Women's Role in Church and Society

Following is a list of question that, I believe, can lead to an

in-depth discussion on this most vital issue. I hope you can

take advantage of this opportunity to avail yourself of these

questions in any appropriate situation. After this, I added a

few comments of my own.



QUESTIONNAIRE ON WOMEN'S ROLE IN CHURH AND SOCIETY



1- Should women be given equal opportunity along with men in

employment in all cases? What about the military? What about

sports? If not, explain.



2- Should women receive equal pay for equal work alongside men?



3- Do you feel one should lower the quality standards in a

certain situation solely to prevent gender discrimination?



4- Who has the major responsibility for nurturing a child in a

marriage; Or financially supporting the home: The man or the

woman? Why A) What is the prime purpose of a marriage? B) What

are the economic factors that could affect your conception of

what a marriage arrangement should be, and what could be done to

change this situation if it needs changing? C) What are the

career interest factors that could affect your conception of

what a marriage arrangement should be, and what could be done to

change this situation if it needs changing?



5- Are the woman's major responsibilities in life to have

children and take care of the home?



6- What are the physical and emotional differences between men

and women that might affect their role in life?



7- What might be the role of a woman in Church? What about

ordination to any of the following offices: Deacon, Elder,

Pastor, Priest or Bishop?



8- If man were to rule over woman at the beginning of time

because woman came from man according to Genesis 2:21-23, why

did God say that man should rule over woman after the Fall (Gen

3:16)? A) Could you say that man and woman became equal or

helpmates once again after the death and resurrection of Jesus

Christ (Gal 3:28)?



9- Could one of the reasons why Jesus only chose men as Apostles

be that even though the Gospels are in the New Testament, they

are really part of the Old Testament whereby women were still

thought to be submissive to men as a result of the Fall?



10- Doesn't being the head and being submissive in and of

themselves create an inequality?



11- In reading Paul's letters, should you consider that

everything that Paul wrote as being a universal truth, or should

you distinguish within his writings what's universal and what's

locally situational?



12- If women are treated more as unique individuals, instead of

as sex objects, would this lessen the need for pornographic

scenarios some men have?



13- Do you believe that as more and more churches use ordained

women clergy, women clergy would be more acceptable within

Christian religious circles?



14- As more churches accept women clergy, do you feel

Christianity offers women more equality than any other major

world religion?



15- Do you feel a woman pastor could more effectively counsel a

women counselee than a male pastor could? Why, or why not?



16- Do you feel that if more and more Christians experience the

pastoral leadership qualities that some women possess, that

women clergy ordination would become less and less of a divisive

issue within the Christian Church?



17- Do you feel one should never be judged solely by gender as

to what one can or can not do in life? I do, but what do you

think?



On Internet, I asked question # 1, and received 9 responses,

which were really mixed in opinions, but I do feel that there

should be an equal opportunity for women to be employed in all

professions without lowering the entry standards in such

professions, and even if some professions don't seem to lend

themselves to femine abilities.



They should still at least have

the opportunity to prove otherwise. And women should also

receive equal pay for equal work as well. But if they just want

to be housewives instead, that's OK too. What do you think about

this whole area of concern?



A 2nd Internet Question: WHAT IS THE ROLE WOMEN SHOULD PLAY IN

LIFE?



Corbin says: Although a number of respondees mentioned that the

role of men and women can be different depending upon the

circumstance, which I agree with, I believe women should be free

to pursue any activity that they so desire, and feel qualified

to undertake.



In looking at Scripture, it states paraphrasing

"In Christ, there is neither male nor female" (Gal 3:28), so

that much of what it says about women in Scripture could be a

situational local truth according to Paul, and not a Universal

Truth. Many on these websites also interpret Scripture literally

in that every word that's in the Bible comes from the mouth of

God. I disagree in that the Bible, I believe, could be thought

of as a baby carriage carrying the baby, and we have to

distinguish between Universal Truths (the perfect baby) and the

situational local truths (the baby carriage, which can have some

errors on it) concerning the role that women might play.



And why

Jesus only chose men as Apostles instead of women could be that

theGospels were written as really part of the Old Testament

whereby women became free again after the resurrection. What do

you think?