Friday 30 July 2010

Facts about Ordination

There seems to be increasing amounts of chatter about the role of women in the church in both the Adventist church as well as in the church of England, which recently held its general synod.

While at GC 2010, the Adventist Women's Centre distributed some very useful information and which I wanted to share here.
The term 'ordination' does not come from the Bible but from the word 'ordo' used in Roman law to define a special status, or to set in order.

In the Old Testament, the 'laying on of hands' refers to blessng (Gen 48:14), appointment or consecration (Numbers 27:23), sacrifice (Leviticus 1:4), or installation of priest, king or prophet (Numbers 8:11)

In the New Testament, laying on of hands never refers directly to pastoral ministry but is more commonly used in reference to an appointment to a certain function or job (Mark 3:14,16; Acts 14:23; 2 Timothy 1:11) or, most commonly, to vote one into office (Acts 14:28; 2 Cor 8:19). The actual combination of Greek words most often translated 'to ordain' could literally be read as 'to stretch out the hand,' such as in a democratic vote! it is also used in reference to 'becoming' a disciple (Acts 1:22), wich all people, men and women, are called to do.

In contrast to the Roman definition of ordination, Jesus clearly did not establish roles with special status. In fact, when one mother was asking for such a role for her sons, Jesus rebuked her (Matt 20:21-28).

Jesus took on the priestly role of mediation himself (Heb 6:20; 8:3; 9:7), then called for a priesthood of all believers to serve one another and to preach the gospel (1 Peter 2:5,9; Rev 1:6; 5:10): "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" (Matt 28:19).

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