“No! Not in the Bible”
Within the Church of England (CofE) there has been a long civil war over the ordination of women to the priesthood. But January 26, 2015, this 500-year-old denomination reached a milestone. They ordained the first female bishop in their history in historic Yorkminster Cathedral in Canterbury, England. “Archbishop of York John Sentamu, laid hands on the Rev. Libby Lane Monday (Jan. 26), making her the eighth bishop of Stockport and the first woman bishop in the Church of England.”
Over 1,000 well-wishers were in attendance. There was a choir singing, organs blaring and several bishops were there in their resplendent robes and paraphernalia. The CofE was putting on one of its “high church” shows. But as the Archbishop asked the audience if they agreed to her election as bishop, one lone voice of a renegade Anglican priest, Paul Williamson, strongly exclaimed, “No! Not in the Bible.” The Archbishop quickly read a statement claiming that Queen Elizabeth II, the supreme governor of the CofE, had commanded this ordination. (Actually, the action had been approved earlier by a vote of the CofE's General Synod or church council.) There was no further opposition. Then the other church officials present all symbolically placed their hands on the woman's head.
Now this denomination proceeds down the same heretical path of its sister church, the Episcopal Church USA, who ordained their first female bishop in 1989. The presiding bishop of their convention is Katharine Jefferts Schori. They now have over 100 female priests. They also ordain homosexuals to be priests and bishops.
The Holy Bible mentions no female priests in service to Jehovah in the Old or New Testaments. (All Christians are spiritual priests to God – 1 Peter 2:9.) There are no females in leadership roles at all in the New Testament. No female elders (bishops) are even intimated in its pages. In fact, one of the qualifications for an elder is, “must be…the husband of one wife” (1 Tim. 3:2). The apostle Paul and the Holy Spirit were even more explicit when they wrote, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:11-12). This prohibition is obvious and authoritative to those whose ears are open to the Bible (Mat. 13:15).
But for many in the denominational world (and increasingly in the Lord's church) the siren's song of “gender equality” is strong. The present generation of young and not so young people have grown up which “knew not Joseph” (Ex. 1:8)—that is, the Bible—and could care less. Society has proclaimed that “gender equality” should apply to all aspects of life, even religion. Some in the brotherhood are pining away for women preachers, elders, and deacons. Recently, the Fourth Avenue Church of Christ in Franklin, Tennessee, hired a female preaching intern. Some brethren were surprised at this, but they should not be. The movement to violate the Scriptures and have women in positions of authority in the church will soon become a tidal wave as a new generation takes charge in many congregations. Speaking of ancient Israel after the death of Joshua, the Holy Spirit wrote, “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10).
Someone should have risen up in the assembly of the Fourth Avenue church and said, “No! Not in the Bible.” But apparently no one did. No one was struck down by lightning. The woman preacher's tongue did not dry up in her mouth. But this does not mean that God was pleased. His Word indicates He wasn't pleased at all; He is just delaying His wrath until the Day of Judgment and giving them time to repent. Let us never mistake God's longsuffering nature or patience for His approval of unscriptural conduct. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).
Sources: religionnews.com/2015/01/26/first-female-bishop-ordained-church-england-amid-ongoing-controversies and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libby_Lane, both as of January 30, 2015.