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Carolyn Goodman Plampin http://home.netcom.com/~cplampin

Series-Subjects Relevant to an Informed Opinion about Christian Women in Ministry

'POSITIVE' PASSAGES ON WOMEN IN MINISTRY
IN THE GOSPELS AND ACTS

First created in January, 1996, Revised January 10, 2007

Baptist Women in Ministry http://www.bwim.info/index.php/welcome
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Questions, comments, or suggestions
of bibliography or sites to include may be sent to
Carolyn Goodman Plampin
Coordinator Subjects Relevant to an Informed Opinion
1220 Vienna Dr., #504
Sunnyvale, CA 94089-2007
(408) 734-5141
Master of Teaching, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil, March 20, 1968
Master of Divinity, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, June 2, 1978
Missionary to Brazil of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1957-1988
Academic dean (without title) and professor, Instituto Biblico Batista, A.B. Deter and
Seminário Teológico Batista do Paraná, Curitiba, 1959-1979
Academic dean and professor, Seminário de Educacao Crista, Recife, 1980-1986
e-mail: cplampin@ix.netcom.com

Very few people are looking at the "positive" passages on women in ministry in the New Testament. You should consult the bibliography cited or commentaries on these.

01. When God brought to fruition His eternal plan of salvation, God worked through a woman. The angel said to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Today many churches will not permit a woman to serve the Lord's Supper, which represents the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and yet Mary carried in her body and gave birth to this very body and blood and no human father had a part.

02. Elizabeth was "filled with the Holy Spirit," and proclaimed to Mary: "Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" Elizabeth is called a preacher (prophetess) (Luke 1:41-45).

03. Mary's song of joy: "My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior," was a great outpouring of preaching (prophecy) (Luke 1:46-56).

04. Anna was a preacher (prophetess) and a pastor (presbuteras/presbutides) called widow, "she never left the temple, serving night and day ... she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:36-38). Anna resided and preached not just in a synagogue but in the Temple.

05.The Samaritan woman was taught profound spiritual truths by Jesus and he revealed himself for the first time to her as the Messiah when he said: "I who speak to you am He" (John 4:26). And "many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman" (John 4:5-42).

06. "He began going about from one city and village to another ... and the twelve were with Him, and also some women" (Luke 8:1-3). From my earliest childhood I was taught the Bible stories in such a way that I believed that women did not accompany Jesus, but were casually present at the events and places where Jesus and the male disciples and apostles had gone. What an eye opener to discover them as they really were:

• being a part of the group that accompanied Jesus "from Galilee" to the cross;
  
• accompanying Jesus on the dangerous journey up to Jerusalem;
  
• being present when Jesus didn't want anyone to know for he was "teaching his disciples;"
  
• being present at the Last Supper;
  
• being present at the foot of the cross;
  
• being early at the tomb;
  
• being present after the ressurection;
  
• being chosen by God to see Jesus some twelve hours before the men;
  
• being commissioned to tell the others, even Peter;
  
• being commissioned to organize the meeting in Galilee;
  
• receiving the Great Commission.

This is confirmed in Matt. 27:55-56, Mark 15:40-41, Luke 23:49, Luke 23:55, Acts 13:31.

07.Jesus elevated discipleship over motherhood: "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it" (Luke 8:19-21, Matt. 12:46-50, Mark 3:31).

Jesus again elevates discipleship over motherhood when a woman in the crowd called out "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed," Jesus said: "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it" (Luke 11:27-28).

08. Jesus' treatment of the woman with a menstrual problem single-handedly abolished the only truly theological reason against women in ministry, that by Old Testament Law women were unclean during pregnancy and menstruation "she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed" (Lev. 12:4 see 12:1-8, also see Lev. 15:19-33), Mark 5:25-34, Matt. 9:20-22, Luke 8:43-48.)
See Marla J. Selvidge, WOMAN, CULT, AND MIRACLE RECITAL, A REDACTIONAL CRITICAL INVESTIGATION ON MARK 5:24-34 (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1990).
Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schussler. IN MEMORY OF HER (New York: Crossroad, 1983).
The Woman with the Flow of Blood Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48. http://users.drew.edu/aisasidi/cd/flow.html.

09. Women must take a stand for Jesus Christ in the face of opposition: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Matt. 10:34-36).

10. Mary of Bethany "was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet," which signifies that she was a recognized student of Jesus, and Jesus said "Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).

11.Jesus laid his hands upon the woman bent double, she was cured, and spoke in the synagogue "glorifying God" (Luke 13:10-13). Read Bushnell's comments on this passage: "Men might have been not merely in the 'Apostolic succession,' but in the Divine succession, had they not despised the ministry of women. They should have sought of this woman the 'laying on of hands,' if there be any virtue in 'succession.'" Bushnell, Katherine C. GOD'S WORD TO WOMEN, paragraph 727.

12. Martha's great confession "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world," was the result of deep spiritual truths that Jesus taught her (John 11:27, Matt. 16:16, Mark 8:29, Luke 9:20).

13. Jesus defended the great act of worship lead by Mary of Bethany: "For when she poured this perfume upon My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial, truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her" (Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 11:2, 12:2-8). Women are taught today that they can participate in worship only as onlookers and not as worship leaders. Mary of Bethany touched the real body of Christ.

14. That women had followed Jesus from Galilee was confirmed at the foot of the cross. Those named were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, the mother of the sons of Zebedee thought to be the same as Salome. This made them eligible to be witnesses as well as missionaries (apostles) (Matt. 27:55-56, Mark 15:40-41, Luke 23:49, Luke 23:55). "For many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people (Acts 13:31.

15. Women were witnesses of "where He was laid." Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses are named. This made them witnesses that the very Jesus who was laid in the tomb was no longer there (Matt. 27:61-66, Mark 15:47, Luke 23:55-56).

16. An angel from God told women to go tell His disciples the very heart of the Gospel: "that He has risen from the dead." Women have the authority from God to speak and teach men and women (Matt. 28:5-7). These women "reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest." They were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, also the other women with them (Luke 24:9-10).

17. A young man (angel) told women: "But go, tell His disciples and Peter," showing that God orders women to tell men things, even men missionaries (apostles) (Mark 16:5-7).

18. The question of the angel to a group of women: "Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee? ... and they remembered His words" refers to earlier passages that show that women were in the inner circle of Jesus' learners, "And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He was unwilling for anyone to know about it, for He was teaching His disciples" (Luke 24:6-9, 10, Matt. 17:22-23, Mark 9:30-32, Luke 9:43b-45.

19. The risen Christ commissioned Mary Magdalene to: "Go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God'," and Mary Magdalene announced to the disciples: 'I have seen the Lord,' and that He had said these things to her." Jesus taught women deep spiritual truths and expected them to share these truths with the brethren (John 20: 14-18).
Haskins, Susan, MARY MAGDALENE, MYTH AND METAPHOR (New York: Riverhead Books, 1993).
Jusino, Ramon K. "Mary Magdalene: Author of the Fourth Gospel?" http://members.tripod.com/~Ramon_K_Jusino/magdalene.html
Bellevie, Lesa. Magadalene.org, http://magdalene.org/contents.htm.

20. Jesus included women in leadership among the disciples, choosing them over missionaries (apostles). The risen Christ commissioned Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, wife of Clopas and mother of two missionaries (apostles), James the Less and Jose, "Do not be afraid, go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me." (Matt. 28:1, 9-10).

21. We continue to focus on Jesus' call to the twelve, and not on the Great Commission of the risen Christ when we say that women were not called as missionaries (apostles). Women were called as missionaries (apostles) by the risen Christ and should obey the Great Commission in its entirety: witness, make disciples, preach, baptize, teach, forgive and retain sins (Matt. 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:48-49, John 20:21-23, Acts 1:8).

22. Women witnesses of the resurrection were deliberately passed over. When the disciples went to substitute Judas to maintain the number of twelve, they said "of the men (andron) who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us -- beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us -- one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection" (Acts 1:21-22). "Of the men," using the word for male, implies that there were women. And we all know that the women were the first witnesses of the resurrection not simply because they were there, but became God gave Jesus the power to become visible to those chosen beforehand by God (Acts 10:40-41). What a difference between the opinions of God and man!

23. Women as well as men were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke other languages (Acts 2:1-4). God gave them the gift of languages so that they could witness to those visiting in Jerusalem. The missionary (apostle) Peter recognized it as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:1-4, 16-18).

24. Before God women are responsible for their own decisions. Having subjected herself to her husband's opinion did not save Sapphira. The Old Testament Law about fathers and husbands being able to annul their daughter's and wives' vows and "the Lord will forgive her because her father (or husband) had forbidden her" (Numbers 30) may have influenced the thinking of Saphira when "with his wife's full knowledge" Ananias sold a piece of property and kept back some of the price for himself and laid a portion of it at the apostle's feet. Their sin was having lied to the Holy Spirit. He dropped dead and so did she (Acts 5:1-11).

25. Two passages in the New Testament are concerned with the support of women of the pastoral (elder) classification called widows. The passage in Acts 6:1-3, 6 concerns election of servants (deacons) to help the missionaries (apostles) in order to support without partiality the women of the pastoral (elder) classification who were called widows. The other passage is found in I Tim. 5:1-22. Our not understanding the New Testament teaching on women of the pastoral (elder) category called widows, and our complete ignorance of widows in church history, whose support is treated in detail in the early church manuals, have made us focus only on the men elected and not on the widows in Acts 6 and on ruling elders and not women elders in I Timothy 5. The trustees of the Home Mission Board of the SBC did not understand these passages when they voted that they would not support churches with women pastors. See I Timothy 5:17-18 for a fuller treatment.

26. Saul dragged men and women to prison. "Those who had been scattered went about preaching the word" (Acts 8: 1-4, 9:1-2, 22:4-5, 26:9-11, I Cor. 15:9, Gal. 1:13-14, Phil. 3:6).

27. Tabitha (Dorcas), a widow, abounded "with deeds of kindness and charity" and when she died they did not bury her, but sent for Peter. She is surrounded by widows. Peter performed the miracle of bringing her back to life, and gave her back to the saints and the widows (Acts 9:36-42, I Tim. 1-22.

28. Women were witnesses of the resurrection chosen beforehand by God, Acts 10:40-41. On the morning of the resurrection Jesus could become visible only to those chosen beforehand by God, Matt. 28:9-10, John 20:1, 17-18. The Greek word behind "chosen beforehand" is "prokecheirotonemenois" which is a derivative of the word "cheirotoneo" accepted as the principal word which means true ordination. Not all who wanted to see Jesus could. Peter and John ran to the tomb, John 20:2-10, but as Luke says they "found it just exactly as the women also had said: but Him they did not see" (Luke 24:24). In face of a decision made by God in heaven we continue to say that women are not authorized witnesses.

29. Women with house churches in the New Testament.

There are thirteen passages about house churches in the New Testament. Nine of the thirteen references have names attached to them. Five of the house churches are in the homes of women:

1. In Jerusalem, "And when he realized this, he (Peter) went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, "where many were gathered together and were were praying" (Acts 12:12).

2. In Philippi, "And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay,' And she prevailed upon us. ... And they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed" (Acts 16:14-15, 40.
   Paul did not disdain speaking to women in Philippi who were gathered in what our translations says is a "place of prayer." We have been taught that these women were gathered on the bank of a river. See Bernadette J. Brooten who says that the term "proseuche" is in any case well-attested as meaning "synagogue" in WOMEN LEADERS IN THE ANCIENT SYNAGOGUE, pp. 139-140.

3. In Corinth, "For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you" (I Cor. 1:11). (Some Biblical interpreters suggest that Chloe had a house church.)

4. In Laodiceia, "Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house" (Col. 4:15).

5. In Asia Minor, "The elder to the chosen lady and her children ... If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting" (II John 1, 10.)

   Two and perhaps three of the house churches were in homes of couples.

6. In Rome, "Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house" (Rom 16:3-5).

7. In Ephesus, "The churches of Asia greet you, Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house" (I Cor. 16:19).

8. In Colossae Paul ... and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house" (Philemon 1-2). (Some see the possibility of Apphia and Archippus being a couple.)

   One of the house churches was said to be in the home of a man.

9. In Corinth, "Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you" (Rom. 16:23).

   If we take seriously among others,
   

10. the story of the four daughters of Phillip who preached (Acts 21:8-9),

11. the message of the pastor (presbuteros) John for the Elect Lady (eklekte kuria) (2 John), and

12. the passage about the preacher (prophetis) Jezabel (Apoc. 2:20-25),

    we have to admit the possibility that the women who had house churches were in charge of these churches and preached in them. The passage on Saul dragging men and women to prison says those who had been scattered went about preaching the word: "Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word" (Acts 8:3-4).

30. Priscilla was a teacher capable of "explaining ... the way of God more accurately" to Apollos, "an eloquent man" who was "mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:1-11, 18-21, 24-26, II Tim. 4:19).

31. The four daughters of Philip are examples of women who received their authority to preach from Jesus, Acts 21:8-9. Eusebius (A.D. 260-340), early church historian, cites five women: the four daughters of Philip and Ammias of Philadelphia, and four men: Agabus, Judas, Silas, and Quadratus, as New Testament authorities on the proper way to preach! (Book V, Chapter XVII, pp. 199-200).

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