I am immersed in reading about the theological, philosophical and ideological reasons for and against the ordination of women clergy as Bishops. Much of the argument for not changing the status quo stems from the fact that Jesus chose 12 men as apostles and not a single woman. I read Law at university and enjoy deconstructing an argument.
The '12 men' theory is akin to the number allowed to sit on British jury service. The purpose of a jury is to act as arbiters of a person's alleged offence. The jury decides whether or not a person is guilty as charged but, ultimately, the jury members don't have individual power. They are merely representative of the English judicial system which has decreed that a person should be judged by their peers.
Tranferring this analogy laterally across to theology, the apostles were then ambassadors of Jesus. They didn't in themselves individually represent anything. They must have stood for the values that Jesus preached otherwise he would not have chosen them. In much the same way members of the jury represent the values of British Justice which are fairness and truth. However, the individual is immaterial as regards their gender, skin colour or background.
Does it matter then that the apostles were all men? I don't think so.
An Asian Christian woman living in London blogging about the everyday issues of religion
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