Madwomen In The Vestry: The Bible, Women, & Ordination

Question from the Mailbag:

Our [non-denominational] church is investigating the biblical case for ordaining women.  I’m on the committee looking into it.  Any insights?

This is one of those difficult areas where the Bible provides a lot of suggestive comments but can be maddeningly unhelpful. And also one of the few times in your life where the term “participial phrase” will become important.

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Taking God on Faith: A Conversation (In Which I Say Too Much, Again)

But the devil (and the god) are in the details: it's one thing to object to something because "I cannot understand it" and quite another to object that "It makes no sense" or that "It is immoral."  It isn't that I can't understand the stoning of girls who don't bleed on their wedding nights.  I get it.  I really do. 

I just think it's totally immoral, and if God inspired those words, I want nothing to do with him.

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Speaking of Adam... Romans 5:12 and Original Sin

I got into an argument with a guy at a coffee shop (he was cleaning windows and started telling me how to think about God), and wanted to record a few reflections that came from that talk.  They have to do with a few themes of original sin, redemption, and the meaning of the New Testament that crop up here from time to time.

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