Should women be ministers, priests or deacons in the Christian faiths? or is this a sin? (REAL QUESTION)?

Question

The reason I ask this question is because members of my family say that it is very wrong for a women to preach God's word or be a leader in the church. The reason they say that it wrong is because this puts a woman in authority over men in the church ,which they are is very wrong. They also say that it says this is the Bible.

Here are my questions.

*If you believe this is a sin please explain why. I want to learn more about your point of view.

*If you believe this is not a sin please explain why. I want to learn more about your point of view.

*What position in the church do you believe a woman can have? Deacon, teacher (like bible school teacher), Minister, song leader, ect ?

I want to hear both sides of the story.

(I hope this does not offend any one, because I am truly curious about this)

Answer 1

1. i dont beleive this is a sin!
2. women can do anything men can do! as long as they preach and teach and speak the gospel it really doesnt matter which gender does this!
3.any position that god leads her to!

Answer 2

I will try to answer your question but in the end it would be more appropriate to ask if women should allow the church to be in their lives? The bible says many things about what women should and should not do, including their limited participation in religious affairs. That is why Orthodox Jews (those who stick closest to the original texts) do not allow women to even read from the Torah (bible) or participate in any religious function, let alone hold any official positions. In fact women and men are separated at the place of worship. The Christian church as a continuation of the Jewish religion held on to these rules. So if you believe in a fundamental interpretation of the bible then, yes, it would be a "sin". But you (and most Christians) are not abiding by many things in the Bible (such as keeping Kosher, or killing people with different beliefs ). So why is the tradition/rule of not allowing women to hold church offices continued?

As a person you have three choices. (1.)You can practice a different interpretation of the bible, and join a church that does allow women to hold clerical positions, (2)you can stay in your church which ignores some parts of the bible, but still does not allow women to be clergy or (3) you could find a religious path that is not based on the bible.

Answer 3

I dont think it is a sin no. However I dont believe that a woman should be a preacher or deacon. Teachers yes. The main reason is that men dont listen and learn as well from a women.
I guess I am a little old fashioned but I would not go to a church that a woman was the preacher.
God made us different and therfore made us good for different things!

Answer 4

Yes! According to Genesis in Hebrew Bible the first creation myth men and women were created at the same time by the Elohim. As equals and co creators. Partners.

the author of the second story adam and eve, was biased in that he or she had eve created from adam's rib, to reflect the hebrews' notion that women should serve men

Women can have any position in the church as a man. some of the best ministers i've heard have been women. we were put hear as equals

Answer 5

Although it is not wrong for a woman to teach ( as in other women, younger children, as part of a couple teaching other couples), I believe that it is wrong for women to serve as a pastor or deacon unless their is NO MAN able to fulfill or serve in that position. Yes, we are all one in the eyes of God, but because of the sin of Eve, we all share in her original sin and are to be submissive to man. Some women think this is a negative thing, but we have to remember that the man is held accountable for the actions of his wife and children as well as his own actions. That is a lot if responsibility! (I am a female servant of God and serve as Youth Sunday School teacher with my husband, Vacation Bible School director, church moderator, and various other positions in our church.)

Answer 6

I don't think it's a sin because I know female clergy and they do the same things as male clergy and do them just as well.

In Catholic school, I asked once why women couldn't be Catholic priests, and the lame-*** answer I got was "well, Christ was a man." But in those times, if he had been a woman, he would never have been allowed to go around preaching!

Anyway, that answer was, and remains, not good enough for me.

Answer 7

Greetings brother in Christ, I'll try to avoid entering any controversy, but instead would like to offer some comments on the types of words used in the scriptures to describe the believer's calling and role in ministry. First, all of us Christians are ministers in the sense of being servants of Christ. Some are called to lead the Church in more obvious positions. The Bible has several terms: Presbyter--translated sometimes as "elder", the English word "priest" probably coming from this root. Deacon--a transliteration (also) of a Greek word "diakonos", meaning servant, minister, or messenger, probably refers to a lower lever church leader Bishop--from the Greek "episcopos", meaning overseer, one who has jurisdiction over a large flock, possibly a whole city Pastor--from the word for shepherd, a leader of the local flock There are other words as well. Some have noted that Paul talks about a "fivefold" ministry, consisting of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). These terms seem to speak of the individual believer's ministerial calling apart from the administration of the church body. It can be very confusing. A military person might draw an analogy with the two different chains of command that exist in time of war--administrative and operational. Sometimes the two coincide, usually at the lower levels. The fivefold ministry would be operational, for purposes of doing battle against the enemy. The deacon, presbyter, bishop chain of command would be administrative, serving to provide all the needs of the local church body-- a meeting place, services to the needy, dealing with worldly authorities, etc. The pastor would occupy a key position in both chains of command. The title Pope, coming from the Latin for father, is given to the Bishop of Rome as a special doctrine in Roman Catholicism. While it is not found in the Bible, the history of granting some pre-eminence to the Bishop of Rome is a long one. It is not clear, at least in my mind, when it began and why. That Peter was the first Pope is a matter of tradition, taken on faith, having no authority from the scriptures, other than interpretive extrapolations from symbolic passages: e.g. "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I shall build my church..." and "I give you the keys to the kingdom, whatever you bind, etc." In the epistles attributed to Peter, he makes no claims of having any supreme authority. He doesn't even mention Rome except in a disparaging way. Some of the problems we have to look at when we are talking about Church authority from the perspective of the New Testament. Yours in Christ, Nick Sorry, I didn't even touch upon the woman in ministry question. It's sufficient, in my mind, to say, "in Christ, there is neither woman nor man..."

Answer 8

The scriptures are very clear that women are not to teach or ursurp authority over men and yes Mary was the mother of Jesus but that didn't give her authority to teach men. She was just a normal person who who found favor with the Lord and was chosen to bring the Savior into the world and ultimately watch Him die on the cross. She wouldn't have been able to teach to men but she most likely would be able to teach other women.

Answer 9

It is not a sin a woman is not to have dominion over a man but that does not include what God wants to use her for Galations 3:27-28= For as many of you as have been baptized in to Christ have put on Christ 28=There is neither Jew or greek there is neither bond or free:there is neither male or female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,= God using a women to preach, teach,prophesy,or walk in any of the offices of the church,we are all one in spirit,now he did give instructions for marriage and what a women should and should not do,a man is the covering for a women,a women should be submissive to her husband,and a man is the head but a women is not beneath her husband and she is to walk at his side,a womens position in the church is based on the call God gave her and she is to have the support of her spiritual father and mother for God gives us shepherds to watch over our souls after his own heart and the support of her husband.

Answer 10

I do not think this is a sin, because, even in the Bible, it mentions priestesses and prophetesses. As long as they were under G-d's authority, they took no authority themselves. They simply acted as a vessel through which He speaks and works; likewise with a man.

As long as G-d is calling her to the position, I don't think anything should disenable her to take it. And likewise with a man.

This has nothing to do with "women's right's" or anything; this has everything to do with G-d's will. He will sometimes use a woman to speak to people because of the certain qualities she has, and likewise with a man.