The Qualifications of the Office of Elder (2): Adult Males
Douglas Kuiper defends the Reformed biblical position that the office of elder must be restricted to adult males, grounding this conviction in passages like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 while acknowledging contemporary cultural opposition to this teaching. The article critiques Reformed denominations like the RCA that have departed from this scriptural norm by permitting women to hold all ecclesiastical offices, arguing that faithful churches must maintain this doctrinal commitment regardless of social pressure.
Previous article in this series: June 2013, p. 399. About twelve years ago, in this rubric, I defended the proposition that deacons must be men, that is, male in gender. In this and the following article, I defend the same point regarding the office of elder in the church of Jesus Christ: elders must be chosen from the male membership of the church. Not just any males may be elders: they must be adult, confessing believers who meet other requirements that God gives in I Timothy 3 and Titus...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org