SPECIAL TOPIC: PAUL'S USE OF WOMEN IN MINISTRY

Notice all of the women in Romans 16 who were fellow-workers with Paul in the gospel (cf. Phil. 4:3):

Phoebe in v. 1

Prisca in v. 3

Mary in v. 6; Junia (or Junias—if so it was a man) in v. 7

Tryphaena and Tryphosa in v. 12

Persis in v. 12

"his mother" in v. 13

Julia in v. 15

and "his sister" in v. 15

Be careful of dogmatism in the area of women in ministry. All believers are gifted (cf. 1 Cor. 12:7,11); all believers are full-time ministers (cf. Eph. 4:12). In this list we have a woman deacon, Phoebe, and a possible woman apostle, Junia (cf. Joel 2:28; Acts 2:16-21). It is difficult to know how to handle this issue biblically because of the seemingly paradoxical statements of Paul such as 1 Cor. 11:4-5 compared with 14:34.