WOMEN IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP

The Opinion & Perspective Surrounding Women in Church Leadership



Introduction

THE WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP

Exegetes, who argue that the subordination of women was establish in creation, maintain that the Scriptures teach that the government, leadership, responsibility and initiative lie with the men and women to follow, obey and depend on him their decisions and actions do not fall into the error of Eve. According to these exegetes, Eve was deceived and disappointment took the lead on Adam. So catastrophic was the effect of that act anymore, divine determination, allowed to assume any position of leadership over men. Many evangelicals are afraid to reach conclusions different from those who for centuries have remained, thinking that somehow they are attacking the authority of Scripture. However, if you study the history of exegesis, we note that the abandonment of the traditional interpretation sow not meant the abandonment of biblical authority.

Description

The Women Leadership in the Old Testament.

When we read the Old Testament, we see that there were women who assumed positions of leadership, both in religious life, as in civil, as in the family. The prophetic ministry was the highest religious function in the Old Covenant. The people spoke to God through the priest, but God spoke to people through the prophet. Among these prophets quoted Mary, appointed by God as leader over Israel, with Moses and Aaron, as we read in Micah 6:4. Also mentioned Huldah, a Prophetess who exercised his ministry during the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34).

This woman used by God to show his will to a king, a High Priest, and a whole people, promoting a powerful religious reform. The Old Testament tells also the lives of several women who altered the course of history, including Ester and especially Deborah whom we presented both as Prophetess and as judge. The village was facing three kinds of difficulties: religious disintegration, military defeat, and lack of political leadership to solve people's problems. God's answer to their cry, in a patriarchal society, was a woman. As a Prophetess, she assumed the spiritual leadership and a judge exercised judicial and political power. Under his leadership, the people of Israel enjoyed 40 years of peace.

The leadership of women in the New Testament

Paul also mentions four women who worked in the work of the Lord: Mary, Tryphena, Trypho, and Persis (Romans 16:6, 12). The verb Paul uses to refer to these women is 'Kopiao'. Paul commends ...