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Originally Posted by toddpedlar  Quote:
Originally Posted by raekwon I don't know that there's a Scriptural injunction against women leading corporate prayer (in fact, there are Scriptural examples of such without condemnation), but the reading of Scripture carries (in and of itself) authority, and in a sense, reading Scripture is authoritative teaching -- interpreted or not.
So . . . yes to prayer, no to Scripture reading. | Hm. How is prayer-leading less "authoritative" than Scripture reading? |
Well . . . spoken prayers are not the Word of God (though they may contain references to it). The reading of Scripture is the reading of the Word of God, which is by nature authoritative.
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I don't buy the "authoritative" vs. "non-authoritative" teaching distinction - t'aint no such thing. Teaching is authoritative by its very nature.
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Even if that's true (and I wasn't trying to make such a distinction, by the way), prayer is not teaching. And if we go with the angle that the one who voices the prayer is representing the people before God (and therefore in some sort of authoritative/mediatorial position) . . . well, I don't know if I buy that either. There's but one mediator between God and man -- Jesus Christ. If the pray-er is a mediator of some sort, should we limit it further and say that only ordained elders may pray? (I'm sure some would say "of course!")
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And, since you claim they exist, can you show an example of a woman leading prayer for a congregation of God's people in gathered worship (or otherwise?)?
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HERE'S where you caught me (and I appreciate it). I was thinking of prophecy, not prayer. In Acts, God makes promises of the coming of his Spirit, one of the results of which is men and women prophesying. As far as I can remember, almost all Scriptural references to prophecy after the establishment of the Church were in the context of corporate worship, but I'm willing to be corrected there.
Even so, I'm not seeing where a woman's voicing of a prayer in corporate worship is forbidden by Scripture. But, as for the topic of the thread, like I said . . . reading Scripture is out, I think.