LaRuelist posts a variety of topics for enjoyment of
its readers and does not intend to promote views of
one position over another. Our vision is to connect
our various communities one person at a time and
stimulate thought and discussion on issues affecting
our daily lives.
Not content to simply limit women’s role in the home
and in marriage as they did during the 1998 meeting,
the Southern Baptist Convention has tried to make
sure that women do not play an important role in
religious matters either. During the 2000 meeting they
passed new rules that women should not serve as
pastors.
Why did they take this radical step — something
relative rare among Protestant denominations today?
According to Rev. Adrian Rogers of Memphis,
Tennessee, chairman of the drafting
committee, “While men and women are gifted ... the
office of pastor is limited to men by Scripture.” Thus, in
1998 women were thus denied leadership roles in
their own families and in 2000 they were also denied
the right to hold leadership roles in their churches.
It is true that these changes were based upon
statements found in the Bible, so it would be wrong to
call these positions “unbiblical.” In both cases,
though, they ignored or rejected verses which could
lead to opposite conclusions. Although the Southern
Baptists claim to be inerrantists, they aren’t really —
they are selective inerrantists. They pick some
passages to treat as inerrant and literal, but not
others.
This is clear in the Southern Baptists’ argument
against the ordination of women. The relevant
passage is in Timothy 2:11: “I permit no woman to
teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep
silent.” The “inerrantist” holds this verse to be an
eternal, universal truth.
In Timothy 2:8 it says: “Women should adorn
themselves modestly and sensibly in seemly apparel,
not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire.”
Do inerrantists confiscate women’s jewelry at the
church door and unbraid their hair? Hardly. They are
picking and choosing which “inerrant” commands
they wish to follow and enforce
