Sunday 11 November 2012

1992 And All That

Twenty years ago today, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to admit women to the presbyterate.

As much as anything else, by compromising the clear New Testament principle of male headship, the Church of England made it that much more difficult to argue for economic policies that enabled fathers to feed, house and clothe their families, and for foreign policies that protected those families from having those fathers torn away from them and harvested on the battlefield.

It seems to realise that now. Hence, at least in part, its deafening silence on and about this anniversary.

5 comments:

  1. How can you bring yourself to be so old-fashioned, in that respect, and anti-women? I'm sorry David but, quite frankly, you seem a disgusting bigot when it comes to your general views on the role of women in society.

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  2. No, I am old-fashioned as to the role of men in society. Not the same thing.

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  3. Well, if you have old-fashioned views about the role of men in society, then, implicitly, you also have old-fashioned views about the role of women in society.

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  4. Not necessarily at all. And not in my case.

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  5. Samuel Fletcher said:
    "How can you bring yourself to be so old-fashioned, in that respect, and anti-women?"

    I suspect that DL is neither of these as he affirms. I suggest too that his view is probably not down to beihg old-fashioned, as to a certain ignorance of plain New Testament teaching about the role of women.
    Commonly such objections are due to a much venerated, but biblically unsound tradition on one hand, and misunderstanding of the two texts in scripture dealing with the place of women,namely 1 Tim. 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.
    The NT is clear, neither the Gospel narratives, nor the recorded words of Jesus EVER put restrictions on the ministry of women.
    New light has been shed on the whole subject by the ground breaking work by Dr Jon Zens in his new book 'What's With Paul & Women? - Unlocking the cultural background of 1 Timothy 2.'
    IMO no more convincing case for the validity of women's ministry has appeared, and this small but powerful book should be read by every male Christian!
    Graham Wood

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