In many countries, Society is changing and demands are made that the Church should change too, in order to keep up with the times. In the seventies it was called Woman's Lib, now it is termed Sexual Equality or Equal Rights. Whatever the term, the objectives are the same; to ensure that woman are not treated less favourably than men in our society. So Should this equality be extended into the church and if not, why not?

Often, the Bible is thought to be biased against women. At best they think it depicts a Society where women were inferior and this should not be binding upon us today. But is this really the case?
This has never been the view of the Christadelphians, as this extract will show - Robert Roberts writing on the role of women in the church in 1879

If one looks at the women of the Bible, there are many examples of women doing "men's jobs" or in business for themselves or working equally alongside men. Let's look at some of them.

The Wife of Noble Character

In Proverbs 31 we find the "wife of Noble Character". As well as running the household, (Verse 16)

"She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard."

As a result of successfully juggling family, home and career, (verse 25)

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

And the chapter concludes: (Verse 31)

"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

In Judges 4, we can read the story of Deborah, who judged Israel. Admittedly, this was not usually done by a woman, but there can be no doubt that she had God's blessing. She made a good job of defeating Israel's enemies and Israel had peace for 40 years.

New Testament Women

In the New Testament, we have in Acts 16 the story of Lydia, Seller of Purple. Again, she was a successful businesswoman with her own house and business.

In Acts 18, we have the story of Priscilla and Aquila. Not only did Priscilla work alongside her husband Aquila as a tentmaker, but they also travelled together in the service of spreading the Gospel. In Romans 16:3, Paul called her one of his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus". In 1 Corinthians 16:19, we learn that she and Aquila held a church in their house.

Submission

So why would these faithful women who were equal in many ways, both in their everyday life and their work for the Gospel, take a secondary or submissive role in the church? Why should they? Does it not say in scripture;

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)?

Yes, this important verse is in scripture and talks of both unity and equality. All have one hope in Jesus and all are equal in the eyes of God. So what is to stop women performing the same duties or activities if we are all one in Christ Jesus?

The Priesthood

Although the Aaronic priesthood has been done away with, it is still there as a point of comparison. Whilst women performed many roles, including prophetess, Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Anna (Luke 2:36) etc., the priesthood was always male and because the law was a shadow of things to come (Hebrews 10:1), it is not surprising that Jesus chose twelve men to be his chosen Apostles. (Mark 3:14). Likewise, the early church followed this example (Acts 6:5, for instance). There are a couple of instances where the New International Version of the Bible has introduced the word "deaconess", but other major versions such as the KJV and the NKJV have the words "wife" and "servant of the church".

Symbolism

But why does that tradition have to be applied now? Why can't women lead meetings? Why can't we move with the times? Well firstly, the Hebrews 13:8, states that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and Malachi 3:6 states "For I am the LORD, I do not change". Whilst everything around us is in a constant state of flux, the Message of the Bible is an unchanging rock that we can cling to.

In the Bible, there is a powerful symbol to represent Christ and his church and that is the Groom and his Bride (Matthew 25), which points forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). Therefore, when a man presides at a Breaking of Bread ceremony, he is representing Jesus, breaking the bread and pouring out the wine. This is why certain clear instructions are present in the Bible to prevent women from taking this role.

1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 14:34
Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
1 Timothy 2:12
And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

These verses cannot be ignored or put down to the social climate in the days when they were written, because it is more important than that. If we ignore there verses, we ignore the teachings and practice of Jesus, we ignore the inspired writings of Paul and we break the wonderful symbolism of Christ and his Bride.

Conclusion

Hopefully, we have seen the many examples from Scripture prove that although there are certain tasks within the Church that cannot be carried out by women, this is not consigning them to the status of second-class citizens. Rather, it is in obedience to God that we play out these roles while this present flawed world system exists. In the age to come, when the marriage supper of the Lamb has taken place, such differing roles will be replaced:

"… for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:4 & 5)