Women as Sunday School Presidents

[MrShorty]

Based on what I know now of doctrine, I would vote for "variation to a historical practice".

[kapikui]

8 hours ago, zil said:

I'm not sure what the reference to "hang gliders" is, but I wish we had a bell and I wish they'd ring it.  We have one SS teacher who's too nice to stop comments and another who gets off to such a slow start that the lesson doesn't start getting good until the last 15 minutes, and that's not enough time for the discussion which then ensues... <sigh>

It was a paraglider actually.  It crashed through the roof of the chapel in Draper.  Apparently the meeting was just about to start.  The pilot was killed.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865660683/Paraglider-killed-after-crashing-into-LDS-church-building.html?pg=all

[MrShorty]

Something in Zil's post a couple of days ago triggered me to remember and look up these verses from St. Paul: 1 Cor 14:34 where Paul says that women are not permitted to speak (JST replaces speak with rule) in the churches and 1 Timothy 2:12, where Paul says that he does not permit a woman to teach or usurp authority over a man. Zil pointed out that women can preside over auxilliaries that are either all women or children. Any auxiliary that is male or mixed gender, is presided over by men. Of course, these verses raise the hackles of anyone with feminist leanings, and clearly we have not adhered to the plainest readings at all. We allow women to be Gospel Doctrine and other SS teachers, and speak in Sacrament meetings and firesides and other contexts where women are clearly teaching men.

As I read it, Paul, for his doctrinal basis for this teaching, appeals to the Fall of Adam and Eve and says it is because Eve partook first of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Many times, I wonder if these verses represent eternal truth, or if they are more limited to Paul's day in the 1st century church? Do they apply to us in the 21st century? If so, do we see the doctrinal reasons the same? Could these be the scriptural basis for men only SS presidencies?

[MrShorty]

As a supplement to yesterday's post, I looked up what our manuals say on these verses. The most comprehensive discussion was in the Institute student manual for 1 Cor. 14 https://www.lds.org/manual/new-testament-student-manual/1-corinthians/chapter-39-1-corinthians-12-14.p120?lang=eng

The manual says that we don't really know what Paul is trying to say here, notes the JST substitution, then speculates on some possibilities. They they refer to Elder Ballards 2013 talk about women in the church, which, as it relates to SS presidencies, seems to be saying that we believe God has decreed it should be this way, but that we really do not know why.

[askandanswer]

3 hours ago, MrShorty said:

As a supplement to yesterday's post, I looked up what our manuals say on these verses. The most comprehensive discussion was in the Institute student manual for 1 Cor. 14 https://www.lds.org/manual/new-testament-student-manual/1-corinthians/chapter-39-1-corinthians-12-14.p120?lang=eng

The manual says that we don't really know what Paul is trying to say here, notes the JST substitution, then speculates on some possibilities. They they refer to Elder Ballards 2013 talk about women in the church, which, as it relates to SS presidencies, seems to be saying that we believe God has decreed it should be this way, but that we really do not know why.

Thanks MrShorty, that's interesting and helpful