Why has the church begun ordaining women? Deborah and Esther and Ruth were not priests. There is no indication of women pastors, bishops, or priests in the New Testament.
Galatians 3:28 (“there is neither male nor female”) refers to salvation; 1 Corinthians 14 indicates Paul’s rigid stance is not his command but rather God’s: “The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says.”
Clearly enough, Paul had both men and women co-workers. Priscilla and Aquila were a ministry team that taught Apollos, according to Acts 18:24-26. Romans 16:1 refers to Phoebe as a servant of the church at Cenchreae, and the term “servant” is used elsewhere by Paul to refer to his own pastoral roles (Romans1:1). Paul calls Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2) his ministerial co-workers and addresses them as leaders in the Philippian church, a church that is said to be led by bishops and deacons (Philippians 1:1).
As for 1 Corinthians 14:33-36, this refers to women interrupting the worship service with leading questions during the time of the weighing of the prophets’ utterances. Paul is correcting a specific problem here, a misuse of a woman’s right to speak in church. He had already affirmed they had the right to pray and prophesy in worship in 1 Corinthians 11.
—Ben Witherington III