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Is
it right for a woman to preach, or to teach men?
Centuries of church leaders have said,
“Absolutely no.” And the Bible seems to verify
that position. But
in this book by Kenneth E. Hagin, he digs deep into
those verses and others, and teaches us what the Bible
really says!
About
the Author
Mark 11:23-24 keynote Kenneth E. Hagin’s life
and ministry. He
first believed those verses while lying almost totally
paralyzed and completely bedfast from a deformed heart
and incurable blood disease. Doctors did not expect
him to reach his 17th birthday. But after
16 months bedfast, he believed that those scriptures
mean what they say ~ acted upon them in simple faith ~
and rose up healed.
Later, God called him to “Go teach My people
faith.” Hagin’s ministry spanned 65 years
and is world-wide.
About
the book
It is an excellent combination of Bible verses
and personal testimonies, and Brother Hagin’s
conclusions are thoroughly scriptural. It is a Bible
Study but is not boring! I found it to be exciting in
that it totally disproves the traditional views of the
role of women in the church!
He fearlessly tackles every controversial issue
concerning this subject with chapter titles like, Is
Man the Head of the Woman? Must Wives always obey
their husbands? Must Women keep Silent in Church? And
he even has a chapter on the issue of women having
their heads covered in church and one on proper dress
and adornment for Christian women.
Men
over Women?
First he gives the verses that seem to say
this, but then by referring to the Greek words and the
context of the rest of the Bible, he shows that this
verse actually means that a husband is head over his
own wife.
He also gives many verses showing that Paul was
not a woman-hater as some have claimed. Paul said very
favorable things about many women ~ some who had
ministry positions in churches!
Must
Wives always obey?
Brother Hagin quotes the verses that say wives
are to obey in everything, but then he takes us to
several very interesting verses where a husband and
wife had a disagreement and God sided with the wife
and told the husband to listen to her! He explains
that God always sides with the right! And, “A
Husband cannot countermand any of the Lord’s
commandments.”
A wonderful example is given from the life of
Smith Wigglesworth, a mighty man of God in the last
century. Smith was at one time back-slidden and
wasn’t interested in the things of God.
He told his wife, “You go to church too much.
You’re not to go anymore. And I know the Scriptures
well enough to know that you have to obey me.” She
smiled sweetly and told him that she is a good mother
and wife, not neglecting him or their kids ~ but she
is going to church!
Smith fussed and fumed about it, and finally
decided to lock her out! He did, and the next morning
when he opened the door, she tumbled in because
she’d slept huddled against the door!
Well, she got up and sweetly said, “Well,
dear, how are you this morning?“ Smith said, “She
was so kind and sweet, but I’d have felt better if
she’d chewed me out a little.” She asked, “What
would you like for breakfast?” And she fixed his
favorite! Smith
said he admitted to her he was wrong, and added, “She
just loved me back to God.”
Hagin also gives an example from his own life.
He said there was a situation where he was out
of the will of God so was feeling grumpy. His wife
told him what he needed to hear! He said she helped
him and he obeyed God.
An example from my own life is appropriate
here: Early
in our marriage, I was being just like my mother was,
the boss. Then
I went to a women’s weekend seminar and heard Eph.
5:33 out of the Amplified Bible.
“And let the wife see that she respect and
reverence her husband, that she notices him, regards
him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems
him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and
loves and admires him exceedingly.”
That rescued our marriage, and I continue to
remind myself that whatever I say to him must be
with love and respect!
Silent
in Church?
Two verses are quoted that seem to say that,
and then are examined for the truth. Hagin likes the
illustration of panning for gold.
You could get a little bit of gold that way,
but if you wanted a lot more, you had to dig for it!
He says it’s like that in the Word of God.
Here he shows us that these verses are talking about learning
something. Apparently women were asking their husbands
to explain ~ right in church! So these verses say,
“Ask at home.” Then he shows us other scriptures
where women taught, prayed, prophesied, and spoke in
tongues in church! An important statement he makes
then is, “Every Scripture must be interpreted in
the light of what other Scripture says on the same
subject. It
must harmonize with all other Scriptures.”
Then he gives funny stories ~ actual
conversations he has had with people who believed very
crazy things based only on one or two Scriptures that
weren’t fully understood!
An extremely exciting verse to me is Psalm
68:11. Hagin
says this is a prophetic Psalm, speaking of our time.
It says, “The Lord gave the word; great was
the company of those that proclaimed it.”
What is exciting is that the word company
is not just a word of feminine gender (like casa), but a word
which means women!
This refers to a bunch of women preachers!!
Proper
Dress
Hagin has quite a bit to say about modesty, and
it is all very good. Women have allowed the world to
dictate what they should wear, and it is wrong.
But then on the other hand, there are two
verses that church leaders have used in the past to
make women dress very plainly, and Hagin shows that
this is wrong too! What those two verses are saying is
that women need to spend time developing and caring
for their inner man or spirits instead of spending so
much time on the outer man, the body. Hagin says that
if women spent half as much time praying and reading
the Word as they do on their hair and clothes,
they’d be spiritual giants!
If you have firm opinions, and don’t want to
change, then don’t get this book.
But if you are a woman with the call of God on
your life, then you will love it!
To order this book, or to get Brother Hagin’s
catalog, you may write to:
Kenneth Hagin Ministries
P.O. Box 50126
Tulsa, OK 74150-0126
Or e-mail: www.rhema.org
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