toldailytopic: Women preaching from the pulpit. Is it wrong? |
Yes.
LBC 1689: 26.9
The way appointed by Christ for calling any person qualified and gifted by the Holy Spirit for the office of bishop or elder, is that
he is to be chosen by the communal vote of the church itself.
He shall be solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer, with the laying on of hands by the elders of the church (if there are any previously appointed bishops or elders).
Similarly, a deacon is also to be chosen by vote of the church and set apart by prayer, with the laying on of hands.
Belgic Confession, Article 30
We believe that this true church must be governed by that spiritual policy which our Lord hath taught us in His Word, namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and to administer the sacraments; also elders and deacons, who, together with the pastors, form the council of the church; that by these means the true religion may be preserved and the true doctrine everywhere propagated, likewise transgressors punished and restrained by spiritual means; also that the poor and distressed may be relieved and comforted, according to their necessities. By these means everything will be carried on in the church with good order and decency, when
faithful men are chosen according to the rule prescribed by St. Paul in his epistle to Timothy.
WCF:
Nothing explicit on the topic of male ministers as the WCF is saturated with the concept of male leadership throughout, making the matter moot.
Finally, and most importantly, there is Holy Writ:
1 Ti 3:1 The saying [is] trustworthy: if anyone aspires to supervision, he desires a good work.
1 Ti 3:2 Therefore the overseer must be irreproachable,
the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, skillful in teaching,
1 Ti 3:3 not addicted to wine, not a violent person, but gentle, peaceable, not loving money,
1 Ti 3:4 managing his own household well, having children in submission with all dignity
1 Ti 3:5 (but if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),
1 Ti 3:6 not newly converted, lest he become conceited [and] fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1 Ti 3:7 But [he] must also have a good testimony from those outside, in order that he may not fall into disgrace and the trap of the devil.
See also Titus 1:6.
Now some women occupying some pulpits may claim to be the "husband of one wife", :AMR:, but I, ahem, disagree.
The matter is not cultural, but is grounded in the creation and the fall. See 1 Tim 2:13. And please don't appeal to Galatians 3:28 with some sort of egalitarian interpretive lens, the same hermeneutical lens that is used to justify homosexuality.
See also:
http://www.apuritansmind.com/pastors-study/the-public-preaching-of-women-by-r-l-dabney/
http://www.apuritansmind.com/pastor...king-in-the-church-by-dr-benjamin-b-warfield/
Getting the distinctions between the roles of men and women is vital here. A good starting place for resources on the matter:
http://www.cbmw.org
Quite simply, women teaching men in a church is an act of rebellion.
AMR