Intense debate over who is the elect of God may seem more appropriate to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries than to the nearly twenty-first. Yet the issue of who has the right to speak and teach with the authority of genuine spiritual inspiration promises to be very much a concern of the coming century as it has been in the closing years of this one. In discussions of the ordination of women, for instance, it's an underlying theme. But as this article points out, the question is not simply a matter for theological dialogue. It speaks to a fundamental right of individual women and men to understand God and their direct relation to Him. It points to the ability of each one to practice the healing power of divine Love to liberate from sickness and sin
It was a live television broadcast. Four women —a Baptist, a Christian Scientist, a Hindu, and a Muslim—were discussing an upcoming religious conference with a male moderator. The topic of women's rights and role in religion came up. The Baptist, a university professor and ordained minister, answered a question by paraphrasing a Bible verse that would have us call Jesus ... "friend" rather than "Master." Her point was that Jesus did not promote a servile role for men or women.
The phone lit up. The first caller quoted John 13:13: "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." He then proceeded to challenge her to name the Bible reference she had just paraphrased, strongly implying that not only was her Scriptural knowledge mistaken but so was her view of the relation of women to men and to God. That awkward moment was eased by going to a commercial break.
