Muted Mary (3): Gender and Discipleship

The last Adult Sabbath School quarterly has fueled this discussion in a very spectacular way. I had intended to post something different today but because of the “unanswered and yet challenging” questions that were raised in our SS class yesterday, I was compelled to write this third, and hopefully the last, post on the subject. You may access this past week’s quarterly from http://www.absg.adventist.org/Teachers.htm.

The author of this quarterly rightly admits that women played a crucial role in the ministry of Jesus here on earth. The author affirms this by stating that “women were, one way or another, intimately involved in Christ’s ministry, even from the start”. But the question we are tempted to ask is “to what extent?” Although Jesus did have many female disciples, not even one woman was numbered with the twelve. Why? The roller-coasting mass of questions doesn’t end there but takes us back into the Old Testament era. Why did God choose men to serve as priests and not women? Was this a cultural or a theological move? I believe it is important that we thoroughly study and understand God’s original intentions with regards to Gender roles and the degree to which Christ conformed to the social norms of the time and place He lived in.

One member in my class suggested that we examine the writings of Dr. Pipim on the subject (http://drpipim.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=46). There are a few questions that intend to bring to your attention having read this article.

Male Dominance: God’s Original Plan?

I agree with Dr. Pipim that the husband is explicitly declared to be the head of his wife by Paul according to Eph.5:23. However, is this headship a part of God’s original plan or a result of sin? (c.f Gen 3:16). Lest you are tempted to justify the view that this was God’s original plan because Paul was inspired as he wrote, I must warn you that the same Paul in a number of occasions also, through the same inspiration, urges slaves to obey their masters (c.f Col 3:22). Was it ever God’s plan that some should become slaves and others should become their masters? Certainly not! Just because Paul urges some bondservants to obey their masters, doesn’t simply imply that God intended there to be masters and slaves, employers and employees. Similarly, just because Paul urges wives to submit to their husbands, does not necessarily imply that it was God’s original plan that one should be above the other.

Another argument used by many sincere friends to support the view that Adam’s headship preceded the fall is that “Adam was created first”. I am somewhat afraid to use this argument because chicken, fish, goats and cows were all “created first” before Adam. In fact, it appears to me that the order of creation from the first day to the last follows a pattern of increasing beauty and dominion. According to Genesis 1:26-28, God gave “them” (both male and female), dominion over all the earth, having created them both in His own superb image.

Male-Dominated Levitical Priesthood: Change of Law?

Dr. Pipim rightly states that the priesthood in the Old Testament was specifically given to the Levite men and has in many words justified the exceptional cases where some non-Levites appeared to have been involved with the priestly ministry. What Pipim calls the “Priesthood of all Believers” is exactly what I refer to as God’s original plan, which somewhat lost its direction due to Israel’s rebelliousness (Ex 19:5,6; Ex 32:26-28; Ex 38:21; Num 1:47-51) but then which God Himself has restored in the New Testament and this time with Christ Himself as the High Priest (1 Pet 2:9). Yes, at some point in time God chose the “Levite men” to become priests. While most brethren have a problem with “women” to substitute “men” in that phrase, we must not forget that the Jewish Christians had a problem with substituting “Judah” for “Levite” in the same phrase. This is evidently seen in Paul’s writings to the Hebrews where Paul heavily justifies Christ’s antitypical priesthood. The Jewish Christians could not understand how Christ, who was not a Levite, could become the “High Priest”. Christ seemed to have transcended all social and religious norms, something which the Jews could never comprehend. Paul used the story of Melchizedek (Heb 7:11-17) to justify his cause. In the same text of Hebrews, Paul states that “For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law” (vs 12). Could it be that this change, which marked the end of the male-dominated levitical priesthood on earth, bring us to a new era where “both men and women” are anointed of God to serve Him to their fullest capacity? (c.f Joel 2:27,28).

YWH bless!