Male-only Priesthood: Different reasonings in Early Church vs Today?

[Brendan]

Have does not equal should. And don’t say stuff like women have babies, men can’t.

It is ‘fair’ for precisely the reason that you mention.

A human being is both material and spiritual. We have a body and a soul.

The thing that God desires most is Saints, that we spend Eternity with Him.

To accomplish that, we need both material and spiritual development. We need a human to bring forth material life. That is the woman. But as I mentioned, there is a second aspect to a human being, that of Spiritual Life. And that is the role of the male.

The human duties of the development of a Saint, that which God desires most, are thus divided equally and fairly between both sexes. Both are therefore necessary, and thus none is superior to the other

To endow one sex with both aspects would be, by definition, unfair and would designate a particular sex as being superior to the other. And God does care about fairness.

 

[MichelleGeorge]

You’re saying women aren’t spiritual beings. Balderdash! … And men are as material as women. Starting with having a material body. Plus, the Blessed Virgin aside, no woman has a baby without the man’s material body being involved… Splitting this up is stupid.

 

[Brendan]

You’re saying women aren’t spiritual beings. Balderdash! …

No, what I am saying is that women have the primary role in the development of the material person.

Priest (men) have the primary role in the development of the Spiritual person ( via the Sacraments).

It would be grossly unfair, for one sex to have both roles,

And yes, men provide a small role in the development of the material aspect of the human person, but not anywhere near as large as the role that women have.

And the same is true for the role in the Spiritual aspect of the person. The priest has the larger role in the Spiritual life by providing the Eucharist, Confirmation and Reconciliation.

Thus, the creation of a new Saint (male or female) is evenly divided between the sexes.

 

[Brendan]

Well if that’s a job only allowed by men, a lot of men are doing a really lousy job of it.

I would disagree, the vast majority of priests are doing a very good job. I wish more men would accept that call, in much in the same way that I wish that more women would be open to accepting material life in their wombs.

 

[chessnerd321]

I could never figure out the reasoning to why Catholics say women can’t be priests.

The simple answer is that we follow the Bible rather than just accepting the parts we find socially acceptable and expedient. From 1 Timothy 2:8-12

8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. 11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

Sure we can and do have plenty of discussion around how this passage squares with other parts of the Bible where women have prominent roles, but it shouldn’t be forgotten nor brushed asside. I assume you’re going to call me a sexist now, which is fine. You have fun over there calling me and the direct Apostle of Jesus Christ, and biggest writter of the God-breathed new testament scripture sexist.

 

[Diaconia]

Women cannot be ordained priests because Jesus Christ, our Lord and God and Savior, personally and exclusively, chose 12 men as his Apostles.

The Church CANNOT, even if it wanted to, ordain women - because Christ made that choice on the night when he became our Paschal Lamb.

Jesus broke all sorts of social conventions with women of his time, if He had wanted them to share in the priesthood, He would have appointed some of them as Apostles, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion right now.

He certainly could have chosen the finest person to ever live, His blessed Mother, or Mary of Magdala, or one of the other Myrrh-bearers if He wanted.

Perhaps the specific choice of the Lord, the Master of the Universe, is both controlling and definitive.

Thank you for the gift of Sacred Orders, which continues Your Church forever.

Deacon Christopher