Thursday, September 08, 2011

Biblical identification of a female pastor and a female apostle.

When it comes to the question of whether or not the Word of God forbids women to pastor a church, we should not overlook the fact that Paul identified a woman who had a church in her home. The New International Version of Colossians 4:15 reads, "Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house." If Nympha had a church in her house, then it stands to reason that she was probably functioning in a pastoral role; afterall, the church was in her house. The early translators realized this as well and was not able to fathom a woman in the position of pastor. They apparently assumed that the scribes must have made some kind of mistake. So instead of leaving the Greek as is, they changed the name of Nympha to Nymphas and had the scripture to read "Nymphas and the church in his house." The King James Version reads, "Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house." Most of us know by now that the English translation of the New International Version of the Bible is closer to representing what the Hebrew and Greek actually say as compared to the King James Version and other earlier English translations. There is no doubt that Paul was referring to a woman who had a church in her house. And we can't overlook the fact that during those times church services were held in homes. It is interesting that earlier translators attempted to erase the fact that the passage is referring to a woman and not to a man. What would make the earlier translators change the gender of who Paul was referring to? I think the answer is that they just couldn't wrap their minds around the fact that a woman was over a church. In addition to Nympha, the Elect Lady of 2 John should not be ignored. The entire letter implies the pastoral leadership of a woman.

Finally, not only has a woman (Nympha) been identified in scripture as operating in the function of pastor, but a woman has also been identified as an apostle. The New International Version of Romans 16:7 reads, "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was." Junia is a female name. Therefore Paul has identified a woman as not only an apostle, but an outstanding one at that.

6 comments:

Ashante Itano said...

Hello. My name is Christopher Campbell and this discussion is one of my personal studies that I am doing because I believe in this day and age a woman should pastor but the bible states that an overseer should be a man with one wife 1Tim 3:2. Now I have looked into Phoebe as well hoping I would find something contradictory which I think I have but tell me what you think. The bible says she was a helper of God. Greek translation "Deacon" or the femininity "Deaconess"In 1Tim 3 it also says that a deacon must be a husband with one wife. This is were Im stuck. In our day and age we call a decones wife a deconess but we don't hold them to the same standards as the husband the are designed to be a "helper". The bible doesn't go into detail about her life or even if she was married I believe that since it cant be proven we would have to go on what we have but you can always go to God. I know plenty of women that go through seminary but Im not sure what they are doing with it. Im sorry but your point about Nymphas having church in her home is not concrete evidence since being I have had church in my home but im not a pastor and the church I attend started out in a members home as well and she wasn't a pastor. You don't have to be a pastor to have church in a home. Church is simply an act of worship. It doesn't matter where you do it as long as he gets the praise.

Anonymous said...

You give an example of "a woman with a church in her home" but you ignore the way Jesus set up the church. Do I want to follow what Man (in this case a woman) dictates as the leadership of the church or do I want to follow Jesus' teachings? Jesus recognized the important role women have in society, people who want female Pastors do not. The only real reason for this kind of discussion is jealousy and the need to be in power over men. It has no religious basis nor respect the for the sexes and how we relate to each other. It is an argument of dominance. It does not respect men and is a feminist view that women are better.

She may have been outstanding and a wonderful example as you state. But that does not mean we change or negate Jesus' leadership and what he set down.

Elreta Dodds said...

Hello Christopher. This is part 1 of my response. First of all I sincerely apologize for not getting back with you sooner. In response to your comments you expressed the following: "The Bible states that an overseer should be a man with one wife, 1Tim 3:2. Verses 1-2 read as such from the King James Version: "This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. However, the NIV translates "if a man desire" to "whoever desires" which goes along with the Greek Interlinear translation which reads, "if anyone aspires." Whoever and anyone are words that are not gender specific. However, there is no doubt that the content of the entire passage is spoken in the male vernacular and lends towards the position that it is more expedient for a man to serve in the position of overseer as opposed to a woman; but the passage never forbids women to serve in the position, and therefore neither should we. The spiritual gift of pastor/teacher is not gender specific and applies to both genders. If women are forbidden to pastor, it would seem that Paul would have specifically indicated that only men are given the spiritual gift of pastor. But this is not the case. Ephesians 4:8 reads, “This is why it says:“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” Ephesians 4:11reads, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. Verse 8 says that God gave gifts to his people and then verse 11 includes pastor/teacher as an example of two of those gifts. The question then becomes: Does "God's people" only apply to men? Well, it would have to only apply to men if we are to say that women are forbidden to pastor. But we know that women, who are in the Lord, are included as God's people. So, what good is it to give someone a gift and then forbid them to use it? We also know that in Christ, men and women are equals as attested to in Galatians 3:28.
Some would argue that Paul forbid women to speak in the church and this therefore proves that women cannot pastor, for how can they pastor without speaking? But the counterargument would be thus: if women are not to speak in the church then what do we do with Phoebe? In her role as deaconess of the church of Cenchreae (Romans 16:1) she would certainly have to be able to speak in the church. We conclude therefore that Paul must have said this in response to a certain custom or practice that was going on at the time. When we look at the history of church service protocol during that time; we see this is indeed the case. You also said the following, "it also says that a deacon must be the husband of one wife. This is where I'm stuck. In our day and age we call a deacon's wife a deaconess but we don't hold them to the same standards as the husband; they are designed to be the helper." When we look at Phoebe, we see no mention of her being married. Paul mentions her solely as a deaconess of the church and tells the church as a whole to respect her in the position that she is in and to give her any help that she needs. There is no indication that she was operating second to a husband. Additionally, 1Timothy 3:8 begins begins by saying, "in like manner the deacons must be worthy of respect..." Then the 11th verse reads (KJV), "Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers..." However the NIV reads, "In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect..." So now we must look into the Greek. Here's a helpful explanation that I pulled off the Internet: "Greek word gunaikas translated wives here can mean either ‘wives’ or ‘women’…if the meaning is ‘women,’ he is allowing that women as well as men can fill the office of Shamash. At Romans 16:1 Sha’ul calls Phoebe a Shamash; his use of the masculine form of the Greek word “diakonos,” suggests that he is in fact referring to the office and not just describing her as a worker.” (http://www.rabdavis.org/Womans%20Role.htm).

Elreta Dodds said...

Hello Christopher. This is part 2 of my response. As it pertains to Nympha, you're right when you say that the fact that she had a church in her home could mean that someone else was the overseer of it. However, it could also mean that she was the overseer of it. Both possibilities exist. Furthermore, the fact that the early translators changed her name from feminine to masculine is indicative of something that they wanted to hide. They must have known that the content strongly indicates that Nympha was overseer over the church in her home, otherwise what other reason would they have to change her name to masculine and to change the identifier pronoun from she to he? So overall, this is what we have: Women are not excluded from receiving the gift of pastor/teacher, women are not forbidden to pastor, and we can't rule out that Nymhpa was a pastor just as we can't rule out that she wasn't. In addition, if indeed women are not supposed to pastor men, there is certainly no restriction that bars them from pastoring women and children. If then the church feels that women should not oversee men in the office of pastor; then when they see it happening, they should not try to sit her down, but instead they should go to the men and tell them not to sit under her; thereby allowing her to continue in her gift. The church acts as if the men who sit under women pastors are forced to do so. But they are not. It is their decision. So, if it is the wrong decision then I say don't stop the woman from doing what God has called her to do; but instead go to the man sitting under her and admonish him. The woman should be left alone. I would rather mistakenly encourage someone to operate in a calling that they are not called to (as long as that person is presenting the word of God correctly) than discourage someone from operating in a calling that they are indeed called to. Therefore, I will not discourage women from the pastorate.

Steve Finnell said...

WHO IS IN CHARGE?


Who is responsible for oversight of the church of Christ?


First let us establish that Jesus Christ is head of His church.


Colossians 1:13-18.....18 He is also head of the body, the church......


Ephesians 5:23...as Christ also is the head of the church....


The question remains who are the men responsible for the oversight of the Lord's church?


Did God put a pastor, a bishop, an elder, or an overseer in charge of shepherding His church?


Pastor, bishop, elder and overseer are the same office.


Men were given the oversight of each, local, church of Christ.


Acts 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they believed.


Elders (plural) were appointed in each church congregation.


Titus 1:5-7 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.....7 For the overseer must be above reproach....


Elders were appointed in every city where there was a church of Christ. Elders were also referred to as overseers (some translations use the word bishops).


Acts 20:17-28 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.......28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.


Notice: Elders (plural), and overseers (plural). Elders and overseers are used interchangeably and are told to shepherd the church.


1 Peter 5:1-2 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you exercising oversight...


Note: Elders (plural), were told to shepherd the flock of God. Peter said he was one of the elders. Peter did not say he was the Pope or the Head Elder.


Ephesians 4:11And He gave some......as pastors.....


The word pastor means shepherd.


Elder, bishop, overseer and pastor are all the same office and they are to shepherd the local churches of Christ.


The oversight of the local church is to be a plurality of ELDERS (overseers, bishops, pastors).


There is no mention in the Bible of one pastor ruling a single church. There is no Scripture indicating one man should rule a world wide church. There is nothing in the Bible that tells us to set up a church board to oversee the local church. God never set up different denominations to be ruled by groups of men. There is no office of Pope or priest mentioned under the New Covenant church of Christ.


JESUS CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH! A PLURALITY OF ELDERS ARE TO HAVE OVERSIGHT OF EACH LOCAL CONGREGATION.


(All Scripture quotes from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)


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Jan Zizka said...

2628God bless you.
What is your understanding of 1Thimoth2:11-15,which says woman(wives) shouldn't teach or have authority over man(husband).
If so how can a husband sit under the authority of his wife who is the senior pastor/leader of the church?