"Woman: Her Place and Work in the Church of Christ."

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3958, 5 September 1881, Page 3

"Woman: Her Place and Work in the Church of Christ."

A Session 'by the Kbt. V- Lush. Delivered in St. George's Church, .Thames, 4th September, 1881.

The following discourse was given-in reply to enquiries" made by members of St. George's Church of their paHtor why be < had not, on the occasion of Mrs j Hampson's visil;'!to the; Thames, asso- ' eiated with, other clergymen in her proceedings. The rev. gentleman considered it was due .to. his congregation to give his reasons for the position he then took up. The question was brought forward at this , time in consequence of a. paragraph in our columns to the effect that Mrs Hamp" son contemplated re-visitine; the Thames. After some •introductory'remarks^ the rev. gentleman proceeded:— . ; First, then, I would, remind you.that I am not altogether independent—responsible to f no ojje. butmy own. will—for I am,^o l un4;taVa'ct'^t^in l .ib^Ji'initS'Ofithe customs and Usages of ithaK branch of the Church, .Catholic to iiwhich we belong. ' I am not. here ; to maker laws or to break through old customs,'but to carry out laws and usages which have comedown, to us from generation' to generation, and, therefore, when asked whether I'wonlcl allow Mrs Haropson to preach in this, church, I at once said, in the words of St. Paul, -" We have no such custom, neither the cjhurches of God"—lst Cor., xi., 16.; • Pthought" such ( an answer would suffice, especially as St. Paul had used it as his conclusive argument against this very same thing—women - speaking or preaching publicly in the church—for thjs innovation had, crept into the church at^dorinthi and when St. Paul wrote to them he, among other reproofs, said: "Let the women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let thenacbein subjection, as also saith the law ; and if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for* it is shameful for a woman 'to,, speak in the Church " ; and ends his remarks by, asserting that if 'auy man continue con r tentious on this/point, jt,,surely will suffice to reining such an one, "..Wfl have no iuch custom ■< neithct-'the-Churches of God." F°ri must be borne in .mind.thfcL ihe Christian Church, as an organism cc?r.p''Btc in i^elf, dates from the day of F."fi?i.-<JOBt in the year. 31, and- at least^ t*£oty yea T« elapsed before there'was any £Te'-;, Testament at all, the earliest comoosiuon being St. Paul's Letter to the Xl:* =ulouians; after which other epi'slle'sy &h<. ladrcsjsed to local churches, appear at intervals, and-it.must not be overlooked: that special reasons produced St. Paul's Letter to the Christians at Corinth: uueeemly conduct at the Lord's Supper; women (joining unveiled into the public assemblies of the Church, and when there, taking upon themselves public preaching.' These special reasons called forth the I'irai Epistle to the Corinthians, in which the Apostle severely rebuked the, Christians of that city for the scandals which had crept inV'and in his righteous indignation pointed x>ut, "If any man seem to be contentious, we- have no such custom, neither the Churches of God." The,community is addressed as' being already in possession of the dogmas of the new faith, as already familiar with the moral code and the religious observances of Christianity, and as bound to keep tp an esisting system ; and St. Paul evidently considered the custom of the Church for the .twenty or twenty-five years since its foundation was sufficient authority for him tb'lay do'wu-the law, " I suffer not a woman to speak iv the Church." To this law, laid down by an inspired Apostle, I have heard some people raise this objection that while it might be applicable to due particular Church (viz , that ot Corinth), it had no authority for churches' in other places. But surely any one who reasons thus must have forgotten 1 that E>t. Paul, writing to Timothy, the Bishop,, over an extensive diocese, containing ( many churches; repeated the charge given to the Christians at Corinth, viz', " That women should learn in quietness with a,U subjection, for said'he, "I permit not a woman to teach." There are, however, two texts which the advocates 1 for women preaching iv public consider as justifying such conduct, notwithstanding anything St. Paul may have'said to the contrary, one is this, " every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head unveiled dishonoureth her "head»" and the other'text,is this, " Now this man, (viz., Philip the Deacon) had sfour daughters, Which did prophesy," and have heard it argued that by, the very expression,, I'the women alluded^.tp, at, Corinth, and the four women (Phillip's, daughters) at Csesarea, were clearly exercising their spiritual j>iits by teaching and preaching publiMy. But in all interpretations of scripture we must remember'that- the Holy Ghost, who inspired the apostle, could not, He being the Spirit of Truth, contradict"himself, and, if He, the Spiritiof Truth, by the mouth of. St,,, Paul, commanded women not to teach in the church, the expression " prophesioth " whe,n applied to Coriath, C»sarea.,,or elsewhere, must not be so explained as to empty St. Peter's injunctions of all meaning ! JVhen, .therefore,, St. Luke tells us that Philip's four daughters "prophesied", (assuming that they literally foretold things, to come) they must have exercised their gift, unobfcru-' sively and 4 in,.. privacy, agreable to the established custom, of the • church. Just as Huldah, the prophetess of whom we read in (he XXII.. 2nd Book of Kings, ,and ,of whom ■ King Josiah commanded Hiikiah'the priest, and Shapham the scribe, and Asahia.h,.a savant of the King, to enquire of the Lord for him, and it is stated, that Huldah ; communed with them aiid delivered to thew the Lord's

luessiige (privately as it were) in the house where she dwelt tlu* prophets Jeremiah und Zi'phninnh wen; both alive at this very time, and preached aud taught and foretold thing- 1 to comivin the streets of Jerusalem, in .the courts o( the Lord's house, iv every public place— they lifted up their voice and cried aloud ; but Huldah, a woman in whom th- L'>r<i had also conferred the prophetic spirit, dwelt at home, and the King's messengers went to her to enquire of th« Lord for him' in like manner. And when St. Luke spofce of Philip's 'daughters' prophesying, it is likely enough they exercised their gift unobtrusively, and still more likely that St Luke merely intended Theophilus, for whose edin'ca tion he wrote, to understand that they devoted themselves to good works —to the training up of children iv the faith' of Christ, or expounding the scripture from house to house'; just.as Priscilla and Aquilla took unto them Apollos, and expounded unto him the way of God more carefully—and the expression " took unto them" favours the idea of teaching Apollos privately in their own. house nuher than publicly in the Church. There is another passage from the Book of the Prophet Joel, which I have heard cited as affording authority to any woman, in these latter days, to teach and preach publicly, if she felt moved thereto by the Holy Spirit, viz., that passage in which speaks or the Spirit in the last days being poured out upon all .flesh and "sons and daughters" prophesying. But, surely on no one could the Holy Spirit have been poured out more abundantly than on St. Paul, and whatever interpretation we put upon the word "prophesying," when connected with women, it must at all events not contradict the apostolic command, ".I permit not a woman to teach in the Church publicly, but to bein quietness." . To be> continued.