From: Mike Adams (mikadams@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Fri Jul 12 1996 - 01:44:40 EDT
You wrote:
>
>
>Dear Ellen,
> Are you still on the b-greek List? If so, would you be
>willing to re-post a message you sent out last December on Phoebe and
Junia
>about "Little Old Ladies" etc.?
Yes, I am still here. I've been learning programming lately. It's hard
to be obsessed with more than one thing at a time, so I have regressed
to the status of lurker for the time being.
I am both honored and flattered that you liked my post so much, so here
it is again:
Subject: Phoebe, Junia, and little old ladies
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 03:09:33 -0800
With the recent mention of Phoebe and the revival of Junia in B-Greek,
I would like to toss in a few comments of my own.
If Romans 16:1-2 instead had said, "I commend to you our brother,
George, 'diakonos' of the church of Chencrea...for he has been
'prostates' to many, including me..." would we have so much trouble
interpreting these verses? To be completely honest wouldn't most
of us assume that George was a deacon, particularly if he were
further described as a patron and/or administrator?
I know a woman who oversees a massive, incredibly effective
food/clothing/medical care program for needy families. Although
I doubt that anyone in her church would dare call her a deaconess,
for fear of impropriety, but I feel she is exactly the sort of woman
Paul spoke of in Romans 16.
And Junia. How modern science pales in comparison to this! Skilled
doctors could not hope to accomplish so quick and complete a gender
transformation as can be achieved by the mere moving of an accent.
(Is this akin to what Hobbs mentioned, "being given a masculine
essence, without which a woman could not obtain salvation", much less
apostleship?)
I admit I am being more than a bit facetious. But let me bring up just
one other thing.
I have a friend, formerly an elder in my church, who oft quoted I Tim.
5:1 from the KJV, "Rebuke not an elder" (presbuteros) concerning the
sanctity of the office. However, he also insisted that women could
never be elders. Since he was an elder and I a woman, I didn't dare
point out to him that in the very next verse, one with parallel
structure, what KJV translates as older women is the very same word,
only in its feminine form. Interesting!
Such scriptural enigmas make us all squirm. What we firmly believe is
challenged by what is evidently written. We are required to make a
choice, to alter our tenets to accomodate the exceptions, or alter our
translation of these exceptions to accomodate our beliefs.
Paul, whose apparent contradictions are the main source of our
consternation ought also by his example show us the solution. He
repeatedly taught the principles of headship and covering to establish
order and to avoid abuse. But for him there was one issue above all,
one standard beyond exception or compromise, to which all other
standards were secondary, that was the furtherance of the gospel of
Jesus Christ to the glory of God. And anyone, male, female, Jew, or
Gentile, who was likewise committed to and effective in the promotion
of that end was to him a valued co-laborer.
Should we not be equally disposed to afford honor to those people (past
or present) to whom honor is due?
Ellen Adams
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