1) When liberal-feminist groups in the church seek to make women “full partners at all levels of the church,” what they mean is that the church should place women in leadership roles by ordaining them as elders and pastors. However, because the term “women’s ordination” raises a red flag, the new phrase is “women in leadership.” For example, the Mission Statement of a liberal-feminist group in the church, the Association of Adventist Women, states: “The Association of Adventist Women seeks to develop and promote women as leaders in Seventh-day Adventist organizations, congregations, and communities.” The same point is emphasized again when it tries to style itself as an “international” association: “The mission of the international Association of Adventist Women is to foster the participation of women in varied leadership roles in Seventh-day Adventist organizations, congregations, and communities.” Notice that the Association of Adventist Women (AAW) was begun as a committee of the Association of Adventist Forums (the liberal organization that publishes Spectrum magazine), and has since 1981 being operating as an independent entity. Among other things, the status of the Association of Adventist Women as an independent organization has had the advantage of masking its liberal-feminist agenda. Besides its activities as an association, the Association of Adventist Women has spawned several separate entities, all of which embrace the pro-ordination agenda. The General Conference Ministerial directors, the North American Division Women’s Ministries department, and the Women’s Resource Center, a pro-ordination center at La Sierra University, are also promoting the mission of the Association of Adventist Women. All three entities are working closely with one another to advance the agenda for women’s ordination. For more on this and a documentation of the strategies of AAW, see my article “To Ordain or Not To Ordain: The Campaign for Women’s Ordination,” available on the ADVENTISTS AFFIRM Web site, http://www.adventistsaffirm.org/article.php?id=145.
2) Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22; 16:4; 20:18-35; 21:18; James 5:14; 1 Timothy 4:14; 5:17-19; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Titus 1:5. It is probably in this sense that the apostles John and Peter refer to themselves as “elders” (see 1 Peter 5:1; 2 John 1; 3 John 1).
3) Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7; Acts 14:23; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 5:17. Christ Himself is referred to as the “Bishop [episkopos] of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).
4) Titus 1:9, 13; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 4:2.
5) Hebrews 13:17; 1 Corinthians 16:16. The word “submit” (hupotassessthe) is the same word used concerning Christ’s submission to His earthly parents, and also the kind of obedience due civil authorities (see Luke 2:51, Romans 13:1, 5).
6) “This new order, the priesthood of all believers,” according to Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , p. 143, “means that each church member has a responsibility to minister to others in the name of God, and can communicate directly with Him without any human intermediary. It emphasizes the interdependence of church members, as well as their independence. This priesthood makes no qualitative distinction between clergy and laity, although it leaves room for a difference in function between these roles” (emphasis mine).
7) It is sometimes suggested that there were a few non-Levites who, on occasion, performed priestly functions: Gideon (Judges 6:24-26), Manoah of Dan (Judges 13:19), Samuel (1 Samuel 7:9), David (2 Samuel 6:13-17), Elijah (1 Kings 18:23, 37, 38). A careful study of these specific instances may offer some Biblically consistent explanations. For example, since Samuel was Elkanah’s son, he too was a Levite (1 Chronicles 6:27, 28, 33, 34; cf. Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 569). On David’s apparent offer of sacrifices, it appears from 1 Chronicles 15ff. and Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 706, 707, that David did not offer the sacrifices himself but simply paid for and directed them. It is in this sense that he is credited with offering the sacrifices. Regarding Elijah, we have no evidence from Scripture about whether or not he was a Levite. Without other information, we may have to assume that he was a Levite living in Gilead (1 Kings 17:1). With respect to Gideon, Ellen White makes it clear that though God in this one instance specifically directed him to offer the sacrifice, it was wrong for Gideon to have “concluded he had been appointed to officiate as a priest” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 547; cf. p. 555); the same may apply to Manoah of Dan (Judges 13:19). In any event, even if it can be shown that the above Old Testament characters were all non-Levites and that they actually performed priestly functions, these exceptions only prove the validity of an established rule that only Levites could serve as priests. The phenomenon of “exceptions” to the normal order must always be recognized. But when humans initiated those exceptions instead of God, there were disastrous consequences. See, for example, Korah (Numbers 16:3-7), Saul (1 Samuel 13:8-14), Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:31-13:5; 13:33, 34), and Uzzah (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
8) Exodus 28:1, 41, 43; Numbers 3:10, 32; 20:28; 25:10-13.
9) The New Testament uses the English term "pastor" only once, in Ephesians 4:11. The same Greek word is translated “shepherd” elsewhere in the New Testament. As a shepherd, the pastor has the care and oversight of the flock. For the convenience of using our contemporary terms, in this study we have frequently used “pastor” as a substitute for “bishop” or “overseer.” The book of 1 Peter brings all the terms together: pastor (shepherd), elder (presbyter), and bishop (overseer). “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd (poimen = pastor) and Bishop (episkopos = overseer) of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25). “The elders (presbuteros) which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder . . . : Feed (poimano, to tend as a shepherd) the flock of God, taking the oversight (episkopeo) thereof. . . . And when the Chief Shepherd (archipoimen) shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:1-4). The elders are commissioned to stand as overseers, functioning as pastors/shepherds to the flock. Though we may divide some of the responsibilities today, these functions belong basically to one office.
10) Lyman Coleman, The Apostolic and PrimitiveChurch (Boston: Gould, Kendall & Lincoln, 1844), p. 196.
11) In response to pressure from a relatively small but influential group that had been pushing for women’s ordination during the past thirty or more years, church leaders at the 1975 Spring Council meeting approved the Biblically compromising practice of ordaining women as local elders in the North American Division if “the greatest discretion and caution” were exercised. Later, they succeeded in persuading church leaders at the Fall 1984 Annual Council meeting to reaffirm and expand the 1975 decision, voting to “advise each division that it is free to make provisions as it may deem necessary for the election and ordination of women as local elders.” Emboldened by their success in influencing church leaders to allow “women elders,” pro-ordination advocates then proceeded to urge the world church in General Conference session to ordain women as pastors, at least in divisions favorable to it. However, at the General Conference sessions both in 1990 (Indianapolis) and 1995 (Utrecht), the representatives of the world church overwhelmingly rejected the pleas to ordain women into the Gospel ministry. The votes were 1,173 to 377 (in 1990) and 1,481 to 673 (in 1995). But the arbitrary and politically inspired decision to let women serve as local elders “if the greatest discretion and caution” are exercised is still the official policy.
12) Questions are sometimes raised as to whether when “elders” are mentioned for multiple cities (e.g., Crete [Titus 1:5] or Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch [Acts 14:21-23]) the plural in the text refers to multiple elders in each city or church. As far as we can ascertain from the Bible, no church had only one elder, but all had a plurality of elders. Thus, the most natural meaning is that a board (plurality) of elders was appointed in every church (Acts 14:23) or in every city (Titus 1:5).
13) John 14:16ff.; 16:7ff.; Matthew 28:17-20; 18:20; 23:8, 10; Ephesians 1:20-23; 5:23-24.
14) 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:4, 6, 14; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 11:4; 13:10; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2:13; 5:27; Colossians 4:16; 2 Peter 3:15, 16; 1 Timothy 5:17, 18; cf. Luke 10:7.
15) Thus, when Paul admonished the Corinthians to exercise their authority in disfellowshipping a member, his hope was that such an action might result in the individual’s being “saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5).
16) See, for example, the excellent article by Andrea Oliver in this issue of the magazine. Notice also the following insightful statement by Ellen G. White: “Ministerial labor should not be entrusted to boys, neither should the work of giving Bible readings be entrusted to young girls, because they offer their services and are willing to take responsible positions, while they are wanting in religious experience and lack a thorough education and training. They must be proved; for unless they develop a firm, conscientious principle to be all that God would have them be, they will not correctly represent His cause. All who are engaged in the work, in every mission, should gain a depth of experience. Those who are young in the work should have the help of such as have had experience and understand the manner of working. Missionary operations are constantly embarrassed for want of workers of the right class of mind—workers who have devotion and piety that will correctly represent our faith” (Counsels to Patents, Teachers, and Students, p. 500).
17) The word aner (translated “man” in the English translations) means a male of the human race. Therefore, the Greek phrase, mias [of one] gunaikos [woman] andra [man], literally translates as a “man of one woman,” or “one-woman-man,” meaning “a male of one woman.” When used of the marriage relation it may be translated “husband of one wife” (KJV) or “husband of but one wife” (NIV). Because in this passage the words for “man” and “woman” do not have the definite article, the construction in the Greek emphasizes character or nature. Thus, “one can translate, ‘one-wife sort of a husband,’ or ‘a one-woman sort of a man.’ . . . Since character is emphasized by the Greek construction, the bishop should be a man who loves only one woman as his wife.” (See Kenneth S. Wuest, The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament for the English Reader [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952], p. 53.) Also, because the word “one” (mias) is positioned at the beginning of the phrase in the Greek, it appears to emphasize this monogamous relationship. Thus, the phrase “husband of one wife,” is calling for monogamous fidelity—that is to say, an elder must be “faithful to his one wife” (NEB). For an excellent summary of the various interpretations of this text, see Ronald A.G. du Preez, Polygamy in the Bible with Implications for Seventh-day Adventist Missiology (DMin project dissertation, Andrews University, 1993), pp. 266-277. Some have questioned whether Paul’s instruction requires that the elder or pastor be married. While most likely the congregational leaders were married, two lines of Scriptural evidence suggest that marriage was not an inflexible requirement. First, the apostle Paul himself seems not to have been married during his ministry (see 1 Corinthians 7:7, 8). Second, he recommends the unmarried state to those who can accept it, so that they may be “anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord” (v. 32; see vv. 25-35). These considerations lend support to the idea that we may understand 1 Timothy 3:2 as referring to a “one-woman kind of man,” one who, if married, is faithful to his one wife.
18) The effort by some to see the “aged women” (presbutidas) of Titus 2:3 as referring to women elders is misdirected for two reasons. First, the usual word for elder is presbuteros (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 4, 6, 22ff.; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; 1 Timothy 5:17, 19; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Peter 5:1, 5); the word refers to older men but also to those holding the office of elder. If Paul had intended to speak of “women elders” he could easily have used the corresponding feminine form, presbutera, though no office of “woman elder” is attested. Second, the context of Titus 2 makes it clear that Paul is not addressing those holding the office of elder but rather the different groups of people in the church: “aged men” (v. 2, presbutas, plural from presbutes, not from presbuteros), “aged women” (v. 3), “young women” (vv. 4, 5), “young men” (v. 6), and “servants” (v. 9). Having addressed “aged men” in verse 2 (cf. Luke 1:18; Philemon 9), Paul employs a related word, presbutidas, in verse 3 for “aged women,” making it clear that he was speaking about older women and not “women elders.” Hence the reinterpretation is invalid. The only kind of elder the apostle Paul recognized is the person who, among other things, is the “husband of one wife” (Titus 1:6; 1 Timothy 3:2). The idea of a “woman elder” is thus an oxymoron.
19) For a discussion of how liberal-feminism misinterprets Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:27, 28 (“in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, but you are all one in Christ Jesus”), see my article in Must We Be Silent?: Issues Dividing Our Church (Ann Arbor: Berean Books, 2001), pp. 137-159, 193-198. A slightly modified version of the article is available on the ADVENTISTS AFFIRM Web site as “Feminism’s ‘New Light’ on Galatians 3:28: What Kind of Equality Does the Bible Teach?” See http://adventistsaffirm.org/article.php?id=141.
20) The perfect harmony that existed in Eden before the Fall may perhaps be likened to the harmony in Heaven before the fall of Satan, when “So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. . . . And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies” (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 35). Though God's law governed everyone, “When Satan rebelled against the law of Jehovah, the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of” (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 109). The angels responded freely and spontaneously to God. They seem to have been almost unconscious of a “law” to obey God or to worship Christ. These things were their delight. (See Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 35-37.)
21) Mrs. White wrote: “She was perfectly happy in her Eden home by her husband’s side; but, like restless modern Eves, she was flattered that there was a higher sphere than that which God had assigned her. But in attempting to climb higher than her original position, she fell far below it. This will most assuredly be the result with the Eves of the present generation if they neglect to cheerfully take up their daily life duties in accordance with God’s plan. . . . A neglect on the part of woman to follow God’s plan in her creation, an effort to reach for important positions which He has not qualified her to fill, leaves vacant the position that she could fill to acceptance. In getting out of her sphere, she loses true womanly dignity and nobility. When God created Eve, He designed that she should possess neither inferiority nor superiority to the man, but that in all things she should be his equal. The holy pair were to have no interest independent of each other; and yet each had an individuality in thinking and acting. But after Eve’s sin, as she was first in the transgression, the Lord told her that Adam should rule over her. She was to be in subjection to her husband, and this was a part of the curse”(Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 483, 484).
22) Exodus 20:12; Leviticus 19:3; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 21:18-21; 27:16; Proverbs 1:8; 6:20; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:20; 2 Timothy 1:5; cf. Luke 2:51.
23) This expression comes from John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407). See Chrysostom, Homily XX on Ephesians, cited by Stephen B. Clark, Man and Woman in Christ (Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1980), p. 134.
24) See Vern Sheridan Poythress, “The Church as Family: Why Male Leadership in the Family Requires Male Leadership in the Church,” in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, pp. 233-236, for the various expressions used in the Bible to refer to the church as God's family.
25) Ephesians 5:22, 23; Colossians 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-9; 14:34, 35; 1 Timothy 2:11-3:1-5.
26) For more on this, see my online article “Early Adventist History and the Ministry of Women:
27) A Closer Look at Recent Reinterpretations of Adventist History,” available at http://adventistsaffirm.org/article.php?id=146. See also my “Misleading and Erroneous Claims Regarding Early Adventist History,” in my Must We Be Silent?, pp. 251-270.
For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:28-30, people with the gift of tongues (i.e., the miraculous ability to speak foreign languages) were told not to use it in public when there was no one to interpret, and prophets were told to stop prophesying when others had a revelation. In the same way if women have gifts of teaching, administration, evangelism, or nurturing/pastoring, etc., God wants them to exercise these gifts in the home and in the church within the guidelines given in Scripture.
28) Paul’s description of Christ in Colossians 1:15-18, RSV, as “the Firstborn of all creation,” “the Head of the body, the church” suggests His preeminent authority. His headship and authority are tied in with His being the “firstborn.” Paul’s use of “firstborn” language to express the headship and authority of Christ suggests that he attached the same meaning to Adam’s being “first formed.” If this be the case, it indicates that Paul saw in the priority of Adam’s creation the establishment of his right and responsibility as the head of the first home, the first church. This may explain why Adam is presented as the one who brought death into the world, and Christ, the second Adam, as the One Who brought life (Romans 5:12-21).
29) Thomas R. Schreiner, “The Valuable Ministries of Women in the Context of Male Leadership: A Survey of Old and New Testament Examples and Teaching,” in John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds., Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, p. 216.
30) See Laurel Damsteegt’s “Women in Leadership: Musings on Some Mothers in Israel,” in this issue of the magazine.
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