Cheryl

Don,

Here is what the Apostles thought was the qualification of one of the 12 Apostles:

Act 1:21 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us–
Act 1:22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us–one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

An Apostle (one of the twelve) certainly had to be a witness of His resurrection, but it wasn’t necessary for him to have been with them from the beginning. Paul says that he is an Apostle as one born out of time. He wasn’t with the other Apostles during the time that Jesus walked the earth, but he was a witness of the resurrection since he said that went to the third heaven and was instructed by Jesus himself.

I fully agree with you that the Apostles wouldn’t have considered a woman since women weren’t to be witnesses. Yet I believe that Jesus chose men to be the foundation (Jesus himself the cornerstone) that the church was built on. They were to give their lives to bring the gospel. I can’t tell you why this is so but I suspect it might have something to do with the first man, Adam, who brought sin into the world and Adam did not do anything to stop Eve from being deceived. Now men are given the opportunity to be a sacrificial foundation that men and women are to be built upon. That is my two cents worth and I could be wrong.