The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Female deacons?

Linda,

Perhaps I didn't word things well enough! "Authority" is an important matter, but not, IMHO when it is used as an argument for women in office. What I tried to convey is that aside from the issue of authority, the fundamental issue is who qualifies for the office rather than what the office entails. By allowing the authority issue to enter into the debate, it gives the opposition the opportunity to redefine what authority is, etc...

In reply to:

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does "husband of one wife" mean you cannot be divorced?

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This is another hotly debated subject. But I have concluded that Paul is forbidding practicing bigamists from office. The literal translation of the Greek is actually, "one wife's husband", which lends itself to the bigamy interpretation more than the issue of divorce. If one would want to make the text mean that no divorcees are qualified to serve, then to be consistent, it must also mean that no widowers are qualified either.

In His Grace,