Here We Go…

I was eating with one David Butcher this evening, and somehow, the topic of women in ministry came up. So, per this conversation, 3 (hopefully objective & constructive) things, now reworded to avoid any confusion:

• I mentioned to Dave (thanks to Shawn) that Galatians 3:28 is typically taken out of context to justify the equality of men and women, and I wanted to re-read it in context to make sure my statement was correct. All of chapter 3 covers grace and the topic of justification through faith alone, and verse 28 in context states that grace was extended to all, and that have put on Christ and become recipitents of grace, by grace.  It states that all are equal candidates for grace.  Equal/equality are very loaded words in the first place.
• 1 Timothy 2:8-15 -8I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10but with what is proper for women who profess godliness–with good works. 11Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15Yet she will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. Paul appeals here to more than just the context of any specific church, citing a specific difference between men and women that goes back to the creation of the world. I agree that verse 12 is one of the most taken-out-of-context verses in the Bible, and the following verse needs to be taken into consideration as well.  There is a reason why people have such huge discussions on this passage; it can’t be written off so easily as the far-left or far-right tend to do so.
• Romans 16:1 (ESV): “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae…” The Greek word diakonos, rendered ’servant’ in this verse of the ESV, is translated ‘deacon’ elsewhere in the NT……….what?! Why is it not translated ‘deacon’? There had better be a good explanation for this, and hopefully it’s more than conservatives with agendas translating the Bible.