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Questions and Answers
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Preaching does not require ordination. Preaching is a spiritual gift, and no one is asking that women be forbidden to preach, either to the church or the world. |
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No. Notice what Ellen White says about men:
“It is not a positive evidence that men are called of God because they have some success; for angels of God are now moving upon the hearts of His honest children to enlighten their understanding as to the present truth, that they may lay hold upon it and live. |
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No. Unlike slavery and social class distinctions, which are human institutions, sex and gender roles were created by God (Gen. 5:2; Matt.19:4; Mark 10:6). God’s creation was perfect! Neither slavery, racial segregation, castes, nor economic station can, therefore, be compared to gender roles. The assumption that defending gender role distinctions with the Bible is like using the Bible to defend slavery is based upon the idea that gender role distinctions are just as unjust and oppressive as slavery. But this is not a biblical notion. |
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Yes. A significantly altered quotation was recently circulated in an effort to make it appear that Ellen White supported the ordination of women. Here is the altered quote side by side with the original quote. Altered portions are in underlined-bold. Italics are original.* |
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Yes. Allowing ordination to be decided regionally would create legal problems for the church. To allow ordination regionally would be tantamount to an admission that it is not an issue of faithfulness to Scripture, not a matter of conscience, but merely a matter of cultural preference. After such a vote, any region that did not want to ordain women would be beyond the help of a religious exception to non-discrimination legislation. |
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Our church has not handled the pay and hiring issues fairly. Mrs. White protested such unfairness in her own time. But her remedy was not to ordain women, but to treat them justly, as we see in the following example: “And if the Lord gives the wife as well as the husband the burden of labor, and if she devotes her time and her strength to visiting from family to family, opening the Scriptures to them, although the hands of ordination have not been laid upon her, she is accomplishing a work that is in the line of ministry. ... |
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Yes. Referring to Eve, she writes: “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. ... |
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To the Gospel ministry and as elders? No. She urged that certain women who were “willing to consecrate some of their time to the service of the Lord should be appointed to visit the sick, look after the young, and minister to the necessities of the poor. ... |
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Yes, she did. Noting a “sphere” in which God had called and equipped women to work (see Patriarchs and Prophets , p. 59), she called for greater involvement. She urged women especially to engage in personal work for women and families. A clear example of this may be found in her article, “Women to Be Gospel Workers” ( Testimonies for the Church , vol. 6, pp. 114-118). ... |
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Her authority was in the messages God gave her rather than in any position the church gave her. She specifically rejected the idea of a leadership position in the church. “It is not right for you to suppose that I am striving to be first, striving for leadership. . . . |
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Ellen White was never ordained. After more than 25 years of her prophetic ministry, the church voted her the credentials of an ordained minister, but she indicated in 1909 (when she was in her eighties) that she had never been ordained (Arthur L. White, Spectrum , 4, 2 [Spring 1972] :7). ... |
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Some denominations have endured quarrels and divisions over appointing women ministers. For some this has involved forming new churches or even denominations. However, some other denominations feel that their new women ministers have been a real help to them. ... |
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No. The culture of the time permitted women to serve as priests. Many religions included women in their priesthood. By contrast, the inspired writers of both the Old Testament and the New Testament maintained the role distinctions as assigned by God to men and women from the beginning. |
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“Role interchangeability,” which eliminates role distinctions, should concern Seventh-day Adventists because we are committed to belief in the Creation as it is presented in Scripture. Contrary to Christians who interpret the Creation story as a poetic description of the evolutionary process, Adventists accept as factual the account of the six days of Creation. ... |
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“I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent” (1 Timothy 2:12). “If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, . . . an apt teacher” (1 Timothy 3:1, 2). “This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you, if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife . . .” (Titus 1:5, 6). |
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The Bible presents women as full participants with men in the religious and social life of the church. In the fifth year of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry, the priests went to Huldah the prophetess for counsel (2 Kings 22:13, 14). Women served as musicians and attendants at the tabernacle and Temple (1 Samuel 2:22, 1 Chronicles 25:5, 6, Psalm 68:24, 25). Women prayed aloud and prophesied in the church (1 Corinthians 11:5). |
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What issue is more important to Seventh-day Adventists than the authority of the Bible? Our entire belief structure, our reason for existence, and our mission to the world are based on the authority of the Bible. |
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What is at stake is the authority of the Bible for defining SDA beliefs and practices. The New Testament expresses its teaching on the role of women in the church in theological terms, basing it on interpretation of earlier Bible passages. It is presented as part of God's "law” and as “a command of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:34, 37). ... |
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