Found
here. Our comments in bold.
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The author quotes the subject Scripture (Romans 16:1-2) and one other (1 Timothy 2:12) in 1900 words. He wastes over 400 words quoting various "egalitarians" (a term he never defines, though he uses it fourteen times). He's attempting to bolster his doctrine against women church leaders, and uses these "egalitarians" as the opportunity.
Let's quote the verses:
Ro. 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.
In verses 1-15 Paul commended a number of people to the church in Rome, beginning with Phoebe. She gets the most extensive treatment of anyone. Clearly Paul held her in high regard, so high in fact that his instruction included the directive that they should give her anything she wanted.
Since the author discusses the meaning of a couple of the Greek words, we shall expand his efforts in order to capture the magnitude of Paul's commendation.
The Greek word for "commend" is sunistémi, which means to stand in union with. Paul was not giving a tepid recommendation, He was standing together firmly with Phoebe.
"Sister" is adelphé, a part of the family, a woman believer. Paul included her as a precious part of the community of believers.
"Deaconess," a word the author generically defined, is diákonos (diá, "thoroughly" and konis, "dust") – properly, "thoroughly raise up dust by moving in a hurry, and so to minister." The author does his best to separate Phoebe from church leadership, but this is not about authority, it's about how hard Phoebe worked on behalf of the Church. She was rather remarkable in this, according to Paul.
The idea that we must decide whether or not Phoebe was a church leader is completely irrelevant. She was a servant, like Paul described himself:
1Co. 3:5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe — as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
Further, she was described specifically as a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea, she was not simply a generic servant or a helper like all the others in Paul's list. She was associated with a specific church as a deaconess, and recognized for this work.
"Receive" is prosdechomai, expectant waiting where a person is ready and willing to receive... So because of this remarkable woman, Paul instructed the Roman church to be completely open to her coming.
"Worthy" is axiós. Paul's thought here is to tell the Roman church the manner in which Phoebe should be received, to "mirror the honor Christ bestows on all His people." Phoebe clearly worked very hard for the cause of Christ within her church and also as an itinerant servant. She was not some nameless worker, but a person worthy of note.
So from these words we see that Phoebe was a special woman to both Paul and the Church, a woman of position in a local church who worked very hard serving the saints all over the region. Having a position is not the same as being in authority. She had a high position, but that does not speak to church leadership. In fact, being a deacon by title still does not place a person in leadership. A deacon is not an elder.
Why is the author trying so hard to put Phoebe in her place? He microanalyses these verses because he wants to make sure we don't think too highly of Phoebe. The reason? If Phoebe is in any sense a leader, this would violate the author's doctrines. Mistaken doctrines, that is.
The author thinks Phoebe cannot be a deacon in the church because of the second Scripture he quotes:
I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:12)
We discuss this verse here. Suffice to say, it is not a verse about church leadership structure.
Our last observation is regarding the author's statement:
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that male headship was something that was observed by all the apostles and all the churches (1 Cor. 11:16). Are we really to believe based on some specious historical background that Paul intended for Phoebe to do in Rome the very thing he prohibits women from doing in every other church?
The author misrepresents this unquoted passage. Paul was not talking about church government. If he was, that would mean ALL women must submit to ALL men, which of course is nonsense. No, this submission is a wife to her husband in the context of the gathering of the saints.
We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
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