Women as Clergy... Do they contribute to the advance of progressive Liberalism (revisionism)?

A discussion starter from Peter Toon

Most Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists, who regard themselves as “orthodox” or “biblical” or “evangelical” or all of these, seem to regard the presence of women as ordained clergy as being in general a good thing. In making this assessment they usually are thinking of the ability, the graces and gifts, the charm and compassion of the women and their dedication to the tasks in which they engage. No-one in a rightful mind would doubt that most women clergy are very able and committed ministers, often more gifted then their male counterparts.

However, if the assessment is based, not on the dedication and ability of the women which are very real as we all know, but on the impact that women in leadership and headship roles have upon church doctrine, worship and discipline then the assessment will need to be modified and possibly changed.

The reasons for making this suggestion may be stated in these preliminary terms:

1. The admittance of women as pastors of the flock raises problems about the way the church is to read Scripture and to interpret it as “Word of God” today. There is very clear teaching in the New Testament, which asserts that a man is to be head of the family and also head of the congregation of Christ’s flock. To have women in this position of headship requires that the teaching of the N.T. be regarded as, at least in some cases, culturally conditioned. If so, where does this cultural conditioning begin and end? Any innovation today, which has no specific sanction in Scripture, can be brought into the church by the claim that where it, or something like it, is forbidden in Scripture the whole passage needs to be interpreted by experts to show the amount of cultural and societal conditioning present.

2. The presence of a growing number of women as Ministers has led to the demand that the received biblical language used for naming and addressing GOD be modified so as to be in harmony with the presence of female clergy speaking to God. (If men address God as Father, why cannot women – as does the new Presiding Bishop of the ECUSA – address God as Mother!) That is, to hear masculine terms for Deity from a female minister is deemed odd and she should be able, it is said, to use feminine terms, or at least, a mixture of names and descriptions in order to remove perceived patriarchalism and sexism from “God-talk”. Here we may note that the changing of Names may also mean the changing of identity and thus the changing of doctrine concerning the Nature, Character and Attributes of God and God’s relation to the church and world.

3. The acceptance of women as clergy arose in the 1970s in the main-line denominations not because the churches had studied the Bible and they had seen in its pages a failure by the contemporary churches to obey what is required by the Lord Jesus and his apostles. No! It was very much because of the feminist movement in western society with its call for full rights, dignity and opportunities for women in all job markets, including the churches. On the back of this powerful movement, texts from the Bible and arguments from theology were put forward, but they were essentially in support of what arose in secular culture and rushed into the churches. Thus the presence of women as clergy stands as a permanent sign of the commitment of the churches to justice and human rights for women and as such it encourages other groups (e.g., LesBiGay activists) to base their claims for recognition on human rights and dignity, with fulfillment therapeutically. It may be suggested that the ordaining of women and their deployment has opened a door wide through which others are entering to demand their full rights, and the churches now do not know how to evaluate all these claims.

Other suggestions could be offered but these three are sufficient for the beginning discussion.

Historically the doctrine first used by the Church to explain to pagans why there were no women priests in the churches, when there were women minister at pagan temples, was that of God’s order for creation. God made man in his own image; in the image of God created he male and female (Genesis 1 and taken up by the Lord Jesus). God’s order is that the man is first in order and the woman second (equal in dignity but not in order). And later the doctrine developed that as the Second Person of the Trinity became Incarnate as a Man, then only men whom He calls can be His icon when presiding at the Table of the Lord, where the Heavenly Banquet is experienced, with the exalted Christ Jesus as Host.

The Rev’d Dr. Peter Toon MA., D.Phil (Oxford)
From The CaNN Blog.