Did Paul forbid women to teach?
| “Paul excluded women from
teaching and presiding in the assembly. Through this, he established a
permanent norm - which excludes women from the priestly ministry.
” Inter Insigniores § 9 - 12 “Paul distinguished between his female co-workers and male colleagues in the ministry. ” Inter Insigniores |
Congregation for
Doctrine |
 No need to blame
Paul!Yes, Paul imposed prohibitions on women which were inspired by local custom. For instance, he wanted them to wear a veil during prayer sessions: 1 Corinthians 11,2-16. In such texts Paul sometimes ‘rationalised’, that is: he used popular arguments that do not contain doctrinal teaching. |
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Christ’s ministerial priesthood derives from us becoming
his priests through baptism. Well, Paul taught the fundamental equality of men and women in Christ through baptism: Galatians 3,27-28. |
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| It is true that some disciples of Paul forbade women to
teach. But this was only to meet the specific needs of their community. The
prohibition does not apply to the whole future Church as a permanent norm.
Read: 1 Timothy 2,1-12 and 1 Corinthians14,34-35 . |
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No
valid distinction can be made between two alleged categories among Paul’s
co-workers: those in true ministries and those not. And Paul clearly counted
women among his co-workers. Read: Mary Ann Getty and Bernadette Brooten. Scripture texts can mislead if we do not understand them properly.  |
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