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Lesson nine
The ‘tradition’ of not ordaining women priests was
not part of the real Tradition of the Church because of continuous
prejudice
- * read the narration column
first
- * then do the exercises
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Read the following chapter in our Textbook, The Ordination of
Women, etc.,
- chapter 16, ‘Genuine Tradition’, pages 131-138.
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Rejecting spurious
‘tradition’
This lesson summarises what we have seen in the previous four
lessons, and draws an overall conclusion. The practice of not ordaining women
in the Church was not a true and valid Tradition because it rested on a
threefold prejudice against women.
A word about
‘prejudice’
In most human societies, men have dominated women, socially and
politically. Women are still the underdogs in many countries. Prejudices are
perpetuated by social ‘myths’, and by cultural practices and
political structures.
Though there may be a genetic basis for some gender roles,
the origin of male
predominance should be sought in historical developments. The popular
perceptions and cultural practices that accompany male predominance are
undershored by a powerful
social "myth".
The "myth" of male
predominance can be documented even today.
Prejudices are an important tool through which social
‘myths’ and perceptions are sustained. The characteristic features of
social
prejudice have now been extensively studied. They apply very much to the
age-old attitudes regarding women found in the Church. And the directly affect
the validity of the exclusion of women from the ordained ministries. |
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The threefold prejudice
spelled out
The practice of not ordaining women in the Church rested on a
three-fold prejudice against women:
- Women were considered inferior by nature and by
law.
According to the Greek philosophy which was adopted also by
Christians, women were thought to be inferior to men by nature.
Roman law,
which became the basis for the Church's laws, granted women a low status in
society. Women did not enjoy equal rights in their homes and in civic
society.
Some Christian leaders linked women's presumed inferior status to
scriptural texts: only the man, they said, was created in God's image; Paul
forbade women to teach in church.
It was unthinkable that such an
‘inferior
creature’ could be ordained a priest.
- Women were considered to be in a state of punishment for
sin.
Women were held responsible for bringing original sin into the
world, and for being a continuing source of seduction.
The biblical
creation stories were interpreted as having put women in a permanent state of
submission to men, by way of punishment.
It would be wholly inappropriate
for such ‘sinful
creatures’ to be chosen as channels of God's grace.
- Women were considered ritually unclean.
A
woman's monthly flow of blood was supposed to put her regularly into a state of
ritual defilement.
Church leaders were anxious that such uncleanness might
defile the holiness of the church building, the sanctuary and mainly the
altar.
In a climate that increasingly looked on all aspects of sex and
procreation as tainted with sin, an
‘unclean
creature’ like a woman could not be entrusted with the care of God's
sacred realities.
It is clear that anyone who is under the influence of one of
these prejudices, leave alone a combination of them, could not possibly
entertain the idea of women assuming a leadership role in the Church! Women
were thought to have been ruled out from the ministry of the priesthood by
definition, simply by the fact of being a woman, that is: being an
inferior, low-status, unclean, dependent and sinful member of the human
race! |
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Online
Readings
Exercise
- Are you shocked, disappointed, disillusioned by the attitude of
the official Church towards women through the centuries?
- Have all prejudices against women been rectified - in society,
and in the Church?
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Spread of the threefold
prejudice
 As we have seen, the prejudices we enumerated above
were deeply engrained in the thinking of the Church in past centuries, from the
time of St. Paul to our own day.
They are found, in varying combinations, in all the major sources
of socalled Church ‘tradition’:
Conclusion
Since all the major sources of Tradition are tainted by prejudice,
it follows that the socalled ‘tradition’ against the
ordination of women is invalid. Because this ‘tradition’ does
not measure up to the required characteristics (see lesson
2).
- The underpinnings of the socalled ‘tradition’ were
inspired by social and cultural misunderstandings. This ‘tradition’
was not informed.
- The scriptural texts used to support the prejudices rested on
misinterpretations of the inspired meaning. Thus the ‘tradition’ of
not-ordaining women also fails because it was not
scriptural.
Conclusion
Yes, there has been an almost universal and constant practice
of refusing leadership status and sacred ordination to women, but this practice
cannot be maintained to be a valid theological source for Christian doctrine
and belief. |
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