Why Ordain Women?
Packer contends that groups that actively support women’s ordination “fail to read out of Scripture any principle that directly requires such action [ordaining women].”(59) Packer correctly observes that the Bible nowhere demands women to be ordained, but if the whole truth is to be known, neither does Scripture demand men to be ordained. Ordination is simply a human symbol that affirms God’s calling for a person’s life. Significantly, while the word “ordination” may be absent from the biblical vocabulary, the Scriptures are replete with instances describing the process of God’s election. Anointing was a means by which God’s people acknowledged a divine appointment. In the Old Testament, in obedience to God, Israel poured olive oil on the heads of prophets, priests and kings.(60) In the New Testament, churches prayed and laid hands on individuals whom God had called.(61) As time passed and the church became more established, the formal ceremony surrounding the confirmation of God’s ser
