Mielke, Gerhard. “What Motivated Wesleyan Holiness Women of the 19th and Early 20th Century to Preach?” Paper presented at the Wesley Ministry Conference and Symposium, Tyndale University College & Seminary, Toronto, Ontario, April 25, 2017. (MPEG-3, 25:33 min.) 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:05.780 Okay, thank you for staying and coming. 2 00:00:05.810 --> 00:00:09.140 My topic is what compelled holiness women 3 00:00:09.170 --> 00:00:15.380 in the 19th and early 20th century to preach? 4 00:00:15.410 --> 00:00:20.420 Classical Reformation literature is dominated by male theologians. 5 00:00:20.450 --> 00:00:27.820 I mean, female theologians in the classical you Reformation literature. 6 00:00:27.850 --> 00:00:33.220 I mean, I don't know any, but maybe that's because I haven't read enough of it. 7 00:00:33.250 --> 00:00:36.140 But they're basically almost unknown. 8 00:00:36.170 --> 00:00:42.060 But as soon as the revivals in America began and the holiness movement took over, 9 00:00:42.090 --> 00:00:50.100 we find all sorts of female preachers that started to preach. 10 00:00:50.130 --> 00:00:53.740 There was opposition to their preaching on many fronts. 11 00:00:53.770 --> 00:01:00.180 So the question is, why did they insist on preaching when there was so much 12 00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:04.290 opposition, even more than we would find today? 13 00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:07.980 This paper answers this question in regards to women preachers in the North 14 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:12.900 American Holiness movement of the 19th and early 20th century. 15 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:15.340 These women justified their call to preach 16 00:01:15.370 --> 00:01:20.130 based on three things their understanding of sanctification, 17 00:01:20.160 --> 00:01:27.340 their understanding of ordination, and their understanding of Scripture as well. 18 00:01:27.370 --> 00:01:32.490 They pointed out their success in ministry being proof of their calling. 19 00:01:32.520 --> 00:01:38.420 I'm going to be looking at these four elements in order. 20 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:44.740 First of all, let's be clear what we mean by holiness women in this paper. 21 00:01:44.770 --> 00:01:46.660 It means women who believed in 22 00:01:46.690 --> 00:01:53.020 sanctification, the defining doctrine of the Wesleyan Holiness movement. 23 00:01:53.050 --> 00:01:55.930 Sanctification is sometimes referred to as 24 00:01:55.960 --> 00:02:01.930 entire sanctification, the second blessing, or the experience of pentecost. 25 00:02:01.960 --> 00:02:05.420 I'm going to use Phoebe Palmer's definition. 26 00:02:05.450 --> 00:02:09.500 Since Phoebe Palmer was one of the most influential leaders in the holiness 27 00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:15.170 movement, she popularized the doctrine of holiness and promoted it to a broad 28 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:18.940 audience through her prolific writing and preaching. 29 00:02:18.970 --> 00:02:24.890 Her book, The Way of Holiness outlines her theology of holiness, and her 30 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:32.170 understanding of holiness became standard because of time restraints. 31 00:02:32.200 --> 00:02:32.800 Restraints. 32 00:02:32.830 --> 00:02:37.730 I'm going to skip over the roots of this teaching by Wesley and Fletcher. 33 00:02:37.760 --> 00:02:40.820 There is some debate whether Phoebe Palmer 34 00:02:40.850 --> 00:02:43.900 actually taught sanctification the way Wesley did. 35 00:02:43.930 --> 00:02:51.020 But like Wesley, she taught that entire sanctification is a second, distinct work 36 00:02:51.050 --> 00:02:58.960 of grace in which God cleanses the heart of sin and fills it holy with his love. 37 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:03.260 Palmer had three steps in teaching sanctification. 38 00:03:03.290 --> 00:03:05.820 They consisted, first of all, in. 39 00:03:05.850 --> 00:03:08.980 First, entirely surrendering yourself to 40 00:03:09.010 --> 00:03:16.740 God and his will, as Romans twelve one and two teaches us to do. 41 00:03:16.770 --> 00:03:23.020 Secondly, claiming sanctification by faith in believing that God will accept the 42 00:03:23.050 --> 00:03:29.980 surrender of one's will to Him, and will then sanctify and finally 43 00:03:30.010 --> 00:03:34.140 testifying and verbally sharing this experience with others. 44 00:03:34.170 --> 00:03:41.500 So this complete surrender, faith and confession are necessary. 45 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:45.400 Surrender and faith will lead to sanctification, lead to being filled with 46 00:03:45.430 --> 00:03:51.440 the spirit, and testimony is necessary for retaining it. 47 00:03:54.200 --> 00:03:57.940 As more and more women experienced this, 48 00:03:57.970 --> 00:04:04.340 they felt compelled to confess, to speak, and to share what they had experienced. 49 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:06.340 As has already been noted, the experience 50 00:04:06.370 --> 00:04:10.980 of entire sanctification following one's consecration was understood to be the 51 00:04:11.010 --> 00:04:16.560 equivalence of the experience the apostles had at Pentecost, which was the promise to 52 00:04:16.590 --> 00:04:19.900 the Father given by jesus to his disciples. 53 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:23.260 So sanctification meant power. 54 00:04:23.280 --> 00:04:25.740 We read in Acts two, verse four, they were 55 00:04:25.770 --> 00:04:29.380 filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak. 56 00:04:29.410 --> 00:04:32.300 As the spirit gave utterance. 57 00:04:32.330 --> 00:04:35.140 So this gift was for sons and daughters, 58 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:40.540 and it was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel joel two, verse 28. 59 00:04:40.570 --> 00:04:45.620 The prophecy says, It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit 60 00:04:45.650 --> 00:04:50.340 on all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. 61 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.220 And what does prophesy mean 62 00:04:53.250 --> 00:04:59.840 in the Scriptures, prophesy means to preach, because the Scriptures say, 63 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:06.500 he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort. 64 00:05:06.530 --> 00:05:11.300 One Corinthians 14 three, and that is nothing else than preaching. 65 00:05:11.330 --> 00:05:14.000 So women that were sanctified often felt a 66 00:05:14.030 --> 00:05:18.260 call to preach, share the Gospel in one way or another, they must. 67 00:05:18.280 --> 00:05:20.220 And since they were daughters who had 68 00:05:20.250 --> 00:05:27.860 received a Spirit, the fulfillment of this gift is that the daughters would preach. 69 00:05:27.890 --> 00:05:28.900 Susan C. 70 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:32.860 Stanley says the experience of sanctification 71 00:05:32.890 --> 00:05:39.540 emboldened these women to challenge the ideology of the women's fear. 72 00:05:39.570 --> 00:05:42.820 Public ministries were not limited to pulpit preaching. 73 00:05:42.850 --> 00:05:48.460 Some women preached in jails, on trains, in rescue homes, or at camp meetings. 74 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:55.900 But they rejected the construction of self that society sought to impose upon them. 75 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:57.740 Once these women had experienced 76 00:05:57.770 --> 00:06:03.180 sanctification, they were willing to do anything that the Lord wanted them to do. 77 00:06:03.210 --> 00:06:09.820 They were able to overcome their fears and do what the Lord willed. 78 00:06:09.850 --> 00:06:13.420 For example, Amanda Smith, 79 00:06:13.450 --> 00:06:19.780 a 19th century African American evangelist, was asked to go to England. 80 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:23.380 At first, she refused even to pray about it. 81 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:28.760 It was not until she did some soul searching and realized the reason she 82 00:06:28.790 --> 00:06:33.140 didn't want to go was because she was afraid of the ocean. 83 00:06:33.170 --> 00:06:35.860 Once she realized it was fear of the ocean 84 00:06:35.890 --> 00:06:42.900 that prevented her from going, that was not a reason if the Lord willed it. 85 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:46.140 And so she ended up going to England 86 00:06:46.170 --> 00:06:51.100 despite the fear, because she wanted to do what God wanted her to do. 87 00:06:51.130 --> 00:06:53.580 She trusted God, who helped her through. 88 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:55.700 Amanda Smith also went into white 89 00:06:55.730 --> 00:06:59.340 churches, and she was often accepted there. 90 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.660 And when making decisions, it was usual for her to pray in order to find God's 91 00:07:04.690 --> 00:07:07.500 will rather than to do what others advised her to do. 92 00:07:07.530 --> 00:07:10.100 She said, My people often call me white 93 00:07:10.130 --> 00:07:13.860 folks nigger anyway, so I'm in for it, and I don't care. 94 00:07:13.890 --> 00:07:21.620 All I care for is to keep in favor with God and man so much as lies in me. 95 00:07:21.650 --> 00:07:27.540 Eva Grant was a very shy and a frail girl. 96 00:07:27.570 --> 00:07:33.100 She felt a burden for other souls after she was sanctified, even though unlearned 97 00:07:33.130 --> 00:07:37.820 and not knowing much theology, she would go and invite sinners to come to God. 98 00:07:37.850 --> 00:07:42.180 Later, she was invited by a congregation in Kentucky to be their pastor. 99 00:07:42.200 --> 00:07:44.240 But she was a single woman and didn't want 100 00:07:44.270 --> 00:07:48.740 to go alone, so she took another sister with her as her assistant. 101 00:07:48.770 --> 00:07:53.060 The question was no longer what others thought to be appropriate, but what the 102 00:07:53.080 --> 00:07:56.740 Lord wished them to do because they were sanctified and they had experienced 103 00:07:56.770 --> 00:08:02.820 Pentecost, it meant they, the daughters, would prophesy, as Joel predicted. 104 00:08:02.850 --> 00:08:07.740 Maggie Newton VanCott, a revivalist preacher in the 18 hundreds, 105 00:08:07.770 --> 00:08:13.380 contended that if the gift of prophecy was not bestowed on women, then the prophecy 106 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:18.460 of Joel could not have had its fulfillment because of the understanding of these 107 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.820 holiness women, that they were totally consecrated to God. 108 00:08:23.850 --> 00:08:26.140 Having promised to do whatever he wished 109 00:08:26.170 --> 00:08:32.460 them to do, they would do anything even if it was outside their comfort level. 110 00:08:32.490 --> 00:08:39.660 The second reason is the understanding of ordination. 111 00:08:39.680 --> 00:08:41.660 The second reason these women felt called 112 00:08:41.690 --> 00:08:44.860 to preach was because of their view of ordination. 113 00:08:44.890 --> 00:08:51.220 Many traditional churches ordain bishops or pastors based on priestly authority. 114 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:56.660 It is this ecclesiastical authority that allows leaders to baptize, 115 00:08:56.690 --> 00:09:02.580 to administer the Lord's supper, and to perform other prescribed functions. 116 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:04.860 But sanctified women did not look to 117 00:09:04.890 --> 00:09:09.300 priestly authority but to prophetic authority. 118 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.140 This includes ordination. 119 00:09:12.170 --> 00:09:16.480 Julia Shellhammer, for example, was not eligible to be ordained in the Free 120 00:09:16.510 --> 00:09:21.980 Methodist Church because she was already the wife of an ordained minister. 121 00:09:22.010 --> 00:09:28.860 But she claimed that kneeling in the straw at a camp meeting, the Lord Himself came 122 00:09:28.890 --> 00:09:34.540 to her and told her that he had come to ordain her. 123 00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:37.900 The holiness churches make it clear 124 00:09:37.930 --> 00:09:42.860 that although they also ordained pastors or elders, that is only the human 125 00:09:42.890 --> 00:09:48.120 recognition of a person who was first called of God because Jesus said, you have 126 00:09:48.150 --> 00:09:52.500 not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained you. 127 00:09:52.530 --> 00:09:55.460 John 15, verse 16. 128 00:09:55.490 --> 00:10:00.140 That preaching is a divine calling that does not rely on priestly authority but 129 00:10:00.170 --> 00:10:04.620 rather on prophetic authority was also confirmed by John Wesley. 130 00:10:04.650 --> 00:10:07.220 Wesley insisted that all of his lay 131 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:13.980 preachers, including women, had an extraordinary calling. 132 00:10:14.010 --> 00:10:19.660 Even the apostle Paul himself declared that his calling was not of men, neither 133 00:10:19.690 --> 00:10:24.220 by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. 134 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:25.860 Galatians one, verse one. 135 00:10:25.890 --> 00:10:29.160 So the bedrock of a set apart ministry for 136 00:10:29.190 --> 00:10:35.800 the revivalists and for the women was simply having a call. 137 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:42.900 When someone questioned Maggie VanCott if her license allowed her to preach, 138 00:10:42.930 --> 00:10:46.980 she replied she had not received her commission from man. 139 00:10:47.010 --> 00:10:50.660 She had received her commission from God 140 00:10:50.690 --> 00:10:54.340 about four or five years after Jerina Lee had been sanctified. 141 00:10:54.370 --> 00:10:58.700 She describes how she thought that she distinctly heard a voice 142 00:10:58.730 --> 00:11:04.380 and most distinctly understood that it told her to go and preach the Gospel. 143 00:11:04.410 --> 00:11:06.540 When she approached her denomination about 144 00:11:06.570 --> 00:11:11.100 it, she was informed that although some Methodist women preach, they don't have 145 00:11:11.130 --> 00:11:14.140 that custom in the church that she belonged to. 146 00:11:14.170 --> 00:11:19.180 So she was relieved and did not pursue it any further until eight years later. 147 00:11:19.210 --> 00:11:23.500 She described it was renewed afresh in my mind. 148 00:11:23.530 --> 00:11:26.740 It was a fire. Shut up in my bones. 149 00:11:26.770 --> 00:11:28.980 After that, she had a successful preaching 150 00:11:29.010 --> 00:11:35.660 career as the first female preacher of the first African Methodist Episcopal church. 151 00:11:35.690 --> 00:11:39.220 Sadly, even after hearing Mrs. 152 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:43.840 Jarina Lee preach, and having been convinced that she was called to the 153 00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:48.860 Spirit, bishop Richard Allen still refused to ordain her. 154 00:11:48.890 --> 00:11:55.260 But since she had prophetic ordination, she could no longer be silenced. 155 00:11:55.290 --> 00:11:58.100 Julia Foote had a number of visions in 156 00:11:58.130 --> 00:12:00.460 which she was told to go preach the Gospel. 157 00:12:00.490 --> 00:12:02.660 At first, she resisted. 158 00:12:02.690 --> 00:12:05.500 When she finally gave in, she couldn't be stopped. 159 00:12:05.530 --> 00:12:10.660 In her autobiography, she wrote man's opinion weighed nothing with me, for my 160 00:12:10.690 --> 00:12:16.260 commission was from heaven, and my reward was from the Most High. 161 00:12:16.290 --> 00:12:18.480 There was no holiness advocate that had a 162 00:12:18.510 --> 00:12:24.340 greater influence on holiness women in the 19th century than Phoebe Palmer. 163 00:12:24.370 --> 00:12:28.620 It was already noted that Palmer believed entire sanctification to be the experience 164 00:12:28.650 --> 00:12:33.020 of pentecost, and therefore any woman that had received the second blessing was 165 00:12:33.050 --> 00:12:38.460 filled with the Spirit, and consequently should speak as the Spirit gave utterance. 166 00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:43.420 In her book Promise of the Father, phoebe Palmer, referring to tire sanctification, 167 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:50.300 writes, it is the ordination which Christ gave his disciples by the reception of 168 00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:55.180 which they are empowered to go forth and bear much fruit. 169 00:12:55.210 --> 00:13:00.180 The fruit she refers to here is not the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 170 00:13:00.210 --> 00:13:06.340 522, but rather the number of lost souls saved by converting them to Christ. 171 00:13:06.370 --> 00:13:08.820 She also maintains that Jesus gave women 172 00:13:08.850 --> 00:13:14.460 her commission on the morning of the resurrection, saying, Go tell my brethren, 173 00:13:14.490 --> 00:13:19.700 and Jesus would not be pleased with any interference in this matter. 174 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:25.820 Elma White insists that all that is necessary to be in true 175 00:13:25.850 --> 00:13:32.220 apostolic succession is to be wholly sanctified. 176 00:13:32.250 --> 00:13:36.060 The third reason these women felt 177 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:41.980 compelled to preach is their understanding of Scripture. 178 00:13:42.010 --> 00:13:44.140 Women preachers understood the Scripture 179 00:13:44.170 --> 00:13:49.460 to be supporting their call to preach rather than silencing them. 180 00:13:49.490 --> 00:13:53.460 And even if Paul told women to be silent, maria W. 181 00:13:53.490 --> 00:13:59.540 Stewart believed under her circumstances, Paul would not object. 182 00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:02.020 Stewart preached salvation to her African 183 00:14:02.050 --> 00:14:07.380 American people as well as rallying them to oppose slavery. 184 00:14:07.410 --> 00:14:08.340 Here is how. 185 00:14:08.370 --> 00:14:13.940 Based on Scripture, she justifies her right to speak. 186 00:14:13.970 --> 00:14:17.020 She says, what if I am a woman? 187 00:14:17.050 --> 00:14:21.980 Is it not the God of ancient times, the God of these modern times? 188 00:14:22.010 --> 00:14:26.620 And didn't he raise up Deborah to be a mother and judge in Israel? 189 00:14:26.650 --> 00:14:31.960 And didn't Queen Esther save the lives of the Jews and Mary Magdalene? 190 00:14:32.160 --> 00:14:36.460 Didn't she first declare the resurrection of Christ from the dead? 191 00:14:36.490 --> 00:14:39.380 Come, said the woman of Samaria, and see a 192 00:14:39.410 --> 00:14:42.300 man that has told me all things that I ever did. 193 00:14:42.330 --> 00:14:45.060 Is not this to Christ? 194 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:48.340 Now, Paul declared it with a shame for a woman to speak in public. 195 00:14:48.370 --> 00:14:51.100 Yet our High priest, Jesus himself, did 196 00:14:51.130 --> 00:14:55.700 not condemn a woman for a much more notorious offense than this. 197 00:14:55.730 --> 00:15:02.100 Neither will he condemn me this worthless worm, the bruised reed he will not break, 198 00:15:02.130 --> 00:15:07.820 and the smoking flax he will not quench till he send forth judgment unto victory. 199 00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:08.540 And if St. 200 00:15:08.570 --> 00:15:15.620 Paul knew our wrongs in our privations, I presume he would have no objections to our 201 00:15:15.650 --> 00:15:21.980 pleading in public for our rights, since entire sanctification of the second 202 00:15:22.010 --> 00:15:27.800 blessing was understood to be identical to what happened on the day of Pentecost. 203 00:15:28.160 --> 00:15:32.420 This narrative in Acts starts in Acts one, 204 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:37.800 verse 15, and ends in Acts two, verse four, where the Holy Spirit fell on the 205 00:15:37.830 --> 00:15:43.660 group of about 120 gathered in the upper room, which included Mary and the woman. 206 00:15:43.690 --> 00:15:49.460 And it says that they began to speak with other tongues as a spirit gave utterance. 207 00:15:49.490 --> 00:15:52.180 And this fulfillment of the prophecy given 208 00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:54.820 by Joel said, it shall come in the last days. 209 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:57.020 I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh. 210 00:15:57.050 --> 00:16:02.240 And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men and we will 211 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.460 see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 212 00:16:04.490 --> 00:16:07.220 And my maid servants and my men's servants. 213 00:16:07.250 --> 00:16:11.540 I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. 214 00:16:11.570 --> 00:16:15.140 So here's a direct statement that women shall prophesy. 215 00:16:15.170 --> 00:16:18.820 And we've already noted that in the New Testament, prophecy 216 00:16:18.850 --> 00:16:23.300 is defined to be speaking edification and exhortation and comfort to all. 217 00:16:23.330 --> 00:16:25.300 One corinthians 14. Three. 218 00:16:25.330 --> 00:16:27.980 And that is exactly what preaching is. 219 00:16:28.010 --> 00:16:32.240 Now, did women preach or prophesy in the New Testament? 220 00:16:32.280 --> 00:16:35.220 Well, they certainly did. 221 00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:37.860 Philip the Evangelists, according to Acts 222 00:16:37.890 --> 00:16:45.420 21, verse nine, had four daughters virgins, which did prophesy. 223 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:51.100 In Romans 16 seven, Junia, a woman is listed among the apostles. 224 00:16:51.130 --> 00:16:55.340 Another reason we know that women did prophesy is that Paul gave guidelines for 225 00:16:55.370 --> 00:16:58.980 how a woman who is prophesying should present herself. 226 00:16:59.010 --> 00:17:02.220 In one Corinthians eleven five, 227 00:17:02.250 --> 00:17:06.570 Julia Foot said, when Paul said, help these women who labored with me in the 228 00:17:06.600 --> 00:17:11.050 Gospel, he certainly didn't mean that they only poured out tea. 229 00:17:11.080 --> 00:17:16.740 Holiness woman also understood Jesus himself to endorse their proclamation. 230 00:17:16.770 --> 00:17:21.080 It was a woman at the well that went into the city, into Samaria, and told the 231 00:17:21.110 --> 00:17:24.500 people, Come see a man who told me all things I ever did. 232 00:17:24.530 --> 00:17:25.980 Could this be the christ? 233 00:17:26.010 --> 00:17:30.090 Phoebe Palmer said that Christ was successfully preached to the Samaritans 234 00:17:30.120 --> 00:17:32.770 through the instrumentality of a woman as manifest. 235 00:17:32.800 --> 00:17:36.860 This woman was the first apostle of Christ in Samaria. 236 00:17:36.890 --> 00:17:39.330 It was also women who were last at the 237 00:17:39.360 --> 00:17:45.520 cross and were first witnesses to the resurrection. 238 00:17:47.840 --> 00:17:53.860 It was not a woman that with traitorous kiss betrayed her Savior. 239 00:17:53.890 --> 00:17:58.980 It was not she who denied him with an unholy tongue. 240 00:17:59.010 --> 00:18:01.940 She, while the apostle shrank, 241 00:18:01.970 --> 00:18:10.250 could danger brave, she was last at his cross and earliest at his grave. 242 00:18:10.280 --> 00:18:12.330 These were the women to receive the first 243 00:18:12.360 --> 00:18:16.050 commission ever given to mortals to proclaim the risen Christ. 244 00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:18.250 Not only that, but Jesus himself first 245 00:18:18.280 --> 00:18:22.940 appeared to women and gave them the command go tell my brethren. 246 00:18:22.970 --> 00:18:24.700 Matthew 28, verse ten. 247 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:29.900 Behold, they were the first heralds of a risen Christ. 248 00:18:29.930 --> 00:18:34.720 Jesus brought equality for women when he told his disciples that they were 249 00:18:34.750 --> 00:18:37.660 to be the witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria. 250 00:18:37.690 --> 00:18:39.250 And to the end of the earth. 251 00:18:39.280 --> 00:18:42.860 It was not only to men, but also to women 252 00:18:42.890 --> 00:18:46.460 that they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses. 253 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:51.940 Elma White contends that this divine commission is for both sexes. 254 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:57.250 Holiness women believe that participation in the Gospel is for all. 255 00:18:57.280 --> 00:18:59.140 It does not discriminate. 256 00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:03.380 The following summary is instructive 257 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:09.860 dual standards for male and female are not part of the Gospel. 258 00:19:09.890 --> 00:19:13.840 Every person must meet the same requirements to be 259 00:19:13.870 --> 00:19:17.810 saved, the same requirements to be baptized, the same requirements to be 260 00:19:17.840 --> 00:19:21.140 sanctified, the same requirements to be healed. 261 00:19:21.170 --> 00:19:26.560 Qualifications for service and leadership are not synonymous. 262 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.860 I'll start that one again. 263 00:19:28.890 --> 00:19:31.700 Qualifications for service and leadership 264 00:19:31.730 --> 00:19:36.940 are synonymous for all spiritual gifts does not come in two listings 265 00:19:36.970 --> 00:19:41.860 one lists for men and one list for women, because it is written in Galatians three, 266 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:47.940 verse 28 there is neither male nor female for your all one in Christ Jesus and God 267 00:19:47.970 --> 00:19:51.090 is an equal rights employer granting equal renumeration. 268 00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:53.250 He is not a respecter of persons. 269 00:19:53.280 --> 00:19:56.140 It's worthy of note that a soul in the 270 00:19:56.170 --> 00:20:02.720 original language is neither feminine nor masculine. 271 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:08.220 Now, what about the problematic texts? 272 00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:14.530 How did Holiness Woman react to the three problematic Pauline texts, two of which 273 00:20:14.560 --> 00:20:19.090 seem to exclude women from preaching in churches? 274 00:20:19.120 --> 00:20:21.980 Leanne Starr contends that Paul must 275 00:20:22.010 --> 00:20:26.380 harmonize with Christ in the other prophets. 276 00:20:26.410 --> 00:20:32.010 Therefore the incongruent passages must accord with the other Scriptures. 277 00:20:32.040 --> 00:20:36.250 Also, Paul must himself be consistent 278 00:20:36.280 --> 00:20:42.090 in those passages with his other writings and his own church practice. 279 00:20:42.120 --> 00:20:44.740 BT. Roberts, who supported women preachers, 280 00:20:44.770 --> 00:20:51.010 insisted all Bible passages must align with Galatians Three, verse 28 there is 281 00:20:51.040 --> 00:20:55.740 neither Greek nor Jew, there is neither slave nor free, there's neither male nor 282 00:20:55.770 --> 00:20:59.740 female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 283 00:20:59.770 --> 00:21:05.530 Roberts believe that all Scripture must be interpreted in such a manner as to align 284 00:21:05.560 --> 00:21:11.090 with this text, since we hold that Scripture doesn't contradict itself. 285 00:21:11.120 --> 00:21:14.980 How then are first Corinthians 14 Ephesians. 286 00:21:15.010 --> 00:21:20.980 522 to 23 and one Timothy two to be understood. 287 00:21:21.010 --> 00:21:24.250 For example, in One Corinthians 14 34 35, 288 00:21:24.280 --> 00:21:28.360 it says let your women keep silent in the churches, for they aren't permitted to 289 00:21:28.390 --> 00:21:32.500 speak, but they're to be submissive, as the law says, and if they want to learn 290 00:21:32.530 --> 00:21:37.050 something, let them ask their own husbands at home. 291 00:21:37.080 --> 00:21:39.940 This verse could not have meant that women 292 00:21:39.970 --> 00:21:45.380 should not pray or prophesy publicly, because in the same letter three chapters 293 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:51.290 earlier, in One Corinthians Eleven five, paul gives advice on how they should be 294 00:21:51.320 --> 00:21:54.700 praying and prophesying when they're doing it publicly. 295 00:21:54.730 --> 00:21:59.700 And this verse also is obviously not meant for people that aren't married, because 296 00:21:59.730 --> 00:22:03.420 unmarried women cannot ask their husbands at home. 297 00:22:03.450 --> 00:22:06.780 Obviously, unmarried women are not included in this recommendation. 298 00:22:06.810 --> 00:22:11.460 Now, there's various explanations that were given at the time for women, how they 299 00:22:11.490 --> 00:22:15.810 interpreted this Scripture and all the other Scriptures. 300 00:22:15.840 --> 00:22:18.810 Now, my paper is 301 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:28.380 quite a bit longer than the 14 pages I've reduced it to, so I can't go into all of 302 00:22:28.410 --> 00:22:31.900 this now, but I can give you my email later on if you're interested. 303 00:22:31.930 --> 00:22:35.740 I can give you the whole paper and you can read it over 304 00:22:35.770 --> 00:22:45.420 the last point I want to make is they also gave reason for justifying their 305 00:22:45.450 --> 00:22:50.090 call to preach through the success that they had. 306 00:22:50.120 --> 00:22:53.020 Now, success in preaching 307 00:22:53.050 --> 00:22:59.570 may not be a strong theological argument, but it was nonetheless very effectively 308 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:02.940 used as a reason to support the ministry of women. 309 00:23:02.970 --> 00:23:07.140 Phoebe Palmer justifies this as valid by referring to John Wesley. 310 00:23:07.170 --> 00:23:09.700 She says, the conversion of sinners by 311 00:23:09.730 --> 00:23:14.500 preaching of any person, whether male or female, was a strong proof in Mr. 312 00:23:14.530 --> 00:23:20.180 Wesley's judgment of a divine call to the great and important work. 313 00:23:20.210 --> 00:23:21.380 Speaking of Mrs. 314 00:23:21.410 --> 00:23:25.900 Mary Taft, Palmer writes, if the criterion 315 00:23:25.930 --> 00:23:30.940 by which we might judge of a divine call to proclaim salvation 316 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:35.090 be by the proportion of fruit gathered, then to the commission of Mrs. 317 00:23:35.120 --> 00:23:41.570 Taft is appended the divine signature to a degree preeminently unmistakable. 318 00:23:41.600 --> 00:23:47.380 In reviewing her diary, we are constrained to believe that not one minister in 500 319 00:23:47.410 --> 00:23:51.540 could produce so many seals to their ministry. 320 00:23:51.570 --> 00:23:56.500 Maggie Newton VanCott defended her right to preach by pointing out that God had 321 00:23:56.530 --> 00:24:02.660 blessed her work in the hundreds of souls that had been saved. 322 00:24:02.690 --> 00:24:06.260 At a camp meeting in 1897, 323 00:24:06.290 --> 00:24:11.720 the program committee decided not to have any women 324 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:17.600 preach in the evening service, but they allowed four male ministers to 325 00:24:17.630 --> 00:24:22.220 speak for five minutes each during the evening service. 326 00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:24.620 Well, Alma White's husband, 327 00:24:24.650 --> 00:24:29.780 who was the last of the four minister, gave most of the five minutes to Alma 328 00:24:29.810 --> 00:24:35.980 White, and instead of speaking for five minutes, she spoke for 50 minutes. 329 00:24:36.010 --> 00:24:42.380 Some were appalled at her audacity, but Alma justified her conduct by the large 330 00:24:42.410 --> 00:24:47.140 number of seekers at the altar after her sermon. 331 00:24:47.170 --> 00:24:50.020 Now, there were also other motives 332 00:24:50.050 --> 00:24:56.020 that we could have mentioned which gave holiness women the drive to preach. 333 00:24:56.050 --> 00:25:03.570 In Whatever these women did, susie Stanley identifies their prime motive to be love. 334 00:25:03.600 --> 00:25:07.940 Love was a central mode of fueling holiness outreach to others. 335 00:25:07.970 --> 00:25:13.740 Holiness women, however, ministered solely because they understood holiness as love, 336 00:25:13.770 --> 00:25:18.980 love for God as well as love for their neighbor. 337 00:25:19.010 --> 00:25:21.180 So, in summary, 338 00:25:21.210 --> 00:25:26.420 this essay examined the causes that laid behind the insistence of so many holiness 339 00:25:26.450 --> 00:25:30.810 women in the late 19th and 20th century that they must preach. 340 00:25:30.840 --> 00:25:34.330 Holiness women justified their call to preach because they understood their 341 00:25:34.360 --> 00:25:39.220 sanctification to mean they should speak as the spirit directed. 342 00:25:39.250 --> 00:25:42.260 They understood true ordination as 343 00:25:42.290 --> 00:25:45.810 prophetic ordination, not priestly ordination. 344 00:25:45.840 --> 00:25:50.500 To them, ordination was a mandate from God to share his word. 345 00:25:50.530 --> 00:25:54.860 Holiness woman understood Scripture as empowering them to preach. 346 00:25:54.890 --> 00:25:59.980 The few verses that seemed to imply otherwise were explained in rational ways 347 00:26:00.010 --> 00:26:05.810 so that they did not conflict with the key Scripture in Galatians three, verse 28. 348 00:26:05.840 --> 00:26:08.080 And finally, holiness women pointed to 349 00:26:08.110 --> 00:26:12.460 their success as proof that they were called of God. 350 00:26:12.490 --> 00:26:16.140 Behind all of these motivations, however, was love. 351 00:26:16.170 --> 00:26:19.140 It was after all their love to God and 352 00:26:19.170 --> 00:26:24.420 their love for humanity that convinced them to share the gospel. 353 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:24.920 Thank you.