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Elmo,
Your friend no doubt bases her claim in that the Catholic Church historically has never considered women for ordination to the priesthood — while Anglicans do.
If we are bigots, then so is Jesus Christ.
He never chose women for his Apostles, though many of his closest disciples and followers were women. Nor did Jesus simply acquiesce to the trends of the culture; he upset the culture, religion, and conventions in numerous ways.
- So if Christ is not a bigot, but did not chose women, and likewise did not instruct or authorize the Church built on Peter to do anything other than how he did it, why would we be so arrogant to presume we can do it better than him, or that somehow he left an injustice unsettled?
The answer is simply that he chose to use men for priesthood, and not women for his own reasons, which probably has to do distinguishing his religion from other world [cults/religions] that had [male/female] deities and therefore male and female priests.
Judaism alone posited a single transcendent god, from which we have the incarnate (male) second person. In relationship to him we all become brides therefore assuming a feminine quality, He the masculine. Priests model Christ so a female priest could distort this transcendent and symbolic relationship that is being played out.
In short, we simply don't have the authority to change the practice that Christ Himself established, and if you look deep, you might even understand why he probably did it.
Peace,
Robert Kirby |
