (Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:12).

Thus we may conclude with Lyman Coleman that "if presbyters [elders] and bishops [overseers] are known by the same names—if they are required to possess the same qualifications, and if

they do actually discharge the same duties, then what higher evidence can we expect or desire of their equality and identity? " 25 Even though today we divide some of the responsibilities between elders and pastors (overseers), they are essentially the same office. 26

What the Issue Is. Since the Bible makes no distinction between the offices of elder and pastor, it is Scripturally inconsistent to ordain women as elders but not as pastors. Ordaining women as elders and pastors is either Biblical or un-Biblical. The key issue, therefore, is whether the Bible anywhere permits women to exercise the leadership or headship roles of elders and pastors .

5. The Holy Spirit's Leading  

What the Issue Is Not: Spiritual Gifts. The question of women's ordination should not be confused with whether the Holy Spirit can call and empower women with gifts for ministry. The Old Testament predicted an outpouring of the Spirit on both "your sons and your daughters" (Joel 2:28). The New Testament teaches that the Holy Spirit calls and empowers both men and women with various spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:7-13). While God Himself directly chose and commissioned prophets, He has instructed that the commissioning or ordination of elders and pastors is to be carried out by the church (Romans 10:14, 15; Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23). 27

Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit, but they are also regulated by the Holy Scriptures. 28 The same Holy Spirit Who calls and empowers men and women with gifts for ministry also apportions gifts to each "as He wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11; Hebrews 2:4). This same Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to give instructions regarding the qualifications for elders and pastors. In addition to the two criteria emphasized in 2 Timothy 2:2— faithfulness and ability to teach—the inspired Word also teaches that those aspiring to the leadership role of elder or pastor must possess the qualities listed in 1 Timothy 3:1-6 and Titus 1:5-9. One of these is that the elder or pastor should be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6).

The Greek word translated "husband" is aner / andros, a specific word always used for a human male as distinguished from a female. 29 If we believe that the apostle Paul was inspired when he twice wrote that an elder or pastor should be a male (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6), this particular qualification for the office raises some crucial questions.

What the Issue Is. When the apostle Paul restricted the office of elder or pastor to males, was he influenced by his culture, or was he guided by the Spirit? Assuming the latter, one may ask, "Since it was the Spirit of God That inspired the Bible, [and since] it is impossible that the teaching of the Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the Word" ( The Great Controversy , p. vii), can the Spirit call a woman to the leadership role of elder or pastor when He has apparently instructed through His written Word that this office can only be filled by males?

In other words, can the Holy Spirit contradict Himself by calling a female to an office from which she is excluded by the same Spirit's instruction in the written Word? Furthermore, can the church legitimately commission women to perform tasks that the Holy Spirit does not authorize? Should the church remain within the bounds set by the Holy Spirit in the written Word, or should

the church, according to its own wisdom and discretion, legislate for itself policies that contradict Scripture?

6. Women's "Silence" and "Teaching"  

What the Issue Is Not: Muzzling Women. The issue of whether to ordain women as elders and pastors should not be confused with whether or not they are permitted to speak in church. When the Bible urges women to "keep silence" in church (1 Corinthians 14:34), it does not mean that women cannot pray, prophesy, preach, evangelize, or teach in the church.

In the same letter to the Corinthians in which Paul told women to keep silence in the church, he indicated that women may pray and prophesy, provided they are dressed appropriately (1 Corinthians 11:2-16). And he said that the one who prophesies speaks "edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (14:3). Also, just like the command in the same chapter that those who speak in tongues should "keep silence in the church" if no interpreter is present (1 Corinthians 14:28), the instruction that women should "keep silence in the churches" suggests that Paul wants women to exercise their gift to speak within certain appropriate guidelines.

Further, the same Paul who urged women "to learn in silence" (1 Timothy 2:11) and who did not permit women to "teach or to have authority over men" (1 Timothy 2:12, RSV) apparently approved the "teaching" ministry of Priscilla and Aquila in their instruction of Apollos (Acts 18:26). Paul also required women to do a certain kind of teaching: "Bid the older women . . . to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children" (Titus 2:3-5, RSV).

These texts should alert the Bible student that the prohibition of women "to teach or to have authority over men" does not forbid to women every form of teaching. Unlike other terms used in the New Testament to communicate the idea of teaching, the Greek word didasko used in this passage carries the force of authoritative teaching entrusted to a person—particularly someone in the leadership role in the church (cf. 1 Timothy 3:2; 4:11; 6:2; 2 Timothy 2:2). 30

In light of the wider context of Paul's pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus, as well as the immediate context that links this form of teaching with exercising "authority over men," we may conclude that Paul is here prohibiting women from the kind of teaching done in the capacity of a leader of the church. 31 In other words, the apostle Paul is not forbidding all teaching to women, but only the kind of "teaching" in the church that gives women a position of authority over men.

What the Issue Is. Since the Bible indicates that women in ministry may engage in some forms of teaching, including teaching other women (Titus 2:3-5) and even men (Acts 18:26; cf. Colossians 3:16), the real issue is not whether women may speak or teach (e.g., preaching, public evangelism, teaching Sabbath School , etc.). The issue is, May women legitimately carry out the kind of teaching in the church that places them in a position of authority over men — as is the case with the authoritative teaching entrusted to the elder/pastor (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:9, 10)?

7. Qualification or Capability of Women  

What the Issue Is Not: Ability, Education, or Skill. The question of whether to ordain women as elders and pastors should not be confused with whether women are professionally capable or qualified to teach or hold leadership/headship positions. The apostle Paul did not cite a lack of education, formal training, or teaching skills as the reason why women should not "teach or have authority over men" (1 Timothy 2:12, RSV). The very fact that he prohibited women from a certain kind of teaching implies that some women already possessed the ability to teach.

For example, Paul instructed older women to "teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women" (Titus 2:3, 4, NIV). He also commended the teaching that Eunice and Lois provided for Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14, 15). Evidently Priscilla was well educated and a capable teacher, since she "expounded to" Apollos, an "eloquent man" who was already "instructed in the way of the Lord" (Acts 18:24-26).

Significantly, Paul's epistle to Timothy (the very epistle that prohibits women to "teach or to have authority over men," and that restricts the pastoral role of overseer to men), was addressed to the church at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3), the home church of Priscilla and Aquila . Prior to writing this epistle, Paul had already stayed at the home of Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth for eighteen months (Acts 18:2, 3, 11). They later accompanied Paul to Ephesus (Acts 18:18-21). When Paul stayed in Ephesus for another three years, "teaching the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27, 31; cf. 1 Corinthians 16:19), likely Priscilla was among those who received instruction from him.

The Bible also mentions the upscale businesswoman Lydia (Acts 16:14, 15, 40), evidently someone whose abilities in commerce and administration by selling costly goods put her in touch with nobility and royalty. Yet not even well-educated Priscilla, nor successful, professional Lydia , nor any other accomplished woman, was permitted to "teach or to have authority over men."

The reason why women were forbidden to "teach or to have authority over men" was not because of inadequate education or a lack of ability to teach. Paul instead pointed to the Creation order, stating that "Adam was formed first, then Eve" (1 Timothy 2:13). Adam carried the special right and responsibility of leadership that belonged to the "firstborn" in a family (cf. Colossians 1:15-18). 32

What the Issue Is. The issue of women's ordination is not whether qualified, capable women can teach or be leaders, but whether women in the church are willing to exercise their teaching and leadership gifts within the Biblical structure, under the headship of men called upon to exercise the official teaching authority of elder or pastor . Ultimately, the issue boils down to whether Christians will accept Paul's instruction and its theological foundation (the Creation order) as worthy of trust.

8. Biblical Headship  

What the Issue Is Not: Male Supremacy/Power. The Biblical headship role of the male elder or pastor should not be confused with "patriarchalism" or male supremacy, control, or domination.

Neither should the submissive role of women be viewed as male imposition of "power over" women or as a "put-down" of women.

The Bible teaches that within the partnership of male and female equality, male headship charges the man to exercise a Christlike spiritual leadership in both the home and church families, while female submission calls upon the woman to lovingly support/assist the man in his leadership function.

The Bible describes the nature of male headship not as domination, control, or the wielding of "power," but rather as leadership in self-giving love (Ephesians 5:25); leadership in sacrificial service (1 Peter 3:7; cf. Mark 10:42-44); leadership in sound management or governorship (1 Timothy 3:4, 5); leadership in ensuring the well-being of the home; leadership that provides for the family (1 Timothy 5:8); and leadership in discipline and instruction (Deuteronomy 6:7; Ephesians 6:4) —that is, leadership as "lawmaker and priest" ( The Adventist Home, p. 212). 33 This kind of male headship, which is best exemplified by Christ (Ephesians 5), can only be demonstrated by those who are "in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:11).

The supporting role of the female does not mean that the woman must yield her individuality or conscience to the man, or that she is to maintain a blind devotion to him. The woman is to understand that "there is One Who stands higher than the husband to the wife; it is her Redeemer, and her submission to her husband is to be rendered as God directed—‘as it is fit in the Lord'" ( The Adventist Home , p. 116).

The woman practices true Biblical submission by showing a loving respect (Ephesians 5:33; cf. Titus 2:4) and by lovingly accepting her divinely ordained role as a helper corresponding to the husband (Genesis 2:18; Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1-7). This role is not servile but is one requiring intelligent, willing cooperation toward the objective of a strong family—home or church—that glorifies God. Of this submission, Jesus provides a model for women, just as He does for men (Philippians 2:5-11; Ephesians 5:23-25; 1 Corinthians 11:3). Only the converted, that is, those who are "in the Lord," can truly reflect this spirit of submission (1 Corinthians 11:11).

What the Issue Is. Since Biblical headship is the loving exercise of male leadership within the partnership of male and female equality in the family (home and church), the real issue in the women's ordination debate is whether or not the Bible permits women to perform the Biblical headship functions of the ordained elder or pastor. In other words, does the "neither male nor female" principle (Galatians 3:28) of equality before God nullify the headship principle, which affirms role distinctions between the sexes?

Conclusion. For each of the questions raised about the key issues in the ordination of women, we must seek the answers by searching the Scriptures . The next section will show that God has assigned different roles for both men and women, and that Scripture raises major obstacles to ordaining women as elders or pastors.

Role Differentiation Between Men and Women

Proponents of women's ordination fail to realize the importance that the Bible attaches to the headship principle as a necessary condition for spiritual oversight functions in both the home and the church. Consequently, today they are pushing for "women elders" and "women pastors," "women clergy," and "women in spiritual leadership."

And yet in the Bible, headship is a representative and spiritual leadership role that was assigned to males only. Thus, in the Old Testament headship was first assigned to firstborn males in the home. The home was the earliest church, and spiritual leadership for the home church was assigned to firstborn males. Later, as God constituted the nation Israel as His "church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38), this headship role was given to males of the tribe of Levi who alone could serve as priests. During the New Testament times, the spiritual leadership role was given to apostles and elders of the church. 34

The headship principle, which originated at Creation, assigns different roles to men and women. This principle is the Biblically consistent explanation for the absence of Biblical precedent for ordaining women, not only as priests in the Old Testament but also as apostles and elders/pastors in the New Testament. The headship principle, not an accommodation to culture, is also the basis for the specific prohibitions against women having "authority over men" (1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:2; Titus 1:6; 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35).

Instituted at Creation. The Bible teaches that the male headship/leadership role and the female supporting/cooperative role were instituted at Creation. As part of God's arrangement before the Fall of Adam and Eve, this Creation ordinance describes the relationship for which men and women were fitted by nature. Male headship/leadership, in contrast to male domination, suggests that in the relationship of the man and woman, two spiritually equal human beings, it is the man who exercises primary responsibility for leading the family in a God-glorifying direction (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:21-33). This divine arrangement resulted in complete harmony between our first parents before the entrance of sin.

Four Biblical evidences establish this headship principle at Creation.

First, God expressed His intended arrangement for the family relationship by creating Adam first, then Eve. Therefore, Paul writes, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve" (1 Timothy 2:12, 13, NIV). As the wider context of the book of Genesis suggests, the divine priority of having Adam "formed first, then Eve" had an important theological significance. The sequence established Adam as the "firstborn" in the human family, a position that gave him the special responsibility of leadership in the family — whether home or church. 35

If God indeed fashioned Eve later than Adam, for a purpose for which another male human being was not suited, then it is not difficult to argue that, in principle, there are things for which the woman may be suited for which the man is not, and vice versa. This observation appears to provide some substantiation for the kinds of functional distinctions between men and women in the Creator's purpose that have traditionally been held. 36

Second, God gave to Adam the directions for the first pair regarding custody of the garden and the dangers of the forbidden tree (Genesis 2:16, 17). This charge to Adam called him to spiritual leadership. When Satan addressed Eve rather than Adam regarding the forbidden tree, the tempter's object was to undermine the divine arrangement by deceiving Eve into assuming primary headship responsibility (see 1 Timothy 2:14). Had Eve been created first and then Adam, and had she been charged with the responsibility of leadership, Satan might well have attacked the headship principle by approaching Adam.

Third, God instructed that in marriage it is the man who must act, leaving dependence on father and mother to be united with his wife (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4, 5), and that in the marriage relationship the woman's role is to complement the man in his duties (Genesis 2:18, 23, 24). In this instruction, God charged the man with the responsibility of lovingly providing for and protecting the woman (cf. Ephesians 5:25, 28-31; 1 Peter 3:7; 1 Timothy 3:4; Titus 1:6).

Fourth, events after the Fall (but before God pronounced judgment) confirm that Adam's headship was already in place. Although Eve first disobeyed, it was only after Adam had joined in the rebellion that the eyes of both of them were opened (Genesis 3:4-7). More significantly, after the Fall God first addressed Adam, holding him accountable for eating the forbidden fruit: "Where art thou? . . . Hast thou eaten of the tree . . . ?" (Genesis 3:9-12; cf. 3:17: "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree. . ."). It appears inexplicable for God, Who in His omniscience already knew what had happened, to act in this way if Adam had not been given headship in the Eden relationship.

Consequently, despite the fact that the woman initiated the rebellion, it is Adam (not Eve, nor even both of them) who is blamed for our Fall (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22), which suggests that as the spiritual head in the partnership of their equal relationship, Adam was the representative of the family.

These facts indicate that even before the Fall, God had established the principle of male headship/leadership. He instituted this principle not as an indication of superiority of Adam over Eve, nor was it for dominance or oppression, but for God-glorifying responsibility. 37

Thus when Paul writes that "the Head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the Head of Christ is God" (1 Corinthians 11:3, RSV), and that women should not "have authority over men" because "Adam was formed first" (1 Timothy 2:12-15, RSV), he is not concocting an arbitrary "proof text" to justify his alleged concession to Hellenistic or Jewish cultural prejudices against women. As an inspired writer, the apostle Paul fully understood the theological truth of the headship principle as a divine arrangement instituted before the Fall and which remains permanently valid for the Christian.

Headship: For the Home and the Church. The pro-ordination book Women in Ministry argues that while the headship principle (erroneously believed to have originated at the Fall) is relevant today, the principle is only valid for the home situation and not for the church family. There are at least three major reasons against this view.

First, the Bible teaches that the church is not just another social institution; it is a worshipping community—a group of people who relate to God through a faith relationship in Christ. Thus the church, in both Old and New Testaments, exists whenever and wherever "two or three have gathered in My [Christ's] name" (Matthew 18:20). Rightly understood, the worshipping household is a miniature model of the church. Even before Jesus Christ established the New Testament church (Matthew 16:18, 19), the church was already in existence in Old Testament times. Israel , with its priests and ceremonial system of worship, was "the church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38). But long before the Exodus brought Israel the opportunity to be "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Exodus 19:6), the church existed in the homes, wherever "two or three . . . gathered in My name." 38

The numerous Bible references to the church as the family of God 39 suggest that the relationship of male and female in the church—"the household of God" (1 Timothy 3:15, RSV)—is to be modeled after the home family , of which the Eden home was the prototype (Ephesians 5:22, 23; Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-9; 14:34, 35; 1 Timothy 2:11-3:5). The frequent correspondence between home and church found in Scripture (e.g., Acts 2:46; 5:42; 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35; cf. Philippians 4:22) finds an echo in John Chrysostom's statement that "a household is a little church" and "a church is a large household." 40

Second, the Bible makes the success of male headship in the home a necessary qualification for one to be elder or overseer in the church. Thus, since only males can legitimately be heads of their homes (as husbands and fathers), according to Scripture, they alone can serve in the headship office of the church (as elders or overseers). For example, the Pastoral Epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus, the very books that describe the qualities of an elder-pastor, view the church as the family of God, thus establishing the family structure as the model for church structure: "If a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's church?" (1 Timothy 3:4, 5, RSV; cf. Titus 1:6). This is why the Bible teaches that the elder or overseer must be "the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6).

Third, it is logically and practically inconsistent to propose that God made the husband the spiritual head at home (a smaller family unit), and his wife the spiritual head of the church (a larger family unit). The "total egalitarian" model would create serious conflicts and confusion, yet God is not the author of confusion. Therefore, He is not the author of the idea that women should be the spiritual heads in the church.

The description of the church as "the household of God" (1 Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:19) and the patterning of church authority after the headship arrangement in the home reveal the high estimation God places on the home family. Writes Ellen White: "In the home the foundation is laid for the prosperity of the church. The influences that rule in the home life are carried into the church life; therefore, church duties should first begin in the home" (Ellen G. White, My Life Today , p. 284). "Every family in the home life should be a church, a beautiful symbol of the church of God in Heaven" ( Child Guidance, p. 480).

Not only is authority in the church patterned after the home, but the home government is patterned after the church. Ellen G. White wrote,

The rules and regulations of the home life must be in strict accordance with a 'Thus saith the Lord.' The rules God has given for the government of His church are the rules parents are to follow in the church in the home. It is God's design that there shall be perfect order in the families on Earth, preparatory to their union with the family in Heaven. Upon the discipline and training received in the home depends the usefulness of men and women in the church and in the world. ( Signs of the Times , Sept. 25, 1901.)

Is it possible that those who wish to drive a wedge between the patterns of authority in the church and in the home do not understand the true nature of male headship and the complementary female supportive role?

One thing is undeniable. The egalitarian interpretations of the Genesis 2 Creation account, positing "total role interchangeableness" or "full equality with no headship-submission" as God's divine ideal for the family, contradict the apostle Paul's own interpretation of the Genesis passage. Are those who propose that women should be ordained as elders or pastors better interpreters of Scripture than the inspired apostle?

Conclusion. The authors of Women in Ministry may be well-intentioned in their desire to offer a Biblical justification for women's ordination. But their attempt to reinterpret Scripture's doctrine of headship to allow for feminism's full equality or "total role interchangeableness" is woefully inadequate, if not totally baseless. The fact that different writers of the Seminary book offer conflicting and Biblically questionable opinions on the subject is evidence enough to alert any serious Bible student to the risks of imposing secular ideologies on the Bible.

One scholar who has offered a devastating critique of the view of Women in Ministry on headship and equality warns of the danger: "The Biblical model of different yet complementary roles for men and women in the home and in the church may well be a scandal to liberal and evangelical feminists bent on promoting the egalitarian, partnership paradigm. Nonetheless, Christians committed to the authority and wisdom of the Scriptures cannot ignore or reject a most fundamental Biblical principle. Blurring or eliminating the role distinctions God assigned to men and women in the home and in the church is not only contrary to His creational design but also accelerates the breakdown of the family, church structure, and society." 41

In this respect, the speculative and questionable interpretations in Women in Ministry are only the tip of the feminist iceberg. 42 As we pointed out in an earlier chapter on "Feminism's 'New Light' on Galatians 3:28," feminism's efforts at obliterating gender role distinctions have opened the way for other un-Biblical teachings and practices, including lesbianism.

Even a well-known evangelical theologian inclined toward the ordination of women, acknowledges that "it cannot be denied that the women's liberation movement, for all its solid gains, has done much to blur the distinctions between the sexes and that many women who have entered the ministry appear committed to the eradication of these distinctions." This trend, as he observes, "is in no small way responsible for accelerating divorce and the breakdown of the family." He warns that "the fact that some clergywomen today in the mainline Protestant denominations are championing the cause of lesbianism (and a few are even practicing a lesbian lifestyle) should give the church pause in its rush to promote women's liberation." 43

"Such things," argues an Adventist scholar, "ought likewise to give us pause in the rush to promote women's ordination, one facet of the women's liberation movement." 44

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Endnotes

16. This section is adapted from my Searching the Scriptures , pp. 25-34.

17. For example, Jesus "ordained ( poieo ) twelve" (Mark 3:14); Paul himself was "ordained ( tithemi ) a preacher and an apostle" (1 Timothy 2:7; cf. 4:14; 5:22); Titus was urged to "ordain ( kathistemi ) elders in every city" (Titus 1:5). Each of these three Greek words carries the sense of "appoint," "place," or "establish." Another word used in the New Testament for the act of ordination is cheirotoneo , which can mean "to stretch forth the hand" or "elect" or "appoint." Thus Paul and Barnabas "ordained them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23); and when Titus was appointed by the churches to travel with Paul to Jerusalem , we are told that he was "chosen of the churches" (2 Corinthians 8:19). The compound form of the word, procheirotoneo, appears in Acts 10:41, where it describes God's prior appointment of the apostles.

18. In Romans 10:14, 15, having stated that faith comes through the hearing of the Word proclaimed by the preacher, Paul asked rhetorically, "How shall they preach except they be sent ?" The church has to send or commission someone to proclaim the message authoritatively. Again, writing to Timothy, Paul declared, "The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). A person possessing ability to teach, who is faithful to Christ, and who meets the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 may be commissioned authoritatively to perform the duties of elder or pastor. This was the practice in the New Testament church. Apart from the twelve apostles who were chosen and ordained by Christ Himself, elders of the church apparently ordained all others. For a person to be an elder or minister, then, the church must express its approval by recognizing and commissioning that individual for the ministerial task. Even Paul had to be ordained by the church after he received his call from Christ (Acts 13:1-3).

19. In his Pastoral Epistles, Paul frequently referred to the "sound words" (1 Timothy 6:3; 2 Timothy 1:13; cf. 2 Timothy 2:15), or "the faith" (1 Timothy 3:9; 4:1, 6; 5:8; 6:10, 12, 21; 2 Timothy 3:8; 4:7; Titus 1:13; 2:2), or "that which has been entrusted" (1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:12, 14), and "sound teaching/doctrine" (1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1; cf. 1 Timothy 4:6, 16; 6:1, 3; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 2:10).

20. Our Seventh-day Adventist Minister's Manual (1997) rightly recognizes that "Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that ordination is sacramental in the sense of conferring some indelible character or special powers or the ability to formulate right doctrine. It adds ‘no new grace or virtual qualification'" (p. 85). Ordination, an act of commission, acknowledges God's call, sets the individual apart, and appoints that person to serve the church in a special capacity. Ordination endorses the individuals thus set apart as authorized representatives of the church. By this act, the church delegates its authority to its ministers to proclaim the Gospel publicly, to administer its ordinances, to organize new congregations, and, within the parameters established

by God's Word, to give direction to the believers (Matthew 16:19; Hebrews 13:17) (see Minister's Manual , pages 84, 85). By means of ordination, "the church sets its seal upon the work of God performed through its ministers and their lay associates. In ordination, the church publicly invokes God's blessing upon the persons He has chosen and devoted to this special work of ministry" (ibid., p. 85).

21. Evidence that this statement may not be applied to ordination of women as pastors or elders may be found within the passage itself. (1) This is a part-time ministry, not a calling to a lifework. "Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time. . . ." (2) The work is not that of a minister or a church officer. "In some cases they will need to counsel with the church officers or the minister." Evidently this work is not that of an elder or minister. (3) It was a ministry different from what we were already doing. The portion quoted here is followed immediately by, "This is another means of strengthening and building up the church. We need to branch out more in our methods of labor." (4) It appears in an article entitled, "The Duty of the Minister and the People," which called upon ministers to allow and encourage the church members to use their talents for the Lord. The last sentence of the quoted paragraph reflects this thrust: "Place the burdens upon men and women of the church, that they may grow by reason of the exercise, and thus become effective agents in the hand of the Lord for the enlightenment of those who sit in darkness." This is the only statement from Mrs. White addressing laying on of hands for women. The statement and its context clearly indicate that these women were being dedicated to a specific lay ministry.

22. Under the Old Testament theocracy, Israel was a nation governed by God and His law. In this system, the chosen leaders were prophets, priests, and judges/kings. Unlike the New Testament office of elder/pastor, the Old Testament leadership role of prophet (likewise judge ) was not an elected office. God Himself chose and commissioned prophets (and judges) as His most authoritative mouthpieces; the people did not elect them. Thus, in the Old Testament, kings (and judges) and priests were all subject to the authority of prophets. The leadership roles of Deborah and Huldah as prophets should not be confused with that of elders or pastors, who occupy the elected leadership office in the church. While prophets in both the Old and New Testaments were chosen and ordained by God Himself, elders and pastors are chosen and ordained by church members within the guidelines set by Scripture and are subject to the leadership authority of God's chosen prophets.

In Seventh-day Adventist history, the closest parallel to the leadership of Deborah is Ellen G. White. Though she never claimed to be a leader of the church ( Testimonies for the Church , vol. 8, pp. 236, 237) and was never ordained by the denomination, she did exercise leadership authority by virtue of her role as a messenger of the Lord. A number of women who worked for the church during the late 1800s and early 1900s were issued ministerial licenses. Ellen White was the only woman to be granted the credentials of an ordained minister (sometimes with the word "ordained" neatly struck out), though she was never ordained and did not perform the functions of an ordained minister. (See William Fagal's discussion of the question, "Was Ellen White Ordained?" in his "Ellen White and the Role of Women in the Church," available from the Ellen G. White Estate.)

23. Paul commends Phoebe as "our sister, which is a servant [ diakonos ] of the church which is at Cenchrea," and he urges the church to "assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succorer of many, and of myself also." Although the term diakonos can refer to the office of a "deacon" (1 Timothy 3:8-13), the description of Phoebe as a "servant" (KJV) or "deaconess" (RSV) of the church should not be confused with the office of "deacon." In the New Testament the term diakonos, like the related terms diakonia and diakoneo, has both a broad and a narrow meaning. In its broad sense it conveys the idea of "ministry" or "service" carried out on behalf of the church; in this usage, anything a person does to advance the work of the church is a ministry, and the one who labors in this manner is a "minister" or "servant" ( diakonos ) of the Lord (Matthew 20:26; 23:11; Mark 9:35; 10:43; John 12:26; Romans 13:4; 15:8; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 6:4; 11:23; Galatians 2:17; Ephesians 3:7; 6:21; Colossians 1:7, 23, 25; 4:7; 1 Timothy 4:6). In its narrow usage, however, diakonos refers to the office of a "deacon," which among other things can only be occupied by one who is a "husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:8-13; Philippians 1:1). Because Phoebe was a "sister" (Romans 16:1), she could not have served in the male office of a "deacon." Thus, when Paul described her as "a servant [ diakonos ] of the church," he was speaking of Phoebe's valuable ministry to members of the church as well as to himself.

24. Paul described Andronicus and Junia as "my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, and who also were in Christ before me" (Romans 16:7). Although there is an ambiguity in the Greek construction, "who are of note among the apostles" (KJV), or as the NIV has it, "They are outstanding among the apostles," no New Testament evidence supports the idea that the woman Junia mentioned here was an apostle, nor is there any New Testament evidence that the man Andronicus mentioned in the same text was an apostle. The most plausible and Biblically consistent understanding is that both Andronicus and Junia were well known and appreciated by the apostles as Christian converts prior to Paul's own conversion. (See the answer to question #38 in John Piper and Wayne Grudem, "An Overview of Central Concerns: Questions and Answers," in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism , ed. John Piper and Wayne Grudem [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1991], pp. 79-81).

25. Lyman Coleman, The Apostolical and Primitive Church (Boston: Gould, Kendall and Lincoln, 1844), p. 196.

26. The New Testament uses the English term "pastor" only once, in Ephesians 4:11. The same Greek word is translated "shepherd" elsewhere in the New Testament. As a shepherd, the pastor has the care and oversight of the flock. For the convenience of using our contemporary terms, in this study we have frequently used "pastor" as a substitute for "bishop" or "overseer." The book of 1 Peter brings all the terms together: pastor (shepherd), elder (presbyter), and bishop (overseer). "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd ( poimen, pastor) and Bishop ( episkopos, overseer) of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25). "The elders ( presbuteros ) which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder . . . : Feed ( poimano, to tend as a shepherd) the flock of God, taking the oversight ( episkopeo ) thereof. . . . And when the Chief Shepherd ( archipoimen ) shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Peter 5:1-4). The elders are commissioned to stand as overseers, functioning as

pastors/shepherds to the flock. Though we may divide some of the responsibilities today, these functions belong basically to one office.

27. See n. 17, above.

28. For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:28-30, people with the gift of tongues were told not to use it in public when there was no one to interpret, and prophets were told to stop prophesying when others had a revelation. We conclude that if women have gifts of teaching, administration, or evangelism, God wants them to exercise these gifts within the guidelines given in Scripture.

29. The Greek phrase, mias gunaikos andra, literally means a "man [male] of one woman," or "one-woman man [male]." When used of the marriage relation it may be translated "husband of one wife" (KJV) or "husband of but one wife" (NIV). Thus, the phrase is calling for "monogamous fidelity." An elder must be "faithful to his one wife" (NEB). For a helpful grammatical analysis of this text, see Kenneth S. Wuest, The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament for the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952), p. 53.

30. The New Testament uses different terms to communicate the idea of teaching: (1) katecheo, from which we get "catechize," means "to tell about something" (Acts 21:21, 24) or "to give instruction about the faith" (Galatians 6:6; 1 Corinthians 14:19; Acts 18:25; cf. Luke 1:4); (2) ektithemi means to explain something to another (Acts 18:26; 28:23; 11:4); (3) dianoigo literally means to "open," used for the explanation or interpretation of Bible truth (Luke 24:32; Acts 17:3); and (4) didasko, used by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:12 in his prohibition of women to "teach." Unlike the other terms, didasko is a special word used for authoritative teaching. For example, it refers to the kind of teaching carried out by Christ (Matthew 7:28, 29; Mark 1:22; 6:2), the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27), John the Baptist (Luke 3:12), the apostles or prophets (2 Thessalonians 2:15; Acts 5:25; 28:31; Ephesians 4:21; Colossians 2:7; Mark 6:3), elders/pastors (Ephesians 4:11), those who were called "teachers" (Luke 2:46; Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28, 29; Ephesians 4:11; James 3:1; cf. Hebrews 5:12), and (negatively) those who carried out unauthorized teaching (Titus 1:11; Acts 15:1; Romans 2:21; cf. Acts 18:24-26). The meaning of didasko as authoritative teaching sheds some light on the nature of the "teaching" called forth in the Gospel commission (Matthew 28:20; cf. Colossians 3:16).

31. For a detailed discussion of this issue, see Robert L. Saucy, "Women's Prohibition to Teach Men: An Investigation into Its Meaning and Contemporary Application," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37/1 (March 1994) :79-97.

32. Paul's description of Christ in Colossians 1:15-18, RSV as "the firstborn of all creation," "the head of the body, the church" suggests His preeminent authority. His headship and authority are tied in with His being the "firstborn." Paul's use of "firstborn" language to express the headship and authority of Christ suggests that he attached the same meaning to Adam's being "first formed." If this is the case, it indicates that Paul saw in the priority of Adam's creation the establishment of his right and responsibility as the head of the first home, the first church. This may explain why Adam is presented as the one who brought death into the world, and Christ, the second Adam, as the One Who brought life (Romans 5:12-21).

33. See Samuele Bacchiocchi, The Marriage Covenant (Berrien Springs, Mich.: Biblical Perspectives, pp. 120-161.

34. For the intimate relationship between apostles and elders in the New Testament church, see P. Gerard Damsteegt’s article “Have Adventists Abandoned the Biblical Model of Leadership for the Local Church?” in Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, Here We Stand: Evaluating New Trends in the Church (Berrien Springs, Mich.: ADVENTISTS AFFIRM, 2005).

35. Some people try to dismiss the “Creation order” principle by claiming that such reasoning would place animals in headship over both men and women, since the animals were created first. Their dispute, clearly, is against the Bible, because Paul cited the Creation order as the basis for his counsel (1 Timothy 2:13). But the argument also fails to recognize the “firstborn” element in the issue. “When the Hebrews gave a special responsibility to the ‘firstborn,’ it never entered their minds that this responsibility would be nullified if the father happened to own cattle before he had sons. In other words, when Moses wrote Genesis, he knew that the first readers would not lump animals and humans together as equal candidates for the responsibilities of the ‘firstborn.’” See Question #39 of John Piper and Wayne Grudem, “An Overview of Central Concerns: Questions and Answers,” in John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds., Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1991), p. 81.

36. Harold O.J. Brown, “The New Testament Against Itself: 1 Timothy 2:9-15 and the ‘Breakthrough’ of Galatians 3:28,” in Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, p. 202. For more on this, see Samuele Bacchiocchi’s evaluation of Davidson’s chapter in Prove All Things.

37. Over the centuries, some scholars have justified the headship principle with arguments that mistakenly assign superiority to the man and inferiority to the woman. Richard Davidson summarized these arguments: “(a) man is created first and woman last ([Genesis] 2:7, 22), and the first is superior and the last is subordinate or inferior; (b) woman is formed for the sake of man—to be his ‘helpmate’ or assistant to cure man’s loneliness (vv. 18-20); (c) woman comes out of man (vv. 21, 22), which implies a derivative and subordinate position; (d) woman is created from man’s rib (vv. 21, 22), which indicates her dependence upon him for life; and (e) the man names the woman (v. 23), which indicates his power and authority over her” (Richard M. Davidson, “The Theology of Sexuality in the Beginning: Genesis 1-2,” Andrews University Seminary Studies 26/1 [1988] :14, emphasis added).

38. “God had a church when Adam and Eve and Abel accepted and hailed with joy the good news that Jesus was their Redeemer. These realized as fully then as we realize now the promise of the presence of God in their midst. Wherever Enoch found one or two who were willing to hear the message he had for them, Jesus joined with them in their worship of God. In Enoch’s day there were some among the wicked inhabitants of Earth who believed. The Lord never yet has left His faithful few without His presence nor the world without a witness” (Ellen G. White, The Upward Look, p. 228).

39. For the various expressions used in the Bible to refer to the church as God’s family, see Vern Poythress, “The Church as Family: Why Male Leadership in the Family Requires Male

Leadership in the Church,” in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, eds. John Piper and Wayne Grudem (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1991), pp. 233-236.

40. Chrysostom (a.d. 347-407), Homily XX on Ephesians, cited by Stephen B. Clark, Man and Woman in Christ (Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1980), p. 134.

41. Samuele Bacchiocchi, “Headship, Submission, and Equality in Scripture,” in Prove All Things, p. 105.

42. For more on this, see C. Raymond Holmes, The Tip of an Iceberg: Biblical Authority, Biblical Interpretation, and the Ordination of Women in Ministry (Wakefield, Mich.: Adventists Affirm and Pointer Publications, 1994), pp. 87-155.

43. Donald G. Bloesch, Is the Bible Sexist?: Beyond Feminism and Patriarchalism (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway 1982), p. 56.

Does the Bible Support Women's Ordination? Part 1

Does the Bible Support Women's Ordination? Part 3

Does the Bible Support Ordaining Women as Elders or Pastors? Part 3

Biblical and Theological Obstacles Against Women's Ordination 45

Our discussion thus far leads us to the conclusion that the Bible's teaching on headship is still valid today—even as it has always been since Creation. This understanding adequately explains the absence of Biblical precedent for ordaining women, not only as priests in the Old Testament but also as apostles and elders/pastors in the New Testament. The headship principle, not an accommodation to culture, is also the basis for the specific prohibitions against women having "authority over men" (1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:2; Titus 1:6; 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35).

In this section, we will examine certain issues that raise Biblical obstacles to women's ordination. Does the Bible include gender among the qualifications for the leader of the worshipping community? What are the key Bible texts that bear on this question, and what do they mean? When these issues are clear, two other questions that are often asked will need addressing: Was the Bible's instruction on this theme shaped by the culture of those times (and therefore not applicable outside of that culture)? and, Is the Bible silent on the question of ordination for women?

Qualification for the Office of Apostle and Elder/Pastor

The New Testament teaches that the offices of both apostle and elder/pastor should be filled not just by human beings of either gender but by males. In discussing the qualities for apostles and elders/pastors, the New Testament writers made clear that such an officeholder should be a man, not a woman. If they had believed that any person could qualify, irrespective of gender, they would have used the generic term anthropos, a word that refers to human beings, male or female, without regard to gender. Instead, they employed the specific term aner/andros, a word that means a male person in distinction from a woman (see Acts 8:12; 1 Timothy 2:12), a person capable of being called a husband (see Matthew 1:16; John 4:16; Romans 7:2; Titus 1:6).

Replacement of One of the Twelve. The book of Acts records that shortly before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the 120 male and female disciples who were gathered in the upper room sought guidance to find a replacement for Judas. Significantly, they first sought Biblical guidance on whether to fill the vacancy (Acts 1:14-20). Both the 120 and Luke, the writer of Acts, understood the apostleship as an oversight office; the Greek term used in Acts 1:20, translated "bishoprick" (KJV), "office" (RSV), and "leader" (NIV), is episkopos, the very word Paul used to describe the office of elder/pastor (1 Timothy 3:1, 2; Acts 20:28; cf. Acts 20:17; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:1-3 for the corresponding term presbuteros ). Notice the qualifications in choosing Matthias as an apostle in place of Judas:

"Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection." . . . [After proposing Barsabbas and Matthias, the 120 prayed,] "Lord, You know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs" (Acts 1:21-25, NIV).

Why did the 120 men and women in the upper room appoint two men and no women as candidates from which to select an apostle to be added to the eleven? Were there no qualified women "who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us"? Was there no woman with a "heart" acceptable enough to God "to take over this apostolic ministry"? This is not likely. Obviously, there were capable women among the 120 disciples, since all of them—male and female—were filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

The absence of a woman candidate is not happenstance, either, according to the text. The reason why women were excluded as candidates for the apostleship, even though some of them undoubtedly met most of the requirements set forth in verses 21 and 22, is clearly given in verse 21: "It is necessary to chose one of the men [ andron, from aner ] who have been with us." On the basis of Scripture, the 120 male and female disciples of Christ (including Mary, the mother of Jesus) understood that the oversight ( episkopos, v. 20) function of apostleship may only be exercised by a male ( aner ), not a female.

This decision by the 120 conformed to the pre-Fall headship principle, which ascribed the leadership role to men. It was also in harmony with the example of Jesus Christ Who, after a long night of prayer, chose twelve male apostles (Luke 6:12-16). The disciples in the upper room were "with one accord" (Acts 1:14; 2:1) in their choice of a male replacement, and the risen Christ rewarded their unity and faithfulness to Scripture by pouring out His Spirit upon them at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

Choosing an Elder/Pastor. In the action of the 120 disciples in choosing a replacement apostle, we find a prescription for Spirit-empowered ministry: unity, prayer, and fidelity to Scriptural guidelines. This last point was reiterated when the apostle Paul instructed that an elder must fulfill certain qualifications (1 Timothy 3:1-6; Titus 1:5-9). Among these, an elder/bishop "must be . . . the husband ( aner/andros ) of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6). 46

In other words, the elder or pastor should be a man, not a woman. An additional point underscores this: the elder should be able to exercise spiritual leadership in his home. He is one who "must manage his own family well" (1 Timothy 3:4, 5, NIV; Titus 1:6). 47

When this qualification for the office of elder or pastor is understood in light of the pre-Fall headship principle, and when we take into account the examples of Jesus Himself in ordaining the twelve apostles, as well as that of the 120 in commissioning Matthias as an apostle in place of Judas, it is clear that Paul's prescription that an elder be a male ( aner ) is not arbitrary.

Until it can be shown that the qualification for an elder to be the "husband of one wife" is no longer valid, women should not be ordained as elders or pastors of the church. Showing that this qualification is no longer valid will not be easy for advocates of women's ordination in light of two additional statements by the apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and 1 Corinthians 14:34. To these crucial Bible texts, we now turn our attention.

Crucial Bible Texts: 1 Timothy 2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35

The key texts linking the headship principle with the teaching authority of elders and pastors are 1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35. Are these texts culturally conditioned to Paul's time and place (the local situation in Ephesus and Corinth ), as some proponents of women's ordination suggest?

1 Timothy 2:11-14. Central to the debate on women's ordination is 1 Timothy 2:11-14: 48

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

As we have shown in a previous section of this chapter, the issue here is not muzzling women into silence. Still, because Paul does place some restriction on women in this passage, radical proponents of women's ordination argue that Paul could not have written such a text because it allegedly contradicts his statement in Galatians 3:28, 49 or that if he did write the text, it was his own private opinion. As we have mentioned earlier, this is the position of the liberal feminist Adventist book The Welcome Table .

Bible-believing Adventists reject these liberal interpretations, asserting instead that Paul's statement "I suffer not . . ." does not express mere private opinion but rather a divinely inspired judgment (cf. Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 7:25). Our concern, however, will be whether 1 Timothy 2:11-14 has permanent validity for the leadership of the Christian church.

Unlike the liberal feminists (as found in The Welcome Table ), "evangelical feminist" proponents of women's ordination (e.g., some of the authors of the Andrews University book Women in Ministry ) suggest either (1) that Paul's statement is culturally conditioned to his time and place, or (2) that if it is still valid today, it only applies to the relationship between husband and wife, not to the male-female relationship in the church. Both of these objections fail to account for what the text actually says.

First, Paul did not give cultural or sociological factors in Ephesus or in the New Testament times as the reason he prohibited women from exercising the role of authoritative teaching. Scholars have ventured myriads of contradictory guesses of "the real reason" behind Paul's statement. 50 Interesting though some of them are, these guesses reflect the reluctance of scholars to accept the explicit reason Paul himself gave in the text.

Whatever the cultural or sociological situation may have been in Ephesus —Gnosticism, witchcraft, worship of the mother-goddess Diana (Artemis), mysticism, feminism, etc. 51 —the apostle Paul employed a theological reason to address the specific problem that occasioned his statement. His stated reason was, "For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

Paul pointed back to the pre-Fall Creation ordinance of headship, reiterated after the Fall. By appealing to the divine arrangement from Creation as the reason why the woman is not to have authority over the man, the apostle dispelled any suggestion that his instruction in 1 Timothy 2:11-14 was culturally conditioned or time-bound.

The second argument favored by "evangelical feminist" proponents of women's ordination, that the prohibition applies only to marriage and not to the church setting, overlooks the same passage's context that deals not only with the relationship of men and women in the home but also includes the church . Paul stated his purpose in writing the epistle: "I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:14, 15, NIV, emphasis added; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:3-16).

Significantly, the context of 1 Timothy 2:11-14 is not a discussion about husbands and wives but about men (Greek aner ) and women (Greek gune ), whether married or not. 52 The immediate context for the passage is found in verses 8-10, which give instructions on Christian dress and adornment. In order to deny that verses 11-15 apply to church life, one must limit the instructions on dress and adornment to apply only to the home setting, a view no Bible-believing Seventh-day Adventist will support.

Moreover, the passage immediately following verses 11-15 (1 Timothy 3:1-7, describing the qualities of an elder/pastor) clearly shows that Paul was addressing the church context. Thus, the larger context not only establishes the headship principle but also applies it to the church setting (3:14, 15)—not just to the local church at Ephesus , but to the Christian church at large. 53

Paul grounds his restriction on women in Scripture itself, showing by example that theological issues must be settled by the written Word of God, the Christian's ultimate source of authority. It is also significant that Paul gave this command in the context of church matters, indicating that his prohibition of women to "teach and have authority over men" goes beyond the home.

In order for the church to endorse women's ordination to the Gospel ministry, proponents will need to show from Scripture that Paul was mistaken in his teaching that male headship/leadership was established at Creation and reiterated after the Fall (1 Timothy 2:11-15). They will also have to justify from the Bible the basis for limiting the headship principle only to the home or marriage setting, when the context does not do so.

1 Corinthians 14:34, 35. Another key text in the debate over women's ordination is 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35:

"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands a home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." 54

As noted earlier, Paul's command that women "keep silence" in the church does not mean that women cannot pray, prophesy, preach, evangelize, or teach in the church. For in the same letter to the Corinthians in which Paul tells women to keep silence, he also indicates that women may pray and prophesy, provided they are dressed appropriately (1 Corinthians 11:2-16). Also, the instruction that women should "keep silence in the churches," just like the command in the same chapter that tongue-speakers with no interpreter present should "keep silence in the church" (1 Corinthians 14:28), suggests that Paul wanted women to exercise their gift to "speak," but within certain appropriate guidelines.

Our concern in this passage is, therefore, whether 1 Corinthians 14:34 has permanent validity for the leadership of the Christian church. Just as they do to 1 Timothy 2:11-14, "moderate" or "progressive" proponents of women's ordination want to consign 1 Corinthians 14:34 to the culture and times of Paul. They interpret "the law" in this passage as a reference to "a Jewish custom."

Two brief responses will be given. First, if "the law" refers to "a Jewish custom," how could such a custom apply to the Corinthian church, which no doubt had Gentile converts? How could such a "Jewish" command be binding "in the churches," including the non-Jewish churches? Similar questions would still be raised if one argues that "the law" is a "Corinthian civil law," for how could a civil law in Corinth be binding on non-Corinthian Christians "in all the churches"? 55

Would it not be more consistent Biblically to understand "the law" as a reference to the divine arrangement of role differentiation established at Creation (see 1 Corinthians 11:3, 8, 9; 1 Timothy 2:13)? In fact, in an earlier verse (1 Corinthians 14:21) Paul uses "the law" to mean the Old Testament Scriptures, suggesting that when he sees "the law" in verse 34, he has in mind the pre-Fall headship principle recorded in the Old Testament (Genesis 2:20b-24). This principle or "law" the apostle now applies to women (including married women [v. 35]) "in the churches."

Second, in Paul's prohibiting women to speak, the key phrase "but they are commanded to be under obedience" indicates that the kind of speaking Paul ruled out is one that involved not being "under obedience," that is, one that constituted an exercise of authority inappropriate to them as women or wives. Thus, 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35, like 1 Timothy 2:11-14, prohibits women from exercising the authoritative teaching function entrusted to leaders of the worshipping community. This explains why Paul restricts the teaching and leadership role of elder or pastor to males ( aner, 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6).

Significantly, Paul supports his restriction on women on the basis of Scripture ("the law," 1 Corinthians 14:34; cf. 14:21) and not on sociocultural barriers; this is in harmony with the view that the Bible must always remain the ultimate authority on issues of faith and practice. It is also worth noting that the command was given to govern the conduct of women, whether at church or at home (1 Corinthians 14:33-37). Paul saw a connection between the pattern of authority in the church and in the home.

In order for the church to approve ordaining women as elders or pastors, proponents must show that Paul's prohibition (in 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35) of women exercising the authoritative teaching function is not grounded theologically on God's divine arrangement, but rather on a sociocultural basis.

To summarize, our discussion in this section, highlighting Biblical and theological obstacles to women's ordination, should put to rest the argument that the Bible is silent on the question of ordaining women as elders and pastors. As we have shown, the Bible is not silent on the issue of women's ordination to the leadership role of the worshipping community. The lack of Bible precedent, as well as the presence of clear prohibitions in Scripture against the practice, speaks loudly against the so-called argument of silence. The only silence in Scripture on this issue is the same kind of silence awaiting those who search the Bible fruitlessly for a justification for Sundaykeeping.

Conclusion

This discussion of the key Scriptural passages governing the male-female relationship has pointed out some major Biblical and theological obstacles to ordaining women as elders and pastors. Besides the absence of Biblical precedent for women in headship roles such as priest, apostle, elder, and pastor in the worshipping community of God, specific texts of Scripture seem clearly to forbid women "to teach or to have authority over men" (1 Timothy 2:11, 12; cf. 1 Corinthians 14:34), and restrict the offices of elder and pastor to males (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6). These prohibitions are not addressed to the specific cultural situations in Ephesus and Corinth , but to the Christian church at large; they should not be explained as "God's adaptation to sinful human conditions," but rather as God's pre-Fall Creation ordinance for all humanity. 56

Until it can be shown otherwise, our deliberation on the crucial Biblical texts on the relationship of man and woman in both the home and the church settings leads us to conclude with the British evangelical scholar John Stott that

all attempts to get rid of Paul's teaching on headship (on grounds that it is mistaken, confusing, culture-bound or culture-specific) must be pronounced unsuccessful. It remains stubbornly there. It is rooted in divine revelation, not human opinion, and in divine Creation, not human culture. In essence, therefore, it must be preserved as having permanent and universal authority. 57

The Bible is not silent on the issue of women's ordination. It teaches clearly that men and women have equal standing before God as created beings, as sinners in need of salvation through Christ, and as people called to the same destiny. The Bible is equally emphatic in upholding role differentiations between male and female. Within the complementary relationship of male and female equality, male headship charges the man to be the Christlike spiritual leader/overseer in both the home and church families, while the corresponding female role calls upon the woman to support/assist him willingly and nobly in his leadership function. This arrangement is not an indication of superiority of one over the other. "When God created Eve, He designed that she should possess neither inferiority nor superiority to the man, but that in all things she should be his equal" ( Testimonies for the Church , vol. 3, p. 484).

The headship principle was not a result of sin, but was instituted at Creation, reiterated at the Fall, and can only be truly realized "in the Lord." As a part of the Creation order, it is still valid today. The instructions of Paul show that the principle applies to the church and not just the home. The New Testament consistently indicates that the ones chosen for the leadership role in the church are to be males. The Bible texts from Paul's writings that speak most directly to this issue give a theological reason for the restriction, tracing it to Creation and to "the law."

In light of these things, though the Bible nowhere uses the expression "women's ordination," it is far from silent on the issue, giving clear instructions regarding the leadership of the church: Only qualified males can serve in the headship roles of elders or pastors. Therefore, the idea of "women elders," "women pastors," and "women clergy" is not only foreign to Biblical Christianity, but also an oxymoron—a contradiction of terms (as, say, a "Christian atheist" or a "pregnant male").

If our conclusions are valid, then any attempt to ignore or even reverse this divine arrangement will ultimately lead to a fate similar to that of our first parents when they yielded to Satan on this same kind of temptation:

Eve had been perfectly happy by her husband's side in her Eden home; but, like restless modern Eves, she was flattered with the hope of entering a higher sphere than that which God had assigned her. In attempting to rise above her original position, she fell far below it. A similar result will be reached by all who are unwilling to take up cheerfully their life duties in accordance with God's plan. In their efforts to reach positions for which He has not fitted them, many are leaving vacant the place where they might be a blessing. In their desire for a higher sphere, many have sacrificed true womanly dignity and nobility of character, and have left undone the very work that Heaven appointed them. ( Patriarchs and Prophets , p. 59.)

This statement does not condemn women's aspirations for self-improvement or a better life. Rather, it calls for all to seek to live according to God's plan .

_______________

Endnotes

45. Adapted from my Searching the Scriptures , pp. 56-69.

46. The word aner (translated "man" in the English translations) means a male of the human race. Therefore, the Greek phrase, mias [of one] gunaikos [woman] andra [man], literally translates as a "man of one woman," or "one-woman man," meaning "a male of one woman." When used of the marriage relation it may be translated "husband of one wife" (KJV) or "husband of but one wife" (NIV). Because in this passage the words for "man" and "woman" do not have the definite article, the construction in the Greek emphasizes character or nature. Thus, "one can translate, 'one-wife sort of a husband,' or 'a one-woman sort of a man.' . . . Since character is emphasized by the Greek construction, the bishop should be a man who loves only one woman as his wife." (See Kenneth S. Wuest, The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament for the English Reader [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952], p. 53.) Also, because the

word "one" ( mias ) is positioned at the beginning of the phrase in the Greek, it appears to emphasize this monogamous relationship. Thus, the phrase "husband of one wife," is calling for monogamous fidelity —that is to say, an elder must be "faithful to his one wife" ( NEB ). For an excellent summary of the various interpretations of this text, see Ronald A.G. du Preez, Polygamy in the Bible with Implications for Seventh-day Adventist Missiology (DMin project dissertation, Andrews University, 1993), pp. 266-277. Some have questioned whether Paul's instruction requires that the elder or pastor be married. While most likely the congregational leaders were married, two lines of Scriptural evidence suggest that marriage was not an inflexible requirement. First, it is possible that Paul may have been married prior to his conversion, since he became an honored member of the Sanhedrin after the death of Stephen while still a young man (see Ellen G. White, The Spirit of Prophecy , vol. 3, p. 300, in The Story of Redemption , p. 267, together with Education , p. 64), an office that required all its members to be advanced in years, though not aged, and fathers (ibid., The Desire of Ages , p. 133); yet it seems that the apostle Paul himself was not married during his Christian ministry (see 1 Corinthians 7:7, 8). Second, he recommends the unmarried state to those who can accept it, so that they may be "anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord" (v. 32; see vv. 25-35). These considerations lend support to the idea that we may understand 1 Timothy 3:2 as referring to a "one-woman kind of man," one who, if married, is faithful to his one wife.

47. The effort by some to see the "aged women" ( presbutidas ) of Titus 2:3 as referring to women elders is misdirected for two reasons. First, the usual word for elder is presbuteros (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; 1 Timothy 5:17, 19; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1, 5); the word refers to older men but also to those holding the office of elder. If Paul had intended to speak of "women elders" he could easily have used the corresponding feminine form, presbutera , though no office of "woman elder" is attested. Second, the context of Titus 2 makes it clear that Paul is not addressing those holding the office of elder but rather the different groups of people in the church: "aged men" (v. 2, presbutas, plural from presbutes, not from presbuteros ), "aged women" (v. 3), "young women" (vv. 4, 5), "young men" (v. 6), and "servants" (v. 9). Having addressed "aged men" in verse 2 (cf. Luke 1:18; Philemon 9), Paul employs a related word, presbutidas, in verse 3 for "aged women," making it clear that he was speaking about older women and not "women elders." Hence the reinterpretation is invalid. The only kind of elder the apostle Paul recognized is the person who, among other things, is the "husband of one wife" (Titus 1:6; 1 Timothy 3:2). The idea of a "woman elder" is thus an oxymoron.

48. On the different methods of interpretation applied to this passage and their implications for Seventh-day Adventists, see Gerhard F. Hasel, "Biblical Authority and Feminist Interpretation," Adventists Affirm 3/2 (Fall 1989) :12-23.

49. See my discussion of Galatians 3:28 in chapter 43 under the heading, "Feminism's 'New Light' on Galatians 3:28."

50. Even though the epistle to Timothy informs us of false teaching in the church of Ephesus , Paul did not give much detail regarding the specific nature of the false teaching. Some were engaged in speculative theologies based on "myths and interminable genealogies" and were creating confusion (1 Timothy 1:3-7; 6:3-5; cf. 2 Timothy 2:14, 16, 17, 23, 24; Titus 1:10; 3:9-

11); other false teachers were stressing asceticism—e.g., abstinence from certain foods, marriage, etc. (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 8); some convinced women to follow them in their false doctrines (1 Timothy 5:15; 2 Timothy 3:6, 7), including usurping the role of men (1 Timothy 2:11-15). Beyond this general picture of the false doctrines being spread in the church, scholars have attempted to reconstruct what they think occasioned Paul's writing. Christians should be cautious about accepting any of these hypotheses, however enlightening they may appear to be. In the text under consideration, the apostle Paul stated clearly his reason for prohibiting women from having authority over men (see 1 Timothy 2:13, 14).

51. For an attempt to establish the setting of 1 Timothy 2:11-15, see Sharon Marie Hodgin Gritz, A Study of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 in Light of the Religious and Cultural Milieu of the First Century (PhD dissertation, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1986). Some of the authors in the pro-ordination book Women in Ministry build upon this work in making their own speculations. See my response in Must We Be Silent? , pp. 216-221.

52. The Greek words used, aner and gune , refer to men and women respectively. When used of the marriage relation, they may be translated as "husband" and "wife" (cf. 1 Peter 3:5, 6 and Ephesians 5:22-24). The context of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is the church, suggesting that Paul was not just speaking to husbands and wives within the marriage institution, but also to men and women in the church, whether married or not (see a parallel instance in 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35).

53. Clearly the instructions given in 1 Timothy are not meant merely for the local church in Ephesus , but for the whole Christian church. The nature of subjects discussed in the book demonstrates this. From the first chapter to the last, Paul covers themes such as the proper use of the law in character development, the work of Christ (chapter 1), prayers for rulers and worship procedures for men and women (chapter 2), qualifications of church leaders and practical suggestions for ministry (chapters 3 and 4), and how Timothy, and hence all leaders, should relate to old and young members, widows, elected elders, false teachers, and worldly riches (chapters 5 and 6). In light of these things, it is illegitimate to confine 1 Timothy to the local situation of Ephesus , and hence, to argue that the prohibition in 2:11-15 is of temporary or local application.

54. For a critique of the many interpretations of this text, see D.A. Carson, "'Silent in the Churches': On the Role of Women in 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36," in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood , pp. 140-153.

55. See 1 Corinthians 14:33b, which most translations connect to v. 34.

56. We therefore reject the suggestion that in 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:11, 12, God was adapting to sinful human conditions, specifically the cultural situation at Corinth and Ephesus (e.g., see Andrew Bates [pseudonym], "The Jerusalem Council: A Model for Utrecht ?" Ministry , April 1995, p. 22).

57. John Stott, Decisive Issues Facing Christians Today (Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1990), pp. 269, 270.

Does the Bible Support Women's Ordination? Part 1

Does the Bible Support Women's Ordination? Part 2

Ellen G. White and Women in Ministry

By William Fagal, MDiv

Associate Director, Ellen G. White Estate, Silver Spring, Md.

[The following was published as a two-part article in Ministry magazine, December 1988 and February 1989.]

Part I: Did Ellen White Call for Ordaining Women?

What was Mrs. White's stance in regard to the ordination of women? Her prophetic role and her involvement in the founding and nurturing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church make this a question of interest to Adventists today. In recent years some have proposed that we may find support in Mrs. White's writings for ordaining women as pastors or elders. This study examines the main passages that people are using in support of women's ordination to see what those passages actually teach.

The “Ordination” Statement

In 1895 Ellen White wrote the following: “Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. They should be set apart to this work by prayer and laying on of hands. In some cases they will need to counsel with the church officers or the minister; but if they are devoted women, maintaining a vital connection with God, they will be a power for good in the church. This is another means of strengthening and building up the church. We need to branch out more in our methods of labor. Not a hand should be bound, not a soul discouraged, not a voice should be hushed; let every individual labor, privately or publicly, to help forward this grand work. Place the burdens upon men and women of the church, that they may grow by reason of the exercise, and thus become effective agents in the hand of the Lord for the enlightenment of those who sit in darkness.” 1 Careful reading of this statement reveals that:

1. This ministry is part-time. “Women who are willing to consecrate some of their time.

. . .” Therefore from the start it does not seem to be referring to pastoral ministry.

2. The work is something other than that which the church was already doing. “This is another means of strengthening and building up the church. We need to branch out more in our methods of labor.”

3. Since “in some cases they will need to counsel with the church officers 2 or the minister,” she does not equate them with the minister, nor does she regard them as the officers whose responsibility it is to lead the local congregation.

Was Mrs. White here calling for an ordained woman ministry? If one uses the term ministry in its broad sense of service, yes. But she has clearly distinguished this ministry from that of the pastor or the leading church

officers.

Further, the article from which the statement comes is entitled “The Duty of the Minister and the People.” It calls for involvement of the laity in the work of the church. Its purpose is not to change the structure of the pastoral ministry, but rather to change its emphasis from a focus on the minister's work to one in which the laity is active and motivated.

Ordination of Women Physicians

Since Mrs. White said that women should train as physicians, 3 and in another statement calls for a “setting apart” of physicians who are engaged in missionary work and soulwinning, some have felt that the two statements together indicate that she felt that women should be ordained. The statement about physicians reads as follows:

The work of the true medical missionary is largely a spiritual work. It includes prayer and the laying on of hands; he therefore should be as sacredly set apart for his work as is the minister of the Gospel. Those who are selected to act the part of missionary physicians are to be set apart as such. This will strengthen them against the temptation to withdraw from the sanitarium work to engage in private practice. 4

Does Ellen White here call for physicians to be ordained as ministers? She could have said so much more directly: “He therefore should be set apart as a minister.” But instead, she said the physician is to be “as sacredly set apart . . . as is the minister.” He is “to be set apart as such.” As what? As a missionary physician. That is made even clearer by the motivation for doing it—“to strengthen [him] against the temptation to withdraw from the sanitarium work to engage in private practice.” Ordaining physicians as ministers would not be likely to have a bearing on that, but ordaining them as missionary physicians would.

When studying Mrs. White's calls for ordination, one must not fail to consider the positions those calls concerned. Neither of the above statements supports the assertion that she called for women to be included in the ordained pastoral or church elder ministry.

Women in the Gospel Ministry

Ellen White said clearly, “There are women who should labor in the Gospel ministry. In many respects they would do more good than the ministers who neglect to visit the flock of God.” 5 Women who do such labor, especially full-time, were to be paid fairly from the tithe for their work. “The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine, be they men or women.” 6 She added, “Seventh-day Adventists are not in any way to belittle woman's work.” 7

Some believe that Mrs. White thus called for elimination of any role distinction between men and women in the ministry of the Adventist Church. The fairness she urged in the treatment of women workers, they say, should be understood to include ordination to the Gospel ministry irrespective of gender.

Yet Mrs. White did not make that connection. Her statement, “There are women who should labor in the Gospel ministry,” comes from a manuscript whose opening paragraph says: “The ministers are paid for their work, and this is well. And if the Lord gives the wife as well as the husband the burden of labor, and if she

devotes her time and her strength to visiting from family to family, opening the Scriptures to them, although the hands of ordination have not been laid upon her, she is accomplishing a work that is in the line of ministry. Should her labors be counted as nought, and her husband's salary be no more than that of the servant of God whose wife does not give herself to the work, but remains at home to care for her family?” 8

The subject under discussion is the pay of ministers' wives, and the kind of work they are doing is described as visiting homes and opening the Scriptures to the families. Further, rather than seeing ordination as a remedy to the injustice regarding pay, Mrs. White dismisses it as irrelevant to the issue. Her point is simply that those ministers' wives who function as what we would call Bible instructors are “accomplishing a work that is in the line of ministry,” and they should be paid for it.

It is in this setting that Mrs. White's statement “There are women who should labor in the Gospel ministry” appears. The sentence that follows it underscores the nature of the work she envisioned for these women: “In many respects they would do more good than the ministers who neglect to visit the flock of God.” Immediately she adds, “Husband and wife may unite in this work, and when it is possible, they should. The way is open for consecrated women.” 9

So it seems that she was not calling for women to function in the same roles as do men, but rather to have a complementary ministry that focuses on personal work. She noted that women were not ordained, but gave no hint that that practice should change—though she called in strong terms for reform in pay practices: “The Lord has settled it. You are to do your duty to the women who labor in the Gospel, whose work testifies that they are essential to carry the truth into families.” 10 She even thought of setting up a fund from her own tithe money to pay certain ministers' wives who were giving their whole time to giving Bible studies and working with families, but who were not being paid. 11

Women as Pastors to the Flock

In the above statement about women who should labor in the Gospel ministry, she describes that labor as we would the work of a Bible instructor. She associated this work with care for (visiting) “the flock of God.” This statement may provide a key to understanding more clearly a statement published a short time later in an article entitled, “The Canvasser a Gospel Worker”:

All who desire an opportunity for true ministry, and who will give themselves unreservedly to God, will find in the canvassing work opportunities to speak upon many things pertaining to the future, immortal life. The experience thus gained will be of the greatest value to those who are fitting themselves for the ministry. It is the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit of God that prepares workers, both men and women, to become pastors to the flock of God. 12

The remainder of the paragraph describes the character-building benefits of engaging in the canvassing work.

Was Ellen White here calling for women to be appointed pastors of churches, and therefore perhaps even to be ordained to that ministry? There are several indications that she was not.

First of all, when Ellen White wrote about ordained church pastors, she typically referred to them as ministers rather than pastors . In cases in which she used the term pastor she seems to have done so with a specialized

meaning in mind, using the term to refer to a person doing personal labor in the nurture of the flock, rather than a particular church office or position.

For example, she wrote about an Elder H who told “the poor sheep that he would rather be horsewhipped than visit. He neglected personal labor, therefore pastoral work was not done in the church and its borders. . . . Had the preacher done the work of a pastor, a much larger number would now be rejoicing in the truth.” 13

Speaking of ministers who devote excessive time to reading and writing, she said: “The duties of a pastor are often shamelessly neglected because the minister lacks strength to sacrifice his personal inclinations for seclusion and study. The pastor should visit from house to house among his flock, teaching, conversing, and praying with each family, and looking out for the welfare of their souls.” 14 She again expressed her concern for personal care for the flock this way: “Responsibilities must be laid upon the members of the church. The missionary spirit should be awakened as never before, and workers should be appointed as needed, who will act as pastors to the flock, putting forth personal effort to bring the church up to that condition where spiritual life and activity will be seen in all her borders.” 15

In each instance here the concept of pastor is associated with the function of personal work for the flock of God, even when it is done by members of the church other than the minister. One who visits families, who teaches and prays with them, who shows personal care and interest, is doing pastoral work.

If Mrs. White intended to open the regular pastoral ministry to women, we might well expect her to give strong emphasis to the point rather than simply mentioning it as an aside in an article focusing on the canvassing work. In the same volume of Testimonies we find an article entitled, “Women to Be Gospel Workers.” 16 Its focus also is on personal work in families and with other women, with no mention of the workers being ordained ministers.

The same volume also includes a chapter entitled “Young Men in the Ministry,” 17 in which, after saying that “the Lord calls for more ministers to labor in His vineyard,” she adds, “God calls for you, young men. He calls for whole armies of young men.” 18 The whole chapter is a call for men to enter the ministry, with no mention of women doing so. The same sort of gender-specific call for the ministry of men also appears in the chapter “The Need of Educational Reform.” 19 It seems only natural to expect these articles to urge women also to join the ranks of ministers if Mrs. White believed that women canvassers were preparing for ordination.

It seems that Mrs. White did not envision men and women doing the same work of ministry. Rather, she called for women especially to undertake a personal ministry of visitation and instruction in the home. 20 Such a work was necessary, important work, and was “in the line of ministry,” 21 though often neglected by the men. The work of these women would complement rather than duplicate the regular ministry of the men. And there is no call for ordination connected with it.

Women Engaged in the Ministry

Some have thought the following passage calls for women to serve as ministers in the same capacity as men: “Young men and young women who should be engaged in the ministry, in Bible work, and in the canvassing work should not be bound down to mechanical employment.” 22 The context is a call for our institutions to

train young people for evangelistic work.

One could argue that in this statement Mrs. White is urging both young men and young women to go into all three lines of labor. But that is not necessarily the case. The statement may be understood simply as urging young people to go into whichever line of evangelistic work that is suitable to them, without trying to specify what is appropriate to each gender. The burden of the message is not to change church policy to make room for women to serve in the same capacities as men, but rather to encourage the employment of both men and women in soulwinning work.

“Woman Ministry”

“Address the crowd whenever you can.” 23 This injunction, published in Evangelism in a section the compilers entitled “Women in Public Ministry,” was directed to Mrs. S.M.I. Henry, who had been granted a ministerial license the previous year. Some have taken it as Mrs. White's encouragement for women to seek a preaching ministry, which today is equated with being an ordained minister of the church.

But in this injunction Ellen White is not promoting the employment of women as ministers in the usual sense of the term. The statement is in a letter from Mrs. White, published in Mrs. Henry's column in the Review , expressing a concern for the women of the church to be instructed in how to be servants of Jesus. 24 Earlier paragraphs make it plain that Mrs. White was encouraging Mrs. Henry to minister to and address groups of women:

“If we can arrange, as you are now working, to have regularly organized companies intelligently instructed in regard to the part they should act as servants of the Master, our churches will have life and vitality such as have been so long needed.

“Christ our Saviour appreciated the excellency of the soul. Our sisters have generally a very hard time, with their increasing families and their unappreciated trials. I have so longed for women who could be educators to help them to arise from their discouragement, and to feel that they could do a work for the Lord.” 25

Mrs. Henry spoke to Adventist and non-Adventist groups throughout the United States and Canada, presenting her plan for “woman ministry,” which stressed the role of the mother in the moral education of society. Her work was the first approach the Adventist Church made to training parents and helping them with their problems. 26

When Ellen White herself published the material she had written to Mrs. Henry, she did not publish the entire letter, but reworked portions of it for general use. She published it in Testimonies , under the title “Women to Be Gospel Workers.” 27 And she left out the section containing the words “address the crowd whenever you can.”

Conclusion

Mrs. White called for greater involvement of women in the work of the church. She encouraged a greater diversity of methods of labor, and she wanted women to see what great things they could accomplish for the Master. But she had no concern with today's social agenda. Her statements neither support ordination for

women nor explicitly forbid it. None of her writings deals directly with this issue. It appears to me that she envisioned women fulfilling a role complementary to that of men, without concern for ordination as pastors or elders. God would bless their efforts.

“Women may take their places in the work at this crisis, and the Lord will work through them. If they are imbued with a sense of their duty, and labor under the influence of the Spirit of God, they will have just the self-possession required for this time. The Saviour will reflect upon these self-sacrificing women the light of His countenance, and this will give them a power which will exceed that of men. They can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work that reaches the inner life. They can come close to the hearts of those whom men cannot reach. Their labor is needed.” 28

Part II: Did Ellen White Support the Ordination of Women?

What does Adventist history show us about Ellen White and the ordination question? If she simply did not address the matter as an issue in her writings, and therefore neither endorsed nor explicitly forbade ordination of women, can we perhaps discover her attitude by studying her actions? This article will examine claims made on the basis of certain historical documents and events in an effort to see whether these can show that she supported ordaining women as pastors or elders. Some key statements by Mrs. White on women's role in Gospel work will be presented at the end.

Was Ellen White Herself Ordained?

There is no record of Ellen White ever having been ordained by human hands. Yet from 1871 until her death she was granted ministerial credentials by various organizations of the church. The certificate that was used read “Ordained Minister.” Several other credential certificates from the mid-1880s are still in our possession. On the one from 1885 the word ordained is neatly struck out. On the 1887 certificate, the next one we have, it is not.

Had she been ordained in the interim? Some have argued that she had. But the question is settled definitely by her own hand. In 1909 she filled out a “Biographical Information Blank” for the General Conference records. On the blank for item 19, which asks, “If ordained, state when, where, and by whom,” she simply inscribed an X. This is the same response she made to item 26, which asked, “If remarried, give date, and to whom.” In this way she indicated that she had never remarried, nor had she ever been ordained. She was not denying that God had chosen and equipped her, but she indicated that there had never been an ordination ceremony carried out for her. 29

Why then do some of her credentials say “ordained minister”? The fact that “ordained” was sometimes crossed out highlights the awkwardness of giving credentials to a prophet. The church has no such special category of credentials. So it utilized what it had, giving its highest credentials without performing an ordination ceremony. In actuality, the prophet needed no human credentials. She functioned for more than 25 years prior to 1871 without any.

Licensing of Women Ministers

A number of women received ministerial licenses from the Seventh-day Adventist Church during the late

1800s and early 1900s. Most of these were the wives of ordained ministers, and most of them apparently were engaged in personal labor similar to that of a Bible instructor today. Some notable exceptions are Minnie Sype, Lulu Wightman, and apparently Ellen Lane, who functioned effectively as public evangelists. But to date I have seen no evidence that women served as the leaders of churches. Further research may shed more light on this matter.

Some have suggested recently that the circumstances surrounding the licensing of women as ministers in the Seventh-day Adventist Church comprise a mandate for ordaining women today. The argument, in brief, is this:

The year 1878 saw two important events: The church first licensed women as ministers, and the church first called for an examination to be made of candidates for license, since it was understood that licensing would put women on the path to ordination. Ellen White took an active part in examining the qualifications of candidates for license, some of whom presumably were female. And shortly after the church began licensing women, it considered ordaining them. Though the proposal was not adopted, Mrs. White did not oppose it or warn against it. Rather, she later called for ordaining women to church ministries and paying them from the tithe.

Several inaccuracies appear in this scenario. First, Ellen Lane was first licensed not in 1878, but three years earlier in 1875, at the same time that Sister Roby Turtle was licensed. 30 Further, these were not the first women to receive the ministerial license. That honor seems to belong to Sarah A.H. Lindsey, who received a license from the New York and Pennsylvania Conference on August 9, 1871. 31 The licensing of these women therefore cannot demonstrate that the church at that time assumed licensing of women would lead to ordination. The policy calling for an examination prior to licensing anyone came seven years after the first woman was licensed, and the question of ordaining women would not be considered until 1881, 10 years after their first licensing.

Second, there is no absolute evidence that Ellen White took active part in the examination of candidates, male or female, for license. The assertion that she did is based on two pieces of evidence: (1) Mrs. White attended certain conference sessions at which women were granted the ministerial license, 32 and (2) she wrote the following comment about her stay at a camp meeting in Oregon—“I was unable to sit up yesterday, for with much writing, reining myself up to meet different ones who put in requests for license, speaking in public, and showing the unfitness of different ones to attempt to teach others the truth, it was too much for my strength.” 13

The statement does not say that she took part in examinations or, as has been claimed, that she recommended that some of the candidates not receive licenses. It merely lists things she had been doing and makes no connection between “meeting” license applicants and “showing the unfitness” of certain unnamed individuals to teach the truth. The lack of connection between those two elements is shown by the fact that they are separated by another item on the list—“speaking in public.” And there is not a hint here that any of the candidates for license are female.

If Mrs. White's “showing the unfitness of different ones to attempt to teach others the truth” was not in the context of an examination for a license, then what was it about? A possible clue occurs later in the same paragraph, where she describes her sermon of the night before: “I here brought in genuine sanctification and the spurious article which is so common.” 34 Was she counteracting false doctrine that was already being taught there, and showing the unfitness of those who were already teaching it? We don't know for certain. But

it goes beyond the facts to assert that Mrs. White here said that she recommended that certain applicants not receive licenses.

The third inaccuracy in the scenario lies in the claim that the church considered ordaining women shortly after it began licensing them, indicating that licensing was understood to put them on the ordination track. We have already shown above that rather than three years (1878-1881), which would correspond roughly to today's typical time between licensing and ordination in the Adventist ministry, it was 10 years after the church started licensing women that it first considered ordaining them. And the events of that consideration need some further explication.

The Committee on Resolutions at the 1881 General Conference session introduced the following for consideration:

"Resolved, That females possessing the necessary qualifications to fill that position, may, with perfect propriety, be set apart by ordination to the work of the Christian ministry.” 35

After discussion in which eight delegates spoke to the issue, the resolution was referred to the General Conference Committee. 36 Referral to committee is a way to provide for more careful study of something on which the whole body is uncertain. It has also functioned at times as a means of dealing with something that will not pass, without having to vote it down. Though General Conference sessions were held yearly until 1889 (when they became biennial), neither the committee nor anyone else ever reintroduced the matter until recent years. Apparently the idea of ordaining women had little support in the church at that time. But did Ellen White support it?

Ellen White's Silence

Mrs. White was not present at the 1881 General Conference session. She likely read the report of the resolutions in the Review a few weeks later or heard about them from her son W.C. White, but we have no record of her making any comment one way or the other on the matter. This is harder to explain from the position that she favored ordination than from the position that she opposed it. Proponents of ordination today deny that her silence lent approval to the handling of the matter. They say that her silence must at least be viewed as permissive in light of her encouragement to women to participate in the work of the church and her responsibility to warn the church against error.

Ellen White's silence, by itself, neither promotes nor precludes ordination for women. But if she favored it, why didn't she speak out when the church veered away from ordaining women? She may simply have felt that the issue was not important. Or if she felt that the church should not ordain women, she may have made no comment on the resolution simply because none was necessary. No corrective was needed, because the church was not about to begin ordaining women.

She took a similar course at first in relation to the pantheism crisis a few years later. In connection with this crisis, which came to a head with the publication of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg's book Living Temple , she wrote that:

About the time that Living Temple was published, there passed before me, in the night season, representations

indicating that some danger was approaching, and that I must prepare for it by writing out the things God had revealed to me regarding the foundation principles of our faith. A copy of Living Temple was sent me, but it remained in my library, unread. From the light given me by the Lord, I knew that some of the sentiments advocated in the book did not bear the endorsement of God, and that they were a snare that the enemy had prepared for the last days. I thought that this would surely be discerned, and that it would not be necessary for me to say anything about it. 37

Had the church leaders discerned the danger of the concepts in Living Temple and moved against it, evidently Mrs. White would have said nothing. Yet her silence would not have been permissive in regard to pantheism. Only when it was clear that the error was gaining ground did she speak out.

Charged to Protest Injustice and Equity

If denying ordination to women were (as some today claim) arbitrary, unjust, and oppressive, we could expect Ellen White to speak out. She stated, “I was charged not to neglect or pass by those who were being wronged. I was specially charged to protest against any arbitrary or overbearing action toward the ministers of the Gospel by those having official authority. Disagreeable though the duty may be, I am to reprove the oppressor, and plead for justice. I am to present the necessity of maintaining justice and equity in all our institutions.” 38

The women who might have been affected by the 1881 resolution were licensed as ministers of the Gospel, but church officials did not see fit to permit their ordination. Mrs. White spoke strongly in favor of the women workers being paid and paid fairly, even from the tithe; 39 she spoke about the importance of supporting aged ministers; 40 she protested against unfair treatment of Black ministers; 41 but she had nothing to say when the General Conference declined to ordain licensed women ministers. Evidently she did not see this as “arbitrary,” “overbearing,” or a matter of “justice and equity.”

Again, one must be careful not to claim too much on the basis of silence. Yet Mrs. White's silence on the ordination issue should make one slow to claim that she gave her support or influence to the cause of bringing women into the ordained pastoral ministry.

The final claim of the scenario we have been examining is that Ellen White called for women to be ordained and for them to be paid from the tithe. We have already examined the passages that are used to say that Mrs. White called for women to be ordained to the Gospel ministry (see Part I, “Did Ellen White Call for Ordaining Women?”), and we have found that they do not make such a call. Yet we must recognize that Mrs. White did call for women to be involved in an active personal ministry, and that she envisioned paying from the tithe the women workers who gave themselves whole-souled to this work, “although the hands of ordination have not been laid” 42 upon them. But there is no basis in her writings or in Adventist history for saying that Mrs. White supported ordination of women to the Gospel ministry.

Mrs. White's View

What then was Mrs. White's view of the ministry of women? Though there are no indications that she called for women to serve as ordained elders or pastors, she presents a broad view of service for women in God's work. She saw women as able to do a great work for Christ in personal contacts, carrying the message for this hour into homes and families. And she recognized and cited important contributions they could make in

various leadership responsibilities in the church as well.

For instance, she called for training to be offered for women in our schools. Speaking of Avondale, the newly opened school in Australia, she said, “The Lord designs that the school should also be a place where a training may be gained in women's work.” After enumerating certain domestic and educational training to be included, she added, “They are to be qualified to take any post that may be offered—superintendents, Sabbath School teachers, Bible workers. They must be prepared to teach day schools for children.” 43

She described the important mission women could fulfill: “Wonderful is the mission of the wives and mothers and the younger women workers. If they will, they can exert an influence for good to all around them. By modesty in dress and circumspect deportment, they may bear witness to the truth in its simplicity. They may let their light so shine before all, that others will see their good works and glorify their Father Which is in Heaven. A truly converted woman will exert a powerful transforming influence for good. Connected with her husband, she may aid him in his work, and become the means of encouragement and blessing to him. When the will and way are brought into subjection to the Spirit of God, there is no limit to the good that can be accomplished.” 44

While Mrs. White emphasizes a husband-wife ministry here, single women (“the younger women workers”) are also included. The type of work is not designated, but would surely include the various lines of work that we have noted before. She says that with modesty and propriety, with the will and way brought into subjection to God, women may let their light shine and may exert a limitless influence for good.

Personal Ministry

In Testimonies , volume 6, Ellen White published an article called “Women to Be Gospel Workers.” Presumably it represents fairly what her view of women as Gospel workers really entailed. In it she stressed the importance of personal work for others, then went on to write of the work that women are to do, after first speaking of what they are to be. “The Lord has a work for women as well as men to do. They may accomplish a good work for God if they will first learn in the school of Christ the precious, all-important lesson of meekness. They must not only bear the name of Christ, but possess His Spirit. They must walk even as He walked, purifying their souls from everything that defiles. Then they will be able to benefit others by presenting the all-sufficiency of Jesus.

“Women may take their places in the work at this crisis, and the Lord will work through them. If they are imbued with a sense of their duty, and labor under the influence of the Spirit of God, they will have just the self-possession required for this time. The Saviour will reflect upon these self-sacrificing women the light of His countenance, and this will give them a power which will exceed that of men. They can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work that reaches the inner life. They can come close to the hearts of those whom men cannot reach. Their labor is needed.

“A direct necessity is being met by the work of women who have given themselves to the Lord and are reaching out to help a needy, sin-stricken people. Personal evangelistic work is to be done. The women who take up this work carry the Gospel to the homes of the people in the highways and the byways. They read and explain the Word to families, praying with them, caring for the sick, relieving their temporal necessities. They present before families and individuals the purifying, transforming influence of the truth.” 45

So the core of her burden for women was that they do personal work with women and families. If done in the right spirit, under the influence of Christ, “the light of His countenance . . . will give them a power which will exceed that of men. . . . Their labor is needed.”

This need is still with us today. Though some urge this need as a reason that women should be ordained, Mrs. White envisioned women performing this ministry without reference to their serving as ordained elders or pastors. She said that such ministry is capable, when rightly done, of exhibiting a power greater than that of men. It is noble work, needed work. In defining women's work in this way, she has in no way belittled it. 46

Such statements appear in many places in Mrs. White's writings. 47 Her view is consistent: without calling for ordination of women as pastors or elders, she urged a vigorous participation of women especially in personal ministry.

Ellen White's view of women's ministry requires no change in church structure or polity, yet its implementation would revolutionize the church's practice. There would be a great increase in personal work being done, both by paid full- and part-time workers and by volunteer laborers. If the work were done in the spirit of Jesus, the women would show a power greater than that of the men. There would be an explosion in the numbers of people won to Christ and His truth through the gentle, appealing ministry of women. There would be healing in the home relationships, as godly women workers challenged men to reflect the self-sacrificing headship of Christ in their own relationship with their wives, and women to honor that headship as they would the headship of Christ. Families would be strengthened, and the church would make a start on the road to showing a world filled with hurting and broken families what a difference the practice of the lordship of Jesus really makes.

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Endnotes

1. Review and Herald , July 9, 1895, p. 434. 2. The assertion, advanced by some, that “church officers” here refers to conference officials is unlikely in view of Ellen White's use twice in this article of the term “conference officers” to refer to this group and her corresponding single use of “officers of the church” to refer to the local church leaders. She seems to have been able to avoid ambiguity on this point. 3. See, for instance, Medical Ministry , p. 140. 4. Evangelism , p. 546 (Manuscript 5, 1908). 5. Ibid., p. 472. 6. Ibid., p. 492 (see also p. 491 for fairness in pay). 7. Ibid., pp. 492, 493. 8. Manuscript 43a, 1898. She protests such practices through much of the manuscript. More of what she says here may be seen in Evangelism , pp. 492, 493, though the material is credited to other, later books and manuscripts of Mrs. White. 9. Ibid. (Manuscript Release #330 [ Manuscript Releases , vol. 5, p. 323]). 10. Ibid. 11. Ellen G. White letter 137, 1898 (Manuscript Release #959), pp. 1, 2 [ Manuscript Releases , vol. 12, pp. 160, 161]. 12. Testimonies for the Church , vol. 6, p. 322.

13. “Experiences in Australia,” p. 53, written in Adelaide, Australia, Oct. 11, 1892 (Manuscript Release #763, pp. 5, 6 [ Manuscript Releases , vol. 9, pp. 343, 344]). 14. Gospel Workers , p. 337. 15. Testimonies for the Church , vol. 5, p. 723. 16. Ibid., vol. 6, pp. 114-118. 17. Ibid., pp. 411-416. 18. Ibid., p. 411. 19. Ibid., pp. 126-140. 20. We are reminded again of the statement quoted earlier: “There are women who should labor in the Gospel ministry. In many respects they would do more good than the ministers who neglect to visit the flock of God" ( Evangelism, p. 472, italics supplied). 21. Manuscript 43a, 1898 (Manuscript Release #267, p. 1 [ Manuscript Releases , vol. 5, p. 29]). 22. Testimonies for the Church , vol. 8, pp. 229, 230. 23. Evangelism , p. 473. 24. Review and Herald , May 9, 1899, p. 293. 25. Ibid. 26. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1976), pp. 581, 582. 27. Testimonies for the Church , vol. 6, pp. 114-116. 28. Ibid., pp. 117, 188. 29. Arthur L. White, “Ellen G. White the Person,” Spectrum 4, No. 2 (Spring 1972), p. 8. The Biographical Information blank is on file at the White Estate office in Washington, D.C. A photocopy is in Document File 701 at the White Estate Branch Office, Andrews University. 30. Review and Herald , Aug. 26, 1875, p . 63 . 31. Ibid., Sept. 12, 1871, p. 102. 32. Ibid., June 12, 1879, p. 190. 33. Letter 32a, 1880. 34. Ibid. This was evidently a problem affecting the church at large, for in the next year Mrs. White published an 82-page pamphlet entitled Bible Sanctification: A Contrast of the True and False Theories (Battle Creek: Steam Press, 1881). This was an edited version of a series of 10 articles published in the Review and Herald between January 18 and May 3, 1881. Their appearance in pamphlet form in the same year of their publication in the Review indicates the importance they held for the church. Bible Sanctification was later republished as The Sanctified Life . 35. Review and Herald , Dec. 20, 1881, p. 392. 36. Ibid. 37. Selected Messages , bk. 1, pp. 202, 203. 38. Review and Herald, July 26, 1906, p. 8 (also in Selected Messages , bk. 1, p. 33). 39. Evangelism , p. 492; see also p. 491 concerning fairness in pay. 40. Ibid. 41. Testimonies for the Church , vol. 9, p. 223. 42. Manuscript 43a, 1898 (also in Gospel Workers , p. 452). 43. Evangelism , p. 475 (Letter 3, 1898). 44. Ibid., pp. 467, 468 (Manuscript 91, 1908). 45. Testimonies for the Church , vol. 6, pp. 117, 118. 46. She cautioned others concerning that danger: “Seventh-day Adventists are not in any way to belittle woman's work” ( Evangelism, pp. 492, 493).

47. See, for example, Christian Service , pp. 27-29; Evangelism , pp. 459-461, 464-478, 491-493; Gospel Workers , pp. 452, 453; Welfare Ministry , pp. 143-166; and Counsels on Health . She also calls for women to become involved in medical missionary work, some as doctors and nurses, and others as nonprofessionals.

Signs of the Times, January 24, 1895, Vol. 21. No. 4, Pg. 3