If a woman is a pastor, does that mean she is going to hell?

by Matt Slick

If a woman is a pastor it does not mean she's going to hell. She is in sin, but it is not a sin that leads to damnation. The essentials of the faith that define our faith and form the boundaries of which a person is excluded from the faith does not include the issue of women being pastors and elders.

The elder, which is what a pastor is, is to be husband of one wife. Literally in the Greek it says, “a man of one woman,” (Titus 1:5-6). So, the elder is to be a man, not a woman. This is not culturally based because Paul clearly tells us in 1 Tim. 2:12-13, “but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.” So, Paul ties the issue of teaching authority into the created order of God. Therefore, male eldership/pastorship is not a culturally related issue. It is based on the created order of God.

So, if a woman is a pastor she is not damned to hell for this, but she would be in contradiction to the word of God. She also would not be properly believing the word of God and what it says about this issue. How could such a person be trusted to properly represent God's word?

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