Women in Ministry... and fidelity to the Bible

I had an interesting lunch meeting yesterday with a professor from Seattle Pacific University, centered around the topic of Women in Ministry. Ordained in a denomination that doesn't allow women in leadership, this man shared his story with me of transformation FROM a patriarchal view of the subject, to an egalitarian view.

I think what bothers me most in this realm is that the patriarchal proponents declare themselves to be upholding the faithfulness of the text, charging that anyone who allows women to teach or lead in the church is 'accommodating' the winds of culture and departing from fidelity to the text.

But here are some facts to consider:
1. the first two centuries of the church are nothing less than a testimony of women increasingly involved in leadership within the community. Their leadership is quite limited at the time the scriptures were written because the Roman empire was a culture of subjugation of women, and they thus lacked even the basic educational background that would have enabled them to lead. But as they came to Christ, they began to participate in the life of church, became educated, and those gifted as leaders took up that mantle.
2. It was only after Constantine mandated the faith as the state religion that its expressions became wed to the prevailing power structures of Rome which were, of course, patriarchal. This structure has held sway over most (but not all) of the church, ever since.
3. A careful reading of the text, to gather historical context, leads one to the conclusion that Paul is addressing specific issues for a specific time and place in the questionable texts of I Corinthians 14, and I Timothy 2. That this is true is evident because Paul enjoins absolute silence, for example, in I Cor. 14, while in I Cor. 11 he says that women who prophecy in church should have their heads covered. It must be obvious that the 14 passage isn't an absolute precept, because if it is, Paul violates the very same precept in his own teaching.

Here's an important bottom line for people to wrestle with: There are lots of us who believe woman can be called and gifted for leadership, and we teach this, not out of a desire to accommodate culture, but out of a desire to be faithful to the Bible. Careful study of text leads one heavily towards this conclusion, as demonstrated in this book. I don't mind people disagreeing with the conclusion. What bothers me is the charge that those of us who don't embrace patriarchal structures for the church are on some slippery slope towards a fateful abyss which will rob men of their masculinity and the Bible of it's authority.

My response to such charges - Study harder. Treat Paul's texts regarding women the same way you do the rest of the Bible: consider the cultural context as part of your hermeneutic, and consider anecdotes within the broader scope of scripture (such as Junias the female apostle in Romans 16) which contradict patriarchal readings of the broader text. Careful study, not cultural accommodation, is the basis for seeing that women should be called to use their gifts, whether serving or leading, just as men. This, it seems to me, is what being faithful to the text looks like.

Your thoughts?