Top 10 Awesome WOMEN Pastors From History?!

Female Pastors and the Article Being Critiqued

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where we bring you Christian commentary about the things that matter. As ever, please know this video isn't a sinful attack, it's a Biblical critique.

In today's video, we're going to be talking about female pastors. Specifically, I found an article entitled, 10 Awesome Women Pastors from History. So first off, let me tell you, this is part of a larger agenda, and you need to know that so that you can see the backdrop behind this specific example.

The Bible clearly says in 1 Timothy 2 .12 that female pastors and church leaders are simply not an option. It says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

Women cannot be pastors, the Bible clearly says that. But this, well, it doesn't appeal to the modern sensibilities of feminists who have decided to take matters into their own hands. One of the best arguments against female pastors, though, is that there are essentially no female pastors represented in church history.

That's basically true. And that's why we call them early church fathers, not early church mothers. The church, for the grand majority of its history, has almost universally recognized that female church leaders are simply not an option, and that's why they can't be found in church history for the most part.

The grand majority of the time, this is true. But according to the article, there are indeed 10 awesome female pastors from history. So are we wrong? Should we start rethinking our whole perspective on this as Christians?

No. Because it may surprise you to learn that the earliest arrival of this female pastor list is from the year 1819. Just to put that in perspective, it took the author of this article roughly 1 ,786 years of church history before she finally found a notable example of a female pastor.

So when someone tells you that there were virtually no notable female pastors in church history all the way up to the modern feminist movement, that person is absolutely correct. But moving along, let's take a look at some of the examples of awesome female pastors that are in this article.

Jarena Lee and the Claim That Christ's Death Qualifies Women to Preach

What kind of contributions did they make doctrinally? What was their effect on church history? What did they believe, and what did they do? Well, let's see. The first example that we'll see today is Jarena Lee, who became in 1819 the first African-American woman to be authorized to preach in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Why did Jarena believe that she could do this? Well, she is recorded as saying the following, quote, If the man may preach because the Savior died for him, why not the woman? Seeing as he died for her also, is he not a whole Savior instead of half of one?

End quote. And this argument, apparently, was enough to convince her pastor to let her preach. And of course, the rest is, as they call it, history. But if this is the kind of deep biblical study that she was presenting from the pulpit, then I think her pastor should have regretted this decision immediately, and I say that as humbly as possible.

Her defense of female pastorship here is really not strong at all. She effectively says that a man is allowed to be a pastor because Jesus died for him. So why can't a woman be a pastor if Jesus died for her?

This is wrong from the very get-go. It's based on a false premise. Nowhere does the Bible say that a man is qualified to be a pastor only because Jesus died for him. That's the only criteria. It never says that.

The list of qualifications in 1 Timothy chapter 3, for instance, says that a pastor, quote, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive, etc. That's a very long list, and it talks about actual biblical qualifications for men who can be pastors. Notice though that it does not simply say that if Jesus died for you, then you're good to go.

You can go take up the office of an elder or pastor. No, the passage assumes that there will be saved men who do not fit with these qualifications, and that's why they're written down. If everyone Jesus died for can be a pastor, then why would this list be in existence?

The whole church would just be pastors. So again, this argument is sub-par at best. But let's take a look at another example. Then there is Antoinette Brown Blackwell from 1825. Here's a quote from the article about her, quote, Blackwell was a precocious child living in Rochester, New York, who began preaching in her congregational church at the age of nine, end quote.

Yes, that's right. She apparently, reportedly, was preaching at the age of nine. What on earth was this church thinking? Again, I say that with as much humility and love as possible. What were they thinking?

They put a nine-year-old up at the pulpit? What did she preach on? Dollhouses and tea parties? First Timothy 3 .2 says that one of the qualifications of a pastor is being, quote, able to teach. How is a nine-year-old able to teach?

Of course they're not. But this just illustrates the foolishness of bending to the feminist agenda and bringing it in to the pastoral qualifications of scripture. The same group of people promoting female pastors were also putting a nine-year-old up at the pulpit and listening to her preach.

But after all, why not? This is the natural outcome of the situation. If women can be pastors against the command of the word of God, against what God has clearly said, then why not children too? After all, Jesus died for Christian children too, not just men.

Isn't it ageist of us to assume that they can't be pastors? Isn't that wrong? Well, once we've started rejecting God's word, this is what it leads to. But here's yet another example of a supposedly awesome female pastor.

Lucy Farrow, Glossolalia, and the Azusa Street Revival

Lucy Farrow from 1851. Now Lucy Farrow was from Virginia and was actually born as a slave. She was the niece of Frederick Douglass, a very cool wife. But years later, she would be heavily influenced by William Seymour and Charles Parnham.

Now both of those men were major players in the modern hyper-Pentecostal movement. It is said that Lucy taught people glossolalia, which is the practice of ecstatic utterances or speaking in tongues.

But more specifically, it is the hyper-Pentecostal interpretation or version of tongue speaking wherein you do not speak an intelligible language, but rather you speak a heavenly language full of seemingly random syllables and sounds.

In fact, Lucy Farrow's contributions in part sparked a Pentecostal revival that has become known as the Azusa Street Revival. It is from this revival that virtually every modern hyper-charismatic church was born.

And it was also filled with false teaching and serious error. More on that in just a moment. So it turns out that this awesome female preacher was one of the main players in the revival that ushered in many of the biggest doctrinal errors that we see today in the hyper-Pentecostal movement.

Amy Semple McPherson, Foursquare Church, and Prosperity Teaching

But speaking of the Azusa Street Revival, who can forget another leader in that movement? Amy Semple McPherson. She too is on this list of awesome female pastors in the article. She's also the founder of Foursquare Church, but more than this, she was a massive influence reportedly on the theology of Benny Hinn.

In fact, Benny himself claimed to have received a, quote, terrific anointing at the grave of Amy Semple McPherson. This kind of strange New Age mysticism that is not found in scripture has become all too common in hyper-Pentecostal circles.

Benny is also a notoriously obvious false teacher and a prosperity gospel preacher who gets loads and loads of money preaching the prosperity gospel to anyone he can find, preaching falsehood to anyone he can find.

Amy McPherson's Foursquare Church, by the way, still teaches that people can lose their salvation. This violates John 6, 37, in which Jesus says, quote, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out, end quote.

They also teach that Jesus's atonement guarantees your healing as a Christian, if you have enough faith. Of course, there is no such guarantee given to Christians in scripture at all. In fact, we consistently see Christians in the New Testament experiencing physical suffering despite their faithfulness.

But that didn't stop the awesome Amy McPherson from preaching this false teaching. So here's the point. When we peruse this list of great female pastors of history, we see a few things. One, we see that female pastors have only been around for a very short time in history, and that's mostly thanks to the Church caving into the modern feminist movement.

And two, the most notable female pastors of history can be seen time and time again participating in or directly spreading false and unbiblical teaching. There is no doubt that a significant amount of false teaching we see today in the Church is a product of these awesome women pastors.

Of course, this didn't come about because they are women, there are many godly women. Rather, it came about because they thought they could reinterpret God's Word for themselves. And once you start with that premise, only awful conclusions can be the result.

It turns out God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave us His command in 1 Timothy 2. Remember, women have been, and always will be, mightily used for the Kingdom of God. We need godly Christian women.

They are essential to the Church. But they shouldn't be pastors. Both Scripture and history demonstrate this for us clearly. The only question is, when will we learn? And please know this, I do not offer any of this correction from a high and mighty position.

I am nothing but a wretched sinner saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. So let's pray for these false teachers who promote all this stuff that they would stop and by God's grace turn to the truth of God's Word.

Closing Appeal, Supporter Shout-Out, and Sign-Off

Thank you so much for watching that video. Please give us a like and subscribe so that you don't miss any content. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our Rumble channel as well, just in case YouTube ever takes us down.

The link is in the description. And before you go, take a look at this list here. These are the people who make all of the free content you see on this channel possible with their monthly support. Today's highlighted channel supporter is Kathy S.

If you also want to help and become part of the solution today, hit the link in the description. Every little bit keeps us independent and helps us immensely here on the channel. So I hope you'll consider joining the Truth Army today.

And until next time, fight for truth, never surrender, and keep your eyes open. Thank you and God bless.