Dear Brother
Faull,
Please advise as to the biblical
perspective of women
performing baptism.
ANSWER:
Though women are forbidden to teach men
publicly or have authority over a man I know of
no reason they cannot baptize. Women are to
be soul winners and if they have taught
someone the Gospel and the person is ready to
submit to the Lord in Christian Baptism what
possible Scripture could be abused to say that
they could not baptize them?
My secretary taught a young woman one
evening and baptized her while they were still at
the church building. No one else was present.
She baptized her the same hour of the night.
She taught, she baptized the disciple and then
she continued to have Bible studies with her
teaching her to observe all things. She was not
a teacher of man nor did she have authority
over a man, and those are the only two things
the Bible forbids women to do. Anything else
would be opinion.
I mentioned this once in a college class and a
non-instrumental student came up to me and
rebuked me before all. He said there was no
precedent, command, or necessarily inference
of a woman baptizing a man in the Scripture. I
scratched my head and said "Yes there is."
He said, "Where?"
I told him, "I do not remember exactly where it
is, but it is right under the verse that shows a
Gentile baptizing someone, and if he could find
that, it is in the verse right underneath it."
(Sometimes I get too smarty!!)
We ought to stress what God did forbid and not
have women teaching and preaching to men or
having authority over them, but we must not
forbid what God did not forbid.
I would to God that all women would share their
faith with their friends and neighbors and
baptize them into Christ. There may be a lot
more people in Heaven if we would not limit the
women except in areas where God placed the
prohibition.