The essay is available here.
Highlight:
“The new exegesis on roles in the Church often uses culture as an argument against the traditional view. Liberals will of course simply reject the teachings of St. Paul. They say he was culturally biased and wrong. St. Paul is not viewed as Scriptural due to his cultural prejudice in his instruction to Corinthian women, namely, that they were told to be “silent in the church.” Although Biblical and conservative Christianity has never understood the Greek word for silence to mean no speaking, liberals use statements such as the aforementioned to reduce St. Paul to cultural irrelevance.
On the other hand, conservative Christians who support women in the presbyterate take another approach. They uphold the Biblical place of St. Paul. According to their new exegesis, however, they say the apostle actually allowed for women in the presbyterate. In his ancient time women in the priesthood would have been unacceptable. For the sake of the spread of the Gospel, men only were admitted into the presbyterate. But today is different. Now for the reason of promoting Christ in modern and post‐modern culture where women are accepted in leadership, the Church can fully apply Scripture. Females not only can, but should be admitted into the priesthood.
The flaw in the cultural arguments of the new exegesis is precisely in the area of accurately understanding the culture of the ancient Greco Roman world. The fact is that the world of St. Paul was one of females in the priesthood in virtually every city and on every corner. It was a culture completely comfortable with women at the altars and shrines of their pagan gods. For this reason, it would probably have been even easier for St. Paul to admit women into the priesthood in the ancient world. Instead, it was Christianity that converted the City of Ephesus from worshipping the goddess Diana and concomitantly having female priests. If ever there were an opportunity for St. Paul to set up women presbyters, it would have been in the Church raised up at ancient Ephesus. He didn’t. The Biblical text of Acts 20 where he gathers the presbuteros, masculine gender in the Greek text, is clear.”
Highlight:
“The new exegesis on roles in the Church often uses culture as an argument against the traditional view. Liberals will of course simply reject the teachings of St. Paul. They say he was culturally biased and wrong. St. Paul is not viewed as Scriptural due to his cultural prejudice in his instruction to Corinthian women, namely, that they were told to be “silent in the church.” Although Biblical and conservative Christianity has never understood the Greek word for silence to mean no speaking, liberals use statements such as the aforementioned to reduce St. Paul to cultural irrelevance.
On the other hand, conservative Christians who support women in the presbyterate take another approach. They uphold the Biblical place of St. Paul. According to their new exegesis, however, they say the apostle actually allowed for women in the presbyterate. In his ancient time women in the priesthood would have been unacceptable. For the sake of the spread of the Gospel, men only were admitted into the presbyterate. But today is different. Now for the reason of promoting Christ in modern and post‐modern culture where women are accepted in leadership, the Church can fully apply Scripture. Females not only can, but should be admitted into the priesthood.
The flaw in the cultural arguments of the new exegesis is precisely in the area of accurately understanding the culture of the ancient Greco Roman world. The fact is that the world of St. Paul was one of females in the priesthood in virtually every city and on every corner. It was a culture completely comfortable with women at the altars and shrines of their pagan gods. For this reason, it would probably have been even easier for St. Paul to admit women into the priesthood in the ancient world. Instead, it was Christianity that converted the City of Ephesus from worshipping the goddess Diana and concomitantly having female priests. If ever there were an opportunity for St. Paul to set up women presbyters, it would have been in the Church raised up at ancient Ephesus. He didn’t. The Biblical text of Acts 20 where he gathers the presbuteros, masculine gender in the Greek text, is clear.”
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