_sabotage_ wrote:Player,
In many instances the disciples of Jesus dissuaded him from talking with women. In all instances he ignored them, in some instances he rebuked them. The Lutheran Church does ordain women, why doesn't the Catholic Church? Was this at Peter's bequest? Is there any substantiation of this in the New Testament?
My query is why you attribute this to Paul. (and by-the-way Luther is not exactly known for putting forward the cause of women in the church).
I would put forward a slightly different history. Firstly, Rome was extremely anti -women, an extremely chauvinistic society. Judaism, by comparison (and in comparison to many other societies and groups of the time) was a haven for women, offering them power and rights. This actually changed under Roman oppression. All Judeo-Christian sects were infused with chauvinism because that was how so much of the world was, regardless of whether that was a dictate of Christ or not. For myself, I put it into the category of slavery, something that Christ did not really support, but understood was not going to go away immediately, if ever. I find it pretty telling that much of what Christ tells women mirrors what he tells servants/slaves.
I did go back and catch, on page 6, I think, where you were debating with 2dimes about Corinthians, where women are told to ask their husbands rather than speaking up in church. The context of that (and I believe the words have been subtly shifted in some versions, but I refer to the Revised Standard Version), is that women were basically standing up and arguing with their husbands in church, effectively looking for the congregation to help them win spiritual debates with their husbands. That is not appropriate. In that day, women could not just speak up in most forums. Women also could not go without head coverings. Christians cannot completely go against the mores of the day and society in which they live. If you live in a society where women going uncovered are automatically harlots, then women there should not go uncovered. That doesn't mean a change in society is wrong or unwarranted, it means women -- you don't want to be thought a harlot. Similarly, in a society where women are not normally allowed to speak in church, Christian women should be no different.
But, you still don't really answer why you think that Paul is who the Roman Catholic Church follows most.
Per the last 2 questions, The Roman Catholic Church refers to the part where Jesus tells Peter he will be the keeper of the keys to heaven. Each Pope is considered to be a spiritual descendent of Peter, his spiritually appointed successor. Priests are celibate because, they say, Christ and all of his apostles were celibate.
The Greek Orthodox Church, I am told, takes the opposite view. You must be married to be clergy in the Greek Orthodox church, because they believe that this part of humanity is important to understand for anyone leading people spiritually. Marriage is, in their view, a part of God's design and should not be rejected commonly.