Mark

Kay,

A quick response. First thankyou for your gentle and loving discussion. I do not wish to come across as harsh or painting you in the wrong way. What i feel is important that when we look at an issue (e.g Pheobe), we may put forward our own convictions of the passage but to say that Pheobe is proof of a female deacon could equally be untrue for the meanings discussed above. Therefore in ‘unclear’ or un-defined passages such as these i dont think we should say it HAS to be this or that, when it could equally be not true.

I have tried to express this in my posts when i say things such as ‘In my opinion’ or ‘my belief’, but seemingly i am criticised for talking in this way. But when it comes to biblical interpretation there are some things that we simply dont know and must decide what is ‘most likely’ such as the deaconess debate. Sorry if you felt i was harsh on you.

Obviously there are some things that are not negotiable, for example, grace alone through faith alone.

Hope this helps understand why i said what i did. I will reply more soon once i have a bit more time to answer more on the question that i missed earlier.