Do We Also Have Bible-Based Doctrines That Are Wrong? Is There a Case for Women as Pastors?

[Dr. Robert S. Morley]

16 hours ago, BrotherTony said:

You've done your best to be disrespectful and disruptive here. You know this is Baptist site, and yet you've come here and consistently tried to introduce misinterpretation of scripture to fit your own ideology. 

This site (and forum) facilitates open discussion where brothers and sisters in Christ can share their views. I have never tried to be disrespectful. Disagreements are inevitable.

16 hours ago, BrotherTony said:

you refuse to hear and accept those interpretations...yet we are supposed to WILLINGLY accept yours. No thanks, Doc. 

This platform allows us to get to know how one another sees Scripture. This way we can learn from one another, learn to love one another despite our differences, and pray for one another. We have the Scriptures to test what is said by those who share.

Edited June 10, 2023 by Dr. Robert S. Morley
Added: I have never tried to be disrespectful.

[Dr. Robert S. Morley]

In an essay titled, Baptist Theology, Anthony L. Chute writes the following on the varieties of Baptists:

• Although Baptists agree in the main with the theological commitments above, there are distinctives that set a number of Baptist groups apart from each other. General Baptists affirmed a general atonement whereas Particular Baptists affirmed limited atonement. Southern Baptists formed their denomination in reaction to the refusal of the Triennial Convention (a network of northern and southern Baptists) to appoint slave owners as missionaries; the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., was formed after the American Civil War and is the nation’s oldest and largest African-American religious convention. Missionary Baptists were actively involved in missions at the turn of the nineteenth century, which gave rise to Primitive Baptists who decried mission agencies as unscriptural rivals to the local church. Landmark Baptists look to the past with their understanding that Jesus founded the Baptist church in the first century, while Seventh-Day Baptists look to the last day of the week as the day when Baptist churches should gather for worship. (Baptist Theology, The Gospel Coalition)

Anthony L. Chute (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is associate professor of church history and associate dean of the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University, where he has taught since 2003.

Similarly, University Avenue Baptist Church writes:

• Baptists come in all shapes and sizes and are not the same. Currently, there are over 64 separate Baptist denominations in the United States and the diversity is surprising. For example, Primitive Baptists ardently defend predestination; so do Regular Baptists and Reformed Baptists. But Free Will Baptists believe just the opposite. Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists don’t believe in missions.
• Swedish Baptists and German Baptists live primarily in the midwest; Northern Baptists (who later became American Baptists) were strongest in the northeast. Southern Baptists began in the south and still have their largest numbers there. Some Fundamentalist Baptists believe that the first Baptist church was started in 31 A.D. and that “nobody is a true Bible fundamentalist unless he is a fundamental Baptist.” The Alliance of Baptists are at the complete other end of the theological spectrum as they embrace diversity and nonconformity. The list goes on and on. (What Kind of Baptist? University Avenue Baptist Church)

Baptists have historically sought to identify themselves by obedience to the Scriptures, which is commendable. They have often repented, made changes, and accommodated different views. It appears that they are perhaps, once again, at a juncture of a hard choice because some in the Body of Christ, even in their ranks, have seen it biblical that women can be pastors. Perhaps another group of Baptists is about to emerge. One that accepts women as co-heirs who are co-equal for all the church roles in Christ.

Understanding the council of the Scriptures is only by God’s grace. As we seek God’s face to know what is best, let us be sure that we are gentle and loving to one another, avoiding slander so that God does not resist us. For “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). In the end, God will judge us, not so much by our zeal for what we believed was in His word but by our obedience to what His word meant. There is a difference. The Pharisees were blind though they sought the Scriptures. Even Jews who came to Christ struggled to incorporate the gentiles. More recently, Baptist antiabolitionists, those who held anti-suffrage views, and segregationists battled with change too.

Change is invariably hard, and in an age where LGBTQ+ and gender-mutilating views are on the rise, we must be cautious. But we must not conflate those issues with the idea of women being pastors because it will only serve to cloud understanding. Zeal can become misdirected, and obedience does not come to the proud, so may God bless us as we venture on in a world where our love for God is seen in our obedience to His commands and where our love for one another identifies us more than the beliefs that constantly divide.

Thank you to all who have contributed to the discussion.

[Pastor Matt]

Administration note:
God gave us all a free will to believe what and who we believe. I trust everyone reading this will take the time and read what the Bible says rather than what man says. In the past man has got things wrong in the church (every denomination and non-denomination) when they listen mans opinions, but God's word never changes. Trust God's Word over man and you'll never be wrong. Beware of people that point you to more of what man says rather than God. That's what cults do. God is the one we are accountable to.

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.