Egalitarianism
A view held among orthodox Christians
The view that no office or ministry in the church is closed to women because of their sex, so women may serve as pastors and elders.
Also called: egalitarian, egalitarians, Christian egalitarianism
What it means
Christian egalitarians hold that because men and women are equally made in God's image and equally redeemed, every office and ministry in the church should be open to both. They read Galatians 3:28 as a principle that reaches beyond salvation to ministry, point to women such as Phoebe, Priscilla, and Junia, and read Paul's restrictions as answers to local problems in Ephesus and Corinth rather than rules for every church.
Confessional churches raise serious objections. Paul grounds his restriction in creation, not in local custom: "For Adam was formed first, then Eve" (1 Timothy 2:13). The office qualifications assume a man. Galatians 3:28 speaks of equal standing in Christ, not of interchangeable roles. And the church held the office to be for men for nearly two thousand years. Many also observe that the same ways of reading Scripture that set these texts aside are often later applied to other teaching.
The site displays this as a position held by professing Christians, and does not treat it as a denial of the gospel. But churches holding to the historic confessions judge it a departure from what Scripture teaches about office, and grade it accordingly.
In Scripture
In Christ there is neither male nor female: the text egalitarians cite most, which speaks of equal standing in Christ.
The Spirit is poured out on sons and daughters, menservants and maidservants alike.
Paul commends Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, who had helped many.
Paul's restriction on women teaching and exercising authority rests on the order of creation and the fall, the chief objection to egalitarianism.
Elders appointed in every town are to be 'the husband of but one wife'.
Where it comes up
On this site: Women in leadership
Related terms
ComplementarianismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that men and women are equal in worth before God but given different callings, so that the office of pastor or elder, and the preaching of the church's gathered worship, belong to qualified men.
Broad complementarianismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the office of elder belongs to qualified men, but that women may preach or teach mixed audiences under the elders' oversight.