Why can't women be ordained as priests?  

In the old testament and the early church started by Jesus Christ, there are no women who were ordained as priests because God is a God of order. He chose men to be His representative in the home and the Church. The qualifications for a godly priest in the old testament are very clear: He must be an Israelite, and must be from the tribe of Levi. Those who acted as priest outside of God's law are not blessed but cursed.

In the new testament, all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ were made priests because we have access to the throne of God anytime. Jesus Christ is our high priest. I believe in the priesthood of all believers as specified in the new testament doctrine.

The Anglican church (Protestant Christian) does ordain women as vicars and are currently having a row about whether they can be Bishops or not. That and the ordination of homosexual priests has split the church wide apart.

Hi Khayam, There is no reason that women cannot be ordained as priests, in fact women priests have been accepted in the Anglican Church, although there is still opposition in some areas of the world. The Roman Catholic church still refuses to accept women mainly because the Pope has the final say and is opposed to the idea. Some people use the argument that Christ did not choose any women among the twelve apostles, but if one looks at how women were viewed at that time in history, it is easy to see why. Christ was not opposed to women, but he did understand that people in his day, would not listen to a women if she stood up to preach. The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, sometimes seems to be preaching a different gospel from that of Jesus. It might be interesting to add here that Biblical scholars believe that the letters attributed to Paul, were actually written by three different people. In some of these letters, there is certainly an attempt to put women down and we really don't know why, except that it may be the personal opinion of the writer. Since it is to the teachings of Christ himself that we should be looking, there is no need to consider women anything less than the equal of men. Blessings.

The late Pope John Paul II was very firmed in his social encyclicals that women should never be admitted to priesthood. The Vatical council II maintained this principle because priesthood is one personification of Jesus christ. It is therefore exclusive to men, in the hierarchy of the universal church, only men are eligible to receive ordination. But women are welcome to serve the church as lay ministers infact, in the Philippines, who has the most conservative rules in the church, women are already accepted as Eucharistic ministers.

Ordination is one of the 7 sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church and because it is a sacrament, it means permanent and cannot be altered, it is always belong to men. Women could not become a priest based on the fact that Jesus presided the universal church and Jesus remained a personification of the church. Therefore His successors should always be men.

Women can't be a ordain as priest..Although presently men and women are equal but God give man as instrument to spread out his teaching, they are the most chosen one to do it before but as the time goes in present generation the presence of women is already recognized.. Women has a religious vow also, where they can perform what priest do, like giving communion, but women can't be an instrument to do confession.. Once you are a Priest, You'll be a priest forever.

Well, that is a very interesting idea that you have come up with. But I think from the very beginning when Christ started out, there were no women among his disciples. This could probably be the reason why there are no women priest in the Catholic religion. I have not seen any women priest or pastor in some other religion. Though I am not downplaying the capabilities of women, but perhaps its a matter of practice long before from the moment Jesus Christ started up to now. There is no reason to change that.

i don't think that there should be any reasons that women can't be ordained seeing that deborah was a prophet as well as priscilla that also was active in evangelism as well as others. Priscilla's in acts, i forget what book Deborah is in, but I have a feeling things will be changed as it says in the bible that "Nothing shall be impossible unto you" :)

love,

samantha

There is absolutely no reason why women cannot be ordained as priests. You have to remember though that in Biblical Times women were regarded as third class citizens, lower even than many animals, so the thought of women becoming priests then could never be thought of, never mind considered.

Its only really since the 20th centuary that women have tended to become equals in many (but not all) societies.

The Christian (also Islamic and Judaic) are all patriarcal relilgions: they are based on the 'male-head-of-household'. There is no reason why women women can be disciples, prophets, or the such, but the preisthood is reserved for men.

The other religions you refer to are poly-god type, where they usually have gods/goddess representing the different aspects of life, breaking them down to male and female.

In Christianity, all is one. God's representative is male, the head of household (I'm guessing the second coming of Christ will be male as well). Christianity is also the religion of monarchy, one man who represents God's vision of governance on earth.

~OutSideIn

(continuing from your comment above)

The monotheotric religions are all based in the singular divinity. Therefore, any branch of these religions, the 'maleness' of the priesthood derives directly from God. Please note the founding of the Judaic faith: Abraham, Moses, et. el. where male. At times within the teachings, women do araise and make significant contributions - but at all times, those women are making contributions to the singular diety.

Religions with multiple divinities have preisthoods that resemble man's interaction with those divinities. These preiesthoods/preistesshoods were established by man, as this was the way man was able to understand his natural world. If some force of nature, such as fertility, was understood to be feminine, then it was logical in man's eye that the preisthood be made up by women.

The greatest difference between singular and multiple divinity religions (in reference here) is that the Monotheotric religion comes from what our universe is, as opposed to the polytheotric which is derived from our understanding of our universe.

~OutSideIn

PS - I'm really enjoying answering your questions. I am a avid student of religons, versed in various religous texts and churches. Anything else you would like to know, I'd be happy to answer.