THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN IN THE CRC
 


Characterizing the issue 

    The following material appeared in the Agenda to Synod 2000
(pages 27 and 28):

    The present polarization in the denomination is directly tied in 
with how we categorize the issue of women in office and the church's 
stand on that issue. Some view the church’s stand as a reflection of 
fundamental and confessional principles of Scripture. Others suggest 
that the issue may be viewed as adiaphora, like eating meat versus 
eating only vegetables (see Rom. 14).  

    Is women's ordination CONFESSIONAL in the sense that the main 
articles of the Apostles' Creed are confessional? Does it merit class-
ification along with essential doctrines of salvation or the nature of 
God? Does it undermine the teachings about Jesus, his birth, ministry, 
death, resurrection, and present reign? Does it detract from the Bible's 
teaching about the Holy Spirit and the way of salvation? In a case of 
serious doctrinal error we know what needs to be done. If this ordination 
issue were an essential confessional issue, our salvation would depend on 
it. That is not the case. 

    Is women's leadership among God's people A MORAL ISSUE, like committing 
adultery, killing, stealing, or any other violation of God's covenant code? 
If it were, the Lord himself would hardly have used Miriam, Deborah, and 
Huldah in positions of authority. If it were such a moral issue, it would 
test whether our faith is real or fake.  

    Does the issue then belong to the ADIAPHORA, the disputable matters? 
We judge that such a designation is not really satisfactory either. In 
I Corinthians 11:16 Paul concludes his discourse on the relationship between 
men and women in the church with this rather blunt statement: "If anyone wants 
to be contentious about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches 
of God." His stance here is different from the tolerance about the adiaphora 
he expresses in Romans 14.  
            
    Then what kind of issue is it? Perhaps a more helpful approach can be 
made from the WISDOM literature of the Bible. The Bible's wisdom literature 
is intended to help God's people to model their conduct, individually and 
communally, after the principles that reflect God's will for living beneficial 
and productive lives.   

    . . . the church was given wisdom principles to guide her in the regulation 
of worship and in the appointment of officebearers (I Tim. 2:3; I Cor. 11:2-16). 

    Wisdom principles help people pull together insights and truths from a 
number of spheres: the nature of the created order, observable societal principles 
and circumstances, and, in particular, the nature of humankind as illuminated by 
God's special revelation. Wisdom teachings provide boundaries and goals for human 
life in the presence of God. 

    Couldn’t the women-in-office issue be approached from a similar perspective? 
How can the church act wisely today? How can it discern the nature of God's created 
order, God's intention for the relationship between male and female within the body 
of Christ, and the ministry of the church in the world today? The debated New 
Testament passages about women's roles in the church are embedded in passages where 
Paul addresses the organizational life of God's people, and great wisdom is required 
to discern their meaning. 

    Characterizing the issue as a wisdom issue seems more accurate than categorizing 
it as a doctrinal, moral, or disputable matter, as summarized above. Characterizing 
an issue as a wisdom matter in no way lessens the authority of any passage of Scrip-
ture from which the teaching is drawn. But attempting to characterize an issue proper-
ly is of genuine help in discerning the area and the extent of our differences on the 
issue. It also helps us to know how to respond appropriately when we reach differing 
conclusions.

         *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    





Ordination of Women Page

Dialogos Studies Home Page