Junia - for starters. There is some scholarly confusion if the name is Junia or Junias, meaning this person could actually have been a male. For the purposes of this conversation, it does not matter since they were never an apostle, which is the crux of the argument being presented. Here is the verse in question:
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. -- Romans 16: 7 (ESV)
Those who want the Bible to say something it does not prefer the translations that say these two individuals were "outstanding among the apostles." Biblical scholars who are experts in syntax and grammar however agree that the ESV translation above is probably to most accurate. When other translations state that they were "outstanding" it simply meant that they would "stand out" to the apostles. So do not get this twisted. Junias or Junia was KNOWN TO the apostles, not known as an apostle. It is also of interesting note that Paul uses the male collective term kinsmen to describe both.
Priscilla -- in Romans 16 she is referred to by Paul as a fellow worker in Christ. What Wood is probably considering is that verse 19 refers to a "church in their house." That is fine. Let us assume that they did indeed hold services in their house. The address from Paul in Romans was to Aquila and Priscilla. That's it. Now I know in modern times this means they are even partners and thus both pastors but not so in the days of Jesus. I am sure Priscilla's help was indispensable to Aquila but Aquila remains the "pastor."
Phoebe -- Wood refers to Phoebe as a teacher and that Paul commended her as such. To say this is a leap is an understatement. The word used in these verses is essentially "help." Phoebe had been a tremendous help to many, including Paul. Not a teacher at the church. She may have been involved in many charitable acts as well. There is zero scriptural support that she was a teacher or leader in the church. John MacArthur wrote about Phoebe once and reminds us that the word "servant" used here is translated "diakonos "; which is where we get the word deacon. This is probably where Wood believes she was a teacher, but the problem is prior to church structure being set up, as in the case of the writing of this letter, the word simply meant servant. These were valuable people to the Apostle Paul but not the loftier roles that Wood, Warren and their ilk would like them to rise to. Mercifully, this article ends:
'Wood says it is important for believers to recognize that, from a descriptive angle in the New Testament, it shows women in roles of apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher.
Wood said that's clear throughout the Bible that God intended to have two genders and that while today's mainstream culture focuses on "gender transitions," he says Saddleback is not "caving to the culture." "We're trying to get back to God's design," Wood says. "What did God intend when you go to Genesis and you see God making Adam and Eve? What was God's intention?" he asked. "There's a danger in this conversation with what is called a trajectory hermeneutic. A trajectory hermeneutic says, 'Well, Jesus got the ball down the field this far, and now culture's taken things further, and we're trying to catch up to culture. We are not trying to catch up to culture in this conversation."' - Charisma News
Wow, that is a new argument and very deceitful. No one is arguing that we need to catch up to culture and if anything, this is what Freud referred to as projection. The women in leadership crowd are the ones chasing culture. It is modern culture that says there are no norms or roles. It is modern culture that says women can and should aspire to everything man does and anything short of that is discriminatory. Saddleback is not caving to culture? Are you kidding me? From the moment Rick Warren polled the neighborhood to decide church culture he has caved. The entire point of the purpose driven church is to cave to the world so you can be relevant to them. Adam and Eve? The key verse is completely lost on Mr. Wood. It was Eve that sinned, which is why God puts the prohibition on women in leadership positions over men in His church. If you truly want to "get back to God's design" then you would obey the key verses and stop looking for cultural arguments to ignore them. Of course, that would require you to confront your wife and maybe tell her to stand down.
