The Theological Arguments For and Against the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood

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The Theological Arguments For and Against the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood

" Women should be kept silent in the churches, for they are not

allowed to speak, but

should be subordinate, as even the law says .'' (Corinthians 14:

34-35.)

Does St.Paul give an interpretation of the culturally conditioned

views of his period, or that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? This

question emphasises the ongoing debate over women's ordination within

the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches. 'A person ordained to

act as a mediator between God and human-beings administering the

sacraments and preaching' is the more simplified definition of a

priest. For the purposes of this essay a far more complex

understanding of the term 'priest' is required. In Catholicism the

priest's ministry is associated firmly with the idea of the Mass as

'sacrifice'. As a result the Church has developed a three-fold

conception of priestly ministry: bishop, priest and deacon.

In the 21st century it still stands firm within Church dogma that

women are not to be priests, despite nearly all other denominations

having allowed women's ordination. This viewpoint has risen from

theological support within the Bible and teachings from Jesus, God,

St.Paul and the Tradition of the Church. Yet at the same time,

semi-conclusive theological evidence has been found denoting that

there is simply no reason why women should not be an intermediary

between God and us.

The traditional arguments that represent the view that women should

not be ordained have stood since Roman times and only since human

rights in the late 19th Century became apparent, counter arguments
...

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Equal and Different - Michael Harper

Ministry a case for change - Edward Schillebeeckx

Ordinatio Sacerdotalis - Apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II

Sexism and God - R.Reuther

The Case for Women's ministry - R.Edwards

The New Theologian Debate - Women and Ordination - The Case for the

Ordination of Women - Murray Charles Murray

The Case against the Ordination of women -Henry Kirk

The Tablet 10 February 1996 - Women Priests cannot be - Anthony Lane

The Tablet 2 November 1996 - The Pope and the women - Hermann Josef

Pottmeyer

The Tablet December 1995 - Tradition says no - Avery Dulles

Tradition and the Ordination of Women - CTSA convention in Minneapolis

Women at the Altar - The Ordination of Women in the R.C. Church -

Lavinia Byrne

Website : www.womenpriests.org

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