Do you think women should be quiet in the church? do you think women should serve in the church?

8/13/2007 3:47:24 PM by Dash22, Member of Delve into Jesus since 8/13/2007

By "quiet", do you mean "passive"? No, I don't think so at all. Women should be encouraged to serve. Any church that does not have women serving in ministry will be greatly impoverished. Now, it's a matter of some debate whether or not women should serve as pastors, but since you did not ask, I will not offer my opinion on that one!

8/13/2007 3:51:12 PM by arsindelve, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries

Romans 16:1-5
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. 2 Welcome her in the Lord as one who is worthy of honor among Gods people. Help her in whatever she needs, for she has been helpful to many, and especially to me.
3 Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. 4 In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. 5 Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.

I think that Paul spoke to selected audiences regarding women in different churches. Here, obviouosly there is a female deacon, where in other places he visited, he obviously said that men should be deacons and pastors.

I respect people like Joyce Meyer and Sheila Walsh who are wonderful warriors for Christ!

Kim (another warior for Christ!)

1/10/2008 9:11:53 PM by solagratia, Member of Delve into Jesus since 1/10/2008

Yes, that's exactly right! When people say that women should not teach, they are typically referring to 1 Tim 2:

"11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet."

.....But....It's so very important, as Solagratia says, that we understand that this was a command to the church in Ephesus and was not intended to be a command for all churches. If that were so, how could you explain the verses in Romans above?

To elaborate, let me quote from the Tyndale Life Application Study Notes:

"To understand these verses, we must understand the situation in which Paul and Timothy worked. In first-century Jewish culture, women were not allowed to study. When Paul said that women should "learn quietly and submissively," he was offering them an amazing new opportunity. Paul did not want the Ephesian women to teach because they didn't yet have enough knowledge or experience. The Ephesian church had a particular problem with false teachers. Evidently the women were especially susceptible to the false teachings (2Ti 3:1-9) because they did not yet have enough biblical knowledge to discern the truth. In addition, some of the women were apparently flaunting their newfound Christian freedom by wearing inappropriate clothing (2:9). Paul was telling Timothy not to put anyone (in this case, women) into a position of leadership who was not yet mature in the faith (see 5:22). The same principle applies to churches today"

1/11/2008 8:57:14 PM by tom, Member of Delve into Jesus since 4/26/2007

Funny, my husband asked me the other day how I could believe in a God who thinks women should be submissive and to him clearly I am a feminist! I was a little tongue tied at the time so I couldn't answer anything. I shall refer my husband to this discussion :)...Though I must say, those of us who are not into studying history (and I must plead guilty on this aspect), it could be taken the wrong way!

1/13/2008 5:34:36 AM by Sandya, Member of Delve into Jesus since 1/7/2008

SANDYA, THAT IS SO TRUE WHEN I READ THAT SCRIPTURE, I HAD TO RE READ IT OVER AND OVER AND TALK TO MY PASTOR ABOUT IT, YOU REALLY HAVE TO KNOW THE SCRIPTURE'S WHOLE MEANING, OR YOU CAN TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY,

4/16/2008 3:30:14 PM by LORIL, Member of Delve into Jesus since 3/24/2008