I think (name removed by moderator) hit everything right on the head!
The only thing I would like to add in the form of question to people who think women should be priest or Pope etc, is why does a specified role in the Church demand equality in terms of being open to either gender? Isnt this in itself a bias of our out times? And who is to say this bias wont be determined be wrong at another time?? Don’t get me wrong, Im not saying women should have been restricted from voting or other inequalities such as that. But when people suggest that the Church check in with the times, I have to ask a resounding WHY?!! You say you are Anglican, so I assume you still oppose abortion. But the world thinks abortion is almost a moral good. The word thinks premarital or extra marital sex is , if not good, perfectly acceptable. And on and on. The “catch up with times” argument in my mind is the worst argument for the Church to change its theology regarding a female clergy.
One other thing. What is the difference between the Church making the case, as (name removed by moderator) outlined, that the priesthood is inherently a male role because Christ himself modeled it as such and arguing that women are to give birth and not men? God simply ordained a different role in reproduction. Should people be complaining to God that he is a misogynist or a misogyo-phile depending on ones out look on carrying children? God found it fit to make two sexes and give us different roles. Is this inequality? Why are different roles in the Church different if you believe that God left us a Church? I can see why an atheist or very liberal Christian would argue against it because they either don’t believe in Gods role in anything or at best in deciding who should be clergy, in the case of the liberal Christian. But if you believe God instituted the Church, then why couldn’t he also institute different gender roles? I think its incumbent on the challengers of the male priesthood, and thus a male Pope, to make the case why Christ wanted an male and female clergy. And, the only arguments I ever hear is that there were women priest and deacons in the early Church or the ridiculous notion that modern cultural values demand gender equality in ALL roles. The Early Church priestess and deaconess case is simply untrue in terms of the clergy were talking about now. And, the modern cultural values argument really has no legs to stand on if you’re a Christian since these values have strayed so far from Christianity.