Helpful (or Not so Helpful) Tidbits Regarding the Bible, Women, and Churches of Christ (No. 4)

Wineskins Contributor・08/30/19

These are brief: one tidbit each from the Hebrew Bible, thewritings of the New Testament, and from the history of Churches of Christ.

Hebrew Bible

When Nehemiah finished building the wall, he appointedgatekeepers to watch over the entrances to the city and Levitical singers toserve in the temple (Nehemiah 7:1). Most of these singers were descendants ofAsaph, who was one of the leading musicians and a prophet from the time ofDavid (1 Chronicles 16:7; 2 Chronicles 29:30) as well as the author of severalPsalms (50 and 73, for example). The Levitical singers, including Asaph’sdescendants, led the worship of Israel (2 Chronicles 5:12; 35:15).

Nehemiah’s singers numbered two hundred and forty-five, andthey included “both male and female” (Nehemiah 7:67). Women were part of theLevitical choir that led the worship of Israel at the temple. In other words, women were on the praise team!

New Testament

Why did God incarnate as a male? That is a good question.

Perhaps we don’t really know. Nevertheless, given that Goddecided to become human, God must become a particularhuman. That is, God must dwell in the flesh in a particular geographicallocation, as a particular ethnicity, and as a particular sex. But the point isnot that God in the flesh represents only male Jews who live in Palestine butthat God in the flesh represents allhumans. The incarnate Christ is the image of God, and we are all beingconformed to the image of Christ whether male or female, whether Jew orGentile, whether slave or free. The particularity of the incarnation, necessaryfor authentic existence as a human being, does not limit its meaning for allhuman beings.

Nevertheless, whatever reasons we might assign to God’sincarnation as a male, they do not imply that only males are gifted forleadership any more than God’s incarnation as a Jew implies that only Jews aregifted for leadership. Jesus, as human, represents all human beings.

History

In 1848, John R. Howard published what became a popular andinfluential sermon entitled “The Church of Christ Identified.” He listed the“original marks” of the true church, including such things as Christ asfounder, no creed but the Bible, terms of admission (faith, repentance,confession, baptism), and weekly Lord’s supper. Interestingly, one of the marks“of the true church of Christ” was that it would be organized  with “certain officers,” including “1. Bishops, or elders; 2. Deacons and deaconesses, 3. Evangelists.”

Howard was not alone but stating a common orthopraxy among congregationsin the early Restoration Movement (or, Stone-Campbell Movement). Otheradvocates for deaconesses included Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, TolbertFanning, Robert Richardson, Robert Milligan, Moses Lard, J. M. Barnes, E. G.Sewell, C. R. Nichol, G. C. Brewer, J. Ridley Stroop, and J. D. Thomas. Thiswas a strong tradition within the Restoration Movement in the nineteenthcentury, but it died out in the early 20th century even though someprominent ministers thought it was an approved office in the church.

Why did it die out? The influence of David Lipscomb and J.W. McGarvey weighed heavily as they understood only men could serve as such.The rise of women’s suffrage and the emergence of the “New Woman” movement inthe late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries probably shaped the responseof churches who were threatened by those movements. They circled the wagons andexcluded women from the diaconate.Yet, the church has always been filled with women deaconesses even ifthey were not permitted to wear the name. Churches may not have honored theoffice, but God still gave the gift.