Women pastors and a lack of a biblical worldview

by Matt Slick

Barna (Barna.org) is a "research and resource company located in Ventura, California" that "provides primary research services to organizations focused on enhancing people’s spiritual lives." 1  Its research topics are widely varied and very informative.  In 2004, Barna released an article titled "Only Half Of Protestant Pastors Have A Biblical Worldview."2  Though the findings are rather disturbing, there is some interesting information on the worldviews held by women pastors. Barna states...

"The largest gap related to gender. Whereas 53% of male pastors have a biblical worldview, the same can be said for just 15% of female pastors. Overall, just 6% of all Protestant Senior Pastors are women."3

Okay, so that is obviously very alarming.  But we must ask, what is a biblical worldview? The same article provides the answer.

"Defining such a worldview as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible, and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize), the researcher produced data showing that there are significant variations by denominational affiliation and other demographics."4

Furthermore, the article tells us that the Barna group surveyed 601 senior pastors nationwide from a random cross-section of Protestant churches.  This means that the survey is very accurate.

The Bible tells us that women are not to teach or exercise authority over men, for it was Adam who was created first (1 Tim. 2:12-13).  Furthermore, the pastor is an elder and elders are supposed to be the husband of one wife (Titus 1:5-7).  Without going into the defense of this position in this article, we can see that in order for a church to uphold a woman pastor it must disregard and/or reinterpret the Scriptures.  In order to do this, there must first be a weak biblical worldview where the Bible is not considered final and authoritative.  With that kind of thinking, the Bible is subjected to political correctness, experiences, and desires of people.

So, this is just further evidence demonstrating the wisdom of the Bible telling us that women are not to be pastors and elders.

  • 1. barna.org/about
  • 2. barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/133-only-half-of-protestant-pastors-have-a-biblical-worldview?q=half+protestant+pastors+have+biblical+worldview
  • 3. ibid.
  • 4. ibid.

 

 

 

 
 
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