Women can't be preachers, but we can be doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. Yet religion isn't misogynistic?

I don't think there's any question that the concept that women shouldn't be priests/ministers advocated by Paul (or the writer who went by that name) is tied to archaic, male-dominated societal values.

People read the bible to establish a pattern. The bible has a patriarchal pattern therefore some Christians argue that a woman preacher does not conform to a biblical pattern. This leads to a legalistic frame of mind.

Some Christians assert that the pattern of misogyny in the bible is a result of the Fall. Since Jesus came to nullify the effects of the Fall then women can be free to be preachers. A legal justification for this may also be based on the bible.

Some Christians believe good preaching of the gospel is focussed on salvation through faith in Christ alone. This faith can move the mountains that people have made out of molehills. For some Christians obedience to the law became mute and Christians freedom from the law is something to be treasured. Paul can be quoted to support feminism as much as the opponents to feminism make their claims.

1 Corinthians 3 preachers are a team . Paul did the planting, Apollos did the watering and God made them grow. It logically follows that women can be on that team.

At the most basic level, the answer to the question is simple: The New Testament priesthood is the priesthood of Christ Himself. All men who, through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, have become priests (or bishops) participate in Christ's priesthood. And they participate in it in a very special way: They act in persona Christi Capitis, in the person of Christ, the Head of His Body, the Church.

Christ Was a Man

Christ, of course, was a man; but some who argue for the ordination of women insist that His sex is irrelevant, that a woman can act in the person of Christ as well as a man can. This is a misunderstanding of Catholic teaching on the differences between men and women, which the Church insists are irreducible; men and women, by their natures, are suited to different, yet complementary, roles and functions.

The Tradition Established by Christ Himself

Yet even if we disregard the differences between the sexes, as many advocates of women's ordination do, we have to face the fact that the ordination of men is an unbroken tradition that goes back not only to the Apostles but to Christ Himself. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (para. 1577) states:

"Only a baptized man (vir) validly receives sacred ordination." The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ's return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.

Priesthood Not a Function But an Indelible Spiritual Character

Still, the argument continues, some traditions are made to be broken. But again, that misunderstands the nature of the priesthood. Ordination does not simply give a man permission to perform the functions of a priest; it imparts to him an indelible (permanent) spiritual character that makes him a priest, and since Christ and His Apostles chose only men to be priests, only men can validly become priests.

The Impossibility of Women's Ordination

In other words, it's not simply that the Catholic Church does not allow women to be ordained. If a validly ordained bishop were to perform the rite of the Sacrament of Holy Orders exactly, but the person supposedly being ordained were a woman rather than a man, the woman would no more be a priest at the end of the rite than she was before it began. The bishop's action in attempting the ordination of a woman would be both illicit (against the laws and regulations of the Church) and invalid (ineffective, and hence null and void).

The movement for women's ordination in the Catholic Church, therefore, will never get anywhere. Other Christian denominations, to justify ordaining women, have had to change their understanding of the nature of the priesthood from one which conveys an indelible spiritual character on the man who is ordained to one in which the priesthood is treated as a mere function. But to abandon the 2,000-year-old understanding of the nature of the priesthood would be a doctrinal change. The Catholic Church could not do so and remain the Catholic Church.

Catholic Christian

"Laughing" had the best answer I've seen-short and accurate. Others are kind of littered with church tradition. "Ordination" is not really supported, but that's an entirely different level of truth. I mean that it would be difficult for most to face, since most have missed it. For info on that seek out "Biblical Eldership" by Alexander Strauch. The biblical principles he lays out are very beneficial to all.

Now my answer-all are positionaly equal as believers in Christ (all are one in Christ), but there are disrtinctive roles for us based upon gender, and those are from God-not men.

Look at the Holy Trinity / Godhead (both terms OK w/me). We know that God is one, and believers are all one in Christ. God has a plan for different and distinct roles (called headship). The Son is obedient to the Father, etc. So is His plan for the His local church gatherings. Christ is the head of the church, and man has his roles and responsibilites, and the woman has her roles and responsiblities.

[SHOUTING!] THIS IS NOT ABOUT POWER!

It is about order. Does the woman described in Proverbs 31 seem like some minimized, disregarded, idle person ordered about to make babies, watch ABC soaps, and cook? NO!

If more churches followed the biblical principles on leadership, there would not be such struggles that are all about power and control. True leadership is accomplished by sacrificial service, avoidance of special clothes, parking spots, titles, and salaries.

I think I've given more than my 2 cents. Keep the change.

It has nothing to do with menstruation, or roles in the home.

It has everything to do with clear Biblical teaching.

In 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34 Paul says the women are not to teach men in the church.

Many women are highly gifted teachers, and if a man wishes to listen to what they have to say, so be it. However they should not teach the whole church, and the Bible says in several places that elders in the church must be men.

I don't think it's discrimination as much as it is "the rules." The church I attend (Church of Christ) do everything by the ways of the bible. We have communion every Sunday morning and we believe in baptism. The congregation sings all together and our preacher preaches in regular clothes--no robes or collars or anything different from a suit and tie. We have elders or "shepherds" who are more or less in charge of the church peoples' souls. They keep the order and make sure our church keeps everything biblical. It's hard sometimes, though, because women ARE capable of being doctors, lawyers, professors, and great speakers. One problem is found in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 33 "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

As in all the congregations of the saints, 34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." It plainly says that women shouldn't have authority in the church. You're probably saying to yourself "WHY? THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING EVER!" or something to that extent--am I right? haha. I have my ideas why we are supposed to keep our lips shut...it goes back to Genesis. Eve was the one who was tricked into taking the fruit that God forbid. Adam was not. Wives are also supposed to yield to their husbands (Genesis 3:16, Ephesians 5:22 & 23 and Colossians 3:18-19). It's not really that the people in the church think women are incapable of being great leaders or speakers--they're just going by what God told them to do. You can also look at it as the wives leading through their husbands. in 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 "11In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God" You can see that woman needs man and man needs woman. The leaders of the church are men with wives, and I'm sure you've heard the quote, "behind every good man is a good woman" Another reason I can think of as to why women can't preach is that what man wants to listen to a woman? Preaching is a tool used to reach out to people. If I were a non-believing man I wouldn't want to listen to a woman preaching to me. I also know that in other cultures around the world women hold no value. God wants to reach his children in the best ways possible, and women preaching isn't one of those ways. The bible says nothing, however, about women reaching out in the community or just next-door or even at work. They just can't have authority in the church gatherings.

Religion is based on the teachings of the bible which were changed by King James aka "A Man!". What most people aren't aware of is that King James also left parts of the bible out. One of those being, The Acts of Paul ,in which Paul teaches celibacy and Thecla is attracted to the teaching and starts to practice and preach these teachings. She is put to death for her beliefs and is saved by God three times. In biblical time and King James era the WOMAN was property of her husband and to put this in the bible in either of these eras would have been unthinkable. Men then could not have ruled us. PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT COWBOY!

actually it goes back to sacrificing of animals--men were to kill, women were to give life and God wanted the two keep apart. Since Jesus died on the cross all of the old laws were done away with as he was the 'sacrifice' top end all sacrifices, now all is about life giving and the temple veil rent into meaning the door has been opened for all to become ministers of God.

I don't know about Christianity but in Islam women are allowed to preach and give lessons to men.

The prophet's wife used to teach men their religion.

Preaching or teaching requires knowledge only and not a specific gender.

Just in 1cor 14's mind!

I gnore His follishness He does not know what he is talking about!