Women in Ministry: The State of Question

The laity of the Church of England voted down allowing women to be bishops yesterday. I was living in England when women were finally allowed to be priests, but this is a surprising set back.  Of course it doesn't come from ministers, who arguably know a little more about the Bible, theology, and church history than the people in the pew.

In England, the issue is not so much the Bible as it is church history.  This is the same issue I believe for the Roman Catholic Church.  When you place so much emphasis on how the church has done things in the past, it's hard to argue for new things on this level.  Still, having crossed the priest barrier, it is interesting that the laity of the church weren't willing to go for bishop.

Of course they will eventually, barring the collapse of the Western world.  I say this because irrationality can only survive against common sense (including spiritual common sense) for so long.  You can't force yourself to be stupid indefinitely (or at least you can't force your children to be stupid without taking them out of the world).

Even in American evangelical circles, it is only the "I'm so in the trees that I can't see the forest" phenomenon that keeps opposition to women in ministry going.  To anyone stepping back and looking at the subject from a safe distance it's overwhelmingly clear that the few instances where the Bible places restrictions on women in leadership are functions of the ancient context, not timeless.

I say this because it doesn't make sense any more than forcing Christians to believe the earth is flat.  Leaving aside that women do lead in Scripture, leaving aside that the underlying principle is not to distinguish between the spiritual dimension of male and female, it is preposterous from any sane perspective.  Women can lead as well as men. Women are as smart as men. Women are as spiritual as men.

An argument for leadership based on genitalia is just an embarrassing point of view, and you can't keep people from noticing forever.  Meanwhile, God is oh so patient.