Concerning Women in Christian Ministry - VII

COMMON OBJECTIONS

In this final section of the paper I want to deal briefly with some common objections to our (new) stance on women in ministry. One of the objections is commonly called “The Hierarchical Argument” and seems, at first, to be a good one. Many reputable people still hold to this view and there is initially some good biblical support for it.

Another objection is, honestly, a straw man argument. I would not include this second argument (or a response to it) except that it raises its ugly and poorly thought-through head in conversations both academic and pastoral. The basic objection is that we are twisting Scripture, though it is usually presented much more emotionally than cognitively.

I will try and deal with each of these objections in turn, respectively and graciously, as well as some others.