Grace Ying May and Hyunhye Pokrifka Joe wrote an article for Priscilla Papers titled Setting the Record Straight: A Response to J.I. Packer's Position on Women's Ordination in which they attempt to respond to J. I. Packer's article Let’s Stop Making Women Presbyters. In their article, they attempt to argue a number of straw man fallacies. They accuse Packer of using two "obscure" verses that "scholars" agree are difficult to translate. They attempt to argue that the rest of Scripture gives support to women as pastors/elders, which simply is not true. They also ignore the context of many of the passages they attempt to use in support of their position, such as 1 Corinthians 11:10, which has to do with prayer. One has to engage in much eisegesis and interpretational gymnastics in order to try and draw support for women as pastors/elders.
These two women demonstrate their ignorance when they write, "Applying such a definition of 'head' to the Godhead would imply that hierarchy and inequality exist within the Trinity, a teaching that the early councils rejected as the heresy of Subordinationism." First, it implies no such thing. Hierarchy does exist within the Trinity, yet they are all equal. Even though they are equal, they have different roles, which is hierarchy. Hierarchy exists in all of life. Second, they clearly do not have any understanding or knowledge of early councils and/or what was rejected as heresy. Jesus Himself even stated that, "the Father is greater than I." The Father sent the Son; the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit.
1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:33b-38 are crystal clear in their statement, and there is nothing difficult about their translation. The so-called "scholars" these women refer to are no scholars at all. Some of these so-called "scholars" have called into question many details pertaining to Scripture, yet history and archaeology prove them to be hard, verifiable facts. When "scholars" question the Bible or details contained in the Bible, their "scholarship" must be called into question. Just because someone has an education in a particular field does not make them any kind of expert, nor does it mean they have a clue what they are talking about. All it means is that they were able to read the material, absorb the information, parrot it back on exams, and earn a degree. A monkey could do all of that, yet it is still an ignorant monkey.
If you examine other parts of the Bible, as these women claim they have done, you cannot ignore Ephesians 5:22-33, nor can you ignore 1 Timothy 3:1-7, which is in regard to pastors/elders. Nothing in this passage allows for a woman to be a pastor/elder. It is strictly a role and responsibility reserved for men. In 1 Timothy 3:8-16, which is in regard to deacons, women are allowed to hold this position, as Phoebe clearly did. There was no feminine form of the word for deacon. Thus Paul says, "Women likewise," meaning that women could hold this position. They cannot, however, hold the position of pastor/elder. If women were allowed to, Jesus would have chosen a woman as one of His Apostles as He held women in high esteem, which can be seen in the fact that the first person to see Him after His resurrection was a woman.
The Priscilla Papers uses Acts 18:26 as their key verse, misquoted and twisted so as to put the woman first: "Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos more perfectly in the way of the Lord." The verse reads, "Aquila and Priscilla . . . expounded unto [Apollos] the way of God more perfectly." News flash, women! Aquila is a man: "Aquila . . . with his wife Priscilla" (Acts 18:2). In the Greek, Aquila comes before Priscilla. This verse does not in any way, shape, or form give support to women as pastors/elders. This is a woman, with her husband, under his headship and authority, helping her husband to teach Apollos. It was in private discourse within their home, which is a form of evangelism. It was not in a pastoral/elder manner. Women are allowed to be deacons (something the two women of this article screw up, claiming the position of deacon to be a position of authority), but they are not allowed to be pastors/elders.
If I had more time, I would go through their article point by point and refute and correct it. Maybe at a later date I will. But for now, this blog entry should suffice to answer just some of the ignorant, and possibly willful, errors they attempted to argue due to the cancer that is feminism. As my friend Jerry has said, "Feminism is CANCER, while true femininity in women is the CURE." To coincide with this, he also said, "The Feminist agenda in emasculating men is TOXIC, while true masculinity in men is the TONIC."
For a direct message to women in pastoral/elder positions, calling them to repent of their disobedience and rebellion, please see Attention Women Pastors/Elders!