SPELLING EDITED

L-5. WOMEN USED by GOD in REVIVALS!

The purpose of this study is to exhort and encourage women to be used by God. God creating Eve to be Adams HELPER and not Adams slave. I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and talk about God and Jesus but I did not actually come to KNOW Jesus until age 23. That is when I became a true born-again Christian to truly know Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I am now 63 years old. And in all those 40 years as being a Christian I have just been made aware of how some church denominations DISALLOW their women to be teachers in the church.

A dear sister in our Lord Jesus Christ from Germany wrote to me a little over one week ago and after a couple of exchanges of emails answering her questions about verses in the Bible she shared her testimony with me. And as I read her testimony on how she finally became a true born-again Christian after attending several different church denominations throughout her life, tears began to form in my eyes. The Lord Jesus Christ gave me such compassion when I heard her pain, her confusion, and her not knowing WHAT to do that I spent the next week writing Bible studies to set her free.

Never before in my entire Christian life has so many Bible studies flowed out of me so quickly. Every morning I would wake up with verses of Scripture going through my mind to write another Bible study to help not only this sister but to help all Christian women to be set free to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each previous study I thought would be way more than enough to show the errors of interpretation made by men all through the history of the church but the next morning a new study was on my mind.

Before I begin this study in God’s word I want to do a little teaching on how to study the Bible correctly. For those of you who have read any of my other Bible studies then you know that I teach my readers to seek the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And what I mean by this is that all false teachings use verses of Scripture that are taken OUT of their CONTEXT to arrive at an INTERPRETATION of what those verses mean.

And when those verses are viewed ALONE and apart from the REST of God word they do indeed sound as if they mean exactly what they say. And by focusing ONLY on those particular verses the enemy can completely and thoroughly convince you that there is no other possible meaning for those verses. So in your eyes, you are convinced that you MUST believe what those verses are saying whether you like it or not.

For example, I have heard Calvinist and Reformed Theology Christians say that they do NOT like what the Bible teaches about Jesus dying on the cross for ONLY certain select individual people but that is what they MUST believe because that is what the Bible teaches. And they will argue and debate with other Christians that there is no other way to interpret the Scriptures that they use to support what they teach so they are TRAPPED so to speak to only believe what they have CONCLUDED certain verses to mean.

But what they have failed to do is to TRULY compare their INTERPRETATION of the verses they use with the REST of God’s word. Instead, they simply try to explain AWAY each and every verse of Scripture that other Christians show to them to set them free from the deception of the enemy. And the same thing happens with every false teaching. The Christians who are being deceived will focus ONLY on the verses of Scripture that they have become thoroughly convinced can not be interpreted any other way.

And the Lord showed me how to KNOW when a church doctrine is a false doctrine. The Holy Spirit showed me that we have to look at the “BIG PICTURE” to see how all the pieces fit together in harmony. There are different ways of doing this. Sometimes we need to start at the END and work backward to find the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God. This method works on almost all false teachings but I can think of one where it does not work. Another method is to look at the same theme throughout the entire Bible to see if there is a change in the way God does things. And the way that most Christians use is to start at the beginning which works ONLY when there is NO CHANGE in the way that God is working with mankind.

Now, the cry of the heart of this dear sister in the Lord was to know HOW to know which interpretation is the CORRECT interpretation. In other words, in some of the churches, she had attended before actually becoming a true born-again Christian; she was taught that women MUST keep silent in the church. Women were NOT allowed to be teachers in the church to teach MEN. Women MUST wear head coverings at all times when they leave their own homes. But deep down a verse of Scripture kept coming to her remembrance. And that verse of Scripture was Galatians 3:28. When she shared that with me, I told her that the Holy Spirit gave her that verse to lead her to the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of God, that IN Jesus, Christians are NO MORE male or female and that we are all ONE in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes God gives us verses of Scripture even when we are not actually seeking any particular truth. Sometimes God leads us to read a book or go to a website on the Internet to read a Bible study to find an answer on an entirely DIFFERENT subject. And while finding THAT answer, the Holy Spirit sparks another question in us that he wants us to study. BUT because of what we were previously taught we consider that subject to be “TABOO” so to speak. The danger signs pop up saying false teaching, do not read that study. Put that book down and stick with what you have been taught.

This happened to me at a Christian book store. I was very interested in the subject of the rapture of the church so I went to buy a Christian book on that subject. I had been taught the pre-tribulation rapture view which casually mentioned other views as being false teaching. So I had no intention or interest in reading what I was taught was false teaching. And when I got to the bookstore the very first book I saw was titled, “The Church Will Go Through The Great Tribulation”. I picked it up and those dangerous false teaching signs came up so I put it back down and bought a pre-tribulation rapture book instead. Little did I know that it was the Holy Spirit who led me to buy that FIRST book on the POST tribulation rapture of the church and that it was Satan who put up those dangerous false teaching signs.

I said all of this to say that the BEST way, in my own opinion, to keep Christians from not being deceived by false teaching is to NOT forbid them to read what other Christians believe and teach. In other words, if every church denomination would TRULY search the WHOLE word of God to learn WHY other Christians believe and teach what they believe and teach then they may find that they themselves are teaching false doctrine.

So I implore all the MEN in the churches that forbid their women to teach men in their church to read all the studies under the heading >>>CAN WOMEN BE PASTORS?<<< I implore both men and women to look at the “BIG PICTURE” to see how God has used WOMEN in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, and in REVIVALS in the history of the church. And then ask yourself the question, seeing that Almighty God HIMSELF uses WOMEN to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, then WHY would God teach the Apostle Paul to teach the church to FORBID women to TEACH in the church? That would be DIVISION in the kingdom of God. And any kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. So surely God would never contradict himself.

Now to keep this study on the short side I will list several “famous” well know women in the Bible and in church history but I will only comment on a few of those women. It will be your job to do your own research and study on the women that you feel that the Holy Spirit is leading you to study closer.

First of all, here is a LINK to an entire list of all the names of women in the Bible listed in alphabetical order LIST OF WOMEN IN THE BIBLE so that you can do your own Bible studies. This list also has the verse references as to where each woman is found in the Scriptures. What could be easier to get you started in doing your OWN research on how God uses WOMEN to proclaim his word?

Now let us start with the Old Testament. Again, I will only mention a few women in order to CORRECT the wrong interpretation of four or five verses in the New Testament that some church denominations use to forbid women to teach in their churches. Since they use Eve to try and prove that it is the woman’s FAULT that sin entered into the world, let us start with Eve, the first woman mentioned in the Bible which also happens to be the first woman that God created.

Here is the verse that THEY use to teach that it is the woman’s FAULT that sin entered into the world.

1 Timothy 2:12-15.

“But I suffer NOT a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the MAN, but to be in SILENCE. 

13.  FOR (Or BECAUSE) Adam was FIRST formed, then Eve. 

14.  And Adam was NOT deceived, but the WOMAN being deceived was in the transgression. 

15.  Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”

As I have said many times, any verse or verses when viewed ALONE and apart from the REST of God’s word may SEEM to be saying something that they are NOT TRULY saying. And what I mean by this is that when you read verses 12-15 alone they seem to be saying EXACTLY what they are saying. I mean HOW could these verses mean anything other than the Apostle Paul himself teaches us that women are NOT to teach MEN in the church BECAUSE it is the WOMAN’S fault that Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. I mean it says right there that Adam was NOT deceived BUT Eve WAS deceived and that SHE was the one who SINNED. How can that mean anything else?

Well, those particular “WORDS” are NOT the words and teaching of the Apostle Paul. Those words are the words of the Jewish Judaizing Christians who wrote the Apostle Paul a letter EXAMING Paul as to whether or not he was a true Apostle of Jesus Christ. Let me explain what I mean by giving you an example that you can easily understand. I receive emails, on occasion, wrongly accusing me that I am a false teacher. And in those emails are several arguments given by my accusers. So when I write back to CORRECT their FALSE accusation I sometimes REPEAT THEIR words in MY letter to THEM. Now just because I wrote THEIR words in MY letter back to THEM that does not mean that I am teaching THEIR words. But someone NOT knowing that I am ANSWERING and CORRECTING what they wrote to me could easily confuse THEIR words for being MY words. And that is what has happened with the Apostle Paul’s letter back to the Corinthians church.

Let me prove this to you by the REST of God’s word. Now if so be 1 Timothy 2:13,14 are Paul’s words that Jesus taught to Paul to teach to us then Jesus nor Paul would ever contradict themselves. So let us read what Paul TRULY teaches us as to WHO is at fault for the FALL of mankind.

Please read Romans 5:14-19.

“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had NOT sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 

15.  But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of ONE many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many. 

16.  And not as it was by ONE that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. 

17.  For if by ONE man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 

18.  Therefore, as by the offense of ONE judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of ONE, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 

19.  For as by ONE man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Also, read 1 Corinthians 15:22.

“For as IN ADAM all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

So then, in TRUTH, the Apostle Paul is actually teaching that BECAUSE OF ADAM and NOT because of Eve that sinned enter into the world which is a direct CONTRACTION of the words in 1 Timothy 2:12,13. So when we look at the “BIG PICTURE” we can clearly see that the INTERPRETATION of 1 Timothy 2:12,13 as being the teaching OF the Apostle Paul HIMSELF is in ERROR because that INTERPRETATION directly contradicts what Paul TRULY teaches in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

But some Christians who are so blinded by their focusing only on 1 Timothy 2:12,13 will try to explain away every verse of Scripture presented to them to show them the truth. So HOW do we know WHICH interpretation is the truth? In other words, how can we discern which interpretation is the “explaining away” of a passage of Scripture from the “true meaning” of that passage of Scripture? We COMPARE both interpretations with OTHER Scriptures.

For example, how can we be SURE which teaching is sound Biblical teaching because one passage of Scripture is clearly saying that EVE is to be blamed for the fall of mankind while other passages of Scripture clearly teach that ADAM is the one who sinned and thus it was Adam’s fault for the fall of mankind? We go to the verses that teach us how the fall ACTUALLY happened. And when we read Genesis 3:1-7 we can clearly see that Adam and Eve were TOGETHER when Eve was DECEIVED by the serpent and that it was Adam who SINNED. They BOTH knew what God had commanded. But what we do NOT know one way or the other is that if they BOTH HEARD the serpent’s DECEPTION. We know with absolute certainty that Eve did indeed HEAR the serpent tempting her. But what we do NOT know is if Adam was TEMPTED or not tempted.

Genesis 3:1-7.

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the WOMAN, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

2.  And the WOMAN said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

3.  BUT of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall NOT eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. (So clearly Eve KNEW the WILL of God was to NOT eat what she was being TEMPTED by Satan to eat from. And since Adam was alone when God gave him this one commandment then I would have to say that it was Adam who told Eve that God commanded him that they could eat of any tree except the one tree, see Genesis 2:15-18 for Adam being ALONE when God gave him this one commandment. Adam could have been alone for hundreds of years before God created Eve. For you see, Adam took care of the Garden of Eden by himself. Adam named all the animals that God created by himself. And God saw that it was not good for man to be alone)

4.  And the serpent said unto the WOMAN, You shall not surely die: 

5.  For God knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

6.  And when the WOMAN saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, SHE took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and (Then SHE)  gave also unto her husband WITH her; and he did eat. 

7.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.”

Now, to ME, in my own opinion, Eve was TEMPTED and DECEIVED but Adam was NOT DECEIVED. But rather Adam right there with Eve and Adam saw that Eve did not drop dead when she ate from that one forbidden tree and took the fruit of that tree from his wife and disobeyed God. In other words, Adam LOOKED at the CIRCUMSTANCE around him and he believed the CIRCUMSTANCES over the word of God. To say this another way, Adam KNEW that God told him that they would DIE if they ate from that one tree but yet he saw Eve eat from that tree and she did not die. So Adam took the fruit believing what he SAW over what God said. And that is why I do not see that Adam was TEMPTED. Certainly, we could read into these verses that Eve told Adam something like, “You have to eat this Adam. It is the best-tasting fruit of any tree in the whole Garden of Eden.” But those words are not in the Bible.

So the best that we could say is that they BOTH SINNED together. But that is not what the Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Paul says that it was ADAM’s fault by making it perfectly clear that by the sin of the ONE MAN Adam sin entered the world contrasting his words to the ONE MAN Jesus Christ. It is also interesting to note that BEFORE the FALL Adam called her name, this new being that God gave to him, WOMAN and we do not see her named EVE until AFTER the fall and they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 2:20-25.

“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam, there was not found a HELP MATE FOR him. 

21.  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

22.  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman and brought her unto the man. 

23.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man. (Or this is a PART of ME because she was taken OUT of ME)

24.  THEREFORE, (Or for this very reason that woman was taken OUT OF man) shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be ONE flesh. 

25.  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

So then, BEFORE the FALL, man and woman were ONE working TOGETHER as ONE. But AFTER the FALL the Jewish CUSTOM became that it was the woman’s fault for all the misery in the world. And all through the Bible, Almighty God is RECONCILING mankind back to their INTENDED purpose. And Paul teaches us that IN Jesus Christ we are all ONE as it was always intended to be. In other words, IN Jesus Christ we are RECONCILED to God. We are NOT under the curse of the Law. We are NOT under the Old Covenant. We are NOT under the Jewish CUSTOMS where the men treated women as their property and not as their equals. But that is NEVER how God sees women.

Let us look at one more woman in the Old Testament so that this intended “short” Bible study does not end up being an entire book. Her name is Deborah. God raised up this woman to be a prophetess and a JUDGE over his people Israel. Deborah was a LEADER of her people. In some ways, she is like what the Pope is to the Roman Catholic Church. Whatever Deborah said, the people believed was the word of Almighty God speaking through her. So then if God told Jesus to teach the Apostle Paul to teach us that women cannot be LEADERS in the church then God would be contradicting his OWN ACTIONS by using women to LEAD men. You can read about Deborah in Judges, chapters 4 and 5 on your own.

But for now, let us look at a few women in the New Testament which I will list by name so you can do your own research later. First, there is Anna in Luke 2:36-38 who proclaimed the baby Jesus is the Messiah who was prophesied to come. Then there are all the women DISCIPLES of Jesus which was a “NO, NO” in Jewish culture or Jewish CUSTOMS. Now, while all the women disciples of Jesus proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus, Mary Magdalene stands out to me because Jesus said that she and what she did for Jesus would be a MEMORIAL to the entire world. 

Matthew 26:10-13.

“When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why TROUBLE you the WOMAN? For SHE has wrought a good work upon me. 

11.  For you have the poor always with you, but me you have not always. 

12.  For in that she has poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 

13.  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman has done, be told for a MEMORIAL of her.” 

Jesus could have appeared to the MEN at the tomb but Jesus chose a WOMAN to be the FIRST to witness his resurrection and to be the first one SENT to PROCLAIM the gospel or the GOOD NEWS of his resurrection to his disciples or his CHURCH.

John 20:17,18.

“Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but GO to my brethren, and SAY unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (In other words, Jesus SENT Mary Magdalene TO TEACH the CHURCH of his RESURRECTION from the dead)

18.  Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her.” 

The word “apostle” means to be SENT. Jesus just named that 12 of his Apostles to sit on 12 thrones as a comparison to the 12 sons of Isaac whose name was changed to Israel. For out of those twelve sons came the people of Israel and out of the 12 Apostles came the church. But there were many other apostles besides those 12 Apostles. Please read the study “IS PAUL THE TWELFTH APOSTLE?” In that study, I find no less than 26 who were called apostles specifically by title in the New Testament. Jesus chose 70 other disciples and he SENT them as well. And right before Jesus ascended into heaven Jesus COMMISSIONED or SENT every single member of his body, the church, BOTH the men AND the WOMEN, to proclaim the gospel of salvation to the entire world. Again, being SENT is what the word apostle means.

So in that respect, EVERY Christian is an apostle of Jesus Christ. And in the same way, every Christian is a prophet because the meaning of the word “prophet” means to foretell things that have not yet happened. And every time we proclaim the yet coming judgment of God we are prophesying a yet future event that cannot be proven until it comes to pass. But that does not mean that we are all SET in the church to operate in the OFFICE of an Apostle just because we are apostles or SENT by Jesus to preach and teach the word of God to others. And in the same way, we are not all given the GIFT of prophecy to operate in the OFFICE of a prophet. We are not all pastors and teachers in the sense that God has called us and GIFTED us to be pastors and teachers BUT we ALL can still teach in the church and have the “heart” of a pastor which is to CARE for one another.

Now, since I already cover the women in the New Testament in the other studies that I have written on this subject let us move on to the women that God has and is still using in REVIVALS in church history. I would like to start with Joan of Arc because she reminds me of Deborah in the Old Testament along with Esther as well. Here is a short video about Joan of Arc which teaches us that God raised this young teenage girl up to LEAD her people when the King was too cowardly to lead his people.

Five miracles of Joan of Arc!

The reason why there are not many women recorded in church history is that the MEN disallowed women to have any rights. Satan is the god of this present world system and Satan’s goal is to cause DIVISION in the church. So what better way to cause division in the church than to pit the men against the women by DECEIVING the men that the church MUST keep the Law of Moses contained in ORDINANCES along with all the Jewish CUSTOMS as well? So the church was divided. On the one side, there were the Jewish Judaizing Christians and on the other side, there were the Christians obeying the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ who followed the teachings of the Apostle Paul.

And around the 3rd through the 5th centuries, Satan deceived SOME of the MEN in the church to be “lords” over each other. This was the rise of the Roman Catholic Church which shall also be its FALL unless she repents. The Roman Catholic Church “LEADERS” destroyed every written document that they could find which spoke of women being used as LEADERS in the church but the Catholic Church failed to destroy the “artwork” of portraying women as “PRIESTS”, Bishops, and as leaders in the church. Now, I could not find a video teaching showing these works of art so I will give you a LINK to a website so you can view pictures of the artwork and decide for yourself. Here is a quote from that website. The emphasis is mine.

“One of Katuesz’s most important examples is a mosaic in the Lateran Baptistery of the Chapel of San Venantius in Rome. The mosaic, which sits above the altar, was commissioned by Pope Theodore in the seventh century. According to Kateusz, it contains an image of the Virgin Mary wearing her traditional blue garment, accessorized with a “bishop’s pallium” that is identifiable by the red cross on the vestment. Mary’s arms, said Kateusz, are raised “as if [she is] performing the Eucharist. It is a symbolic way of saying Mary was a church leader.”

Today, the mosaic is almost entirely HIDDEN behind a huge baroque altarpiece. The altarpiece features a very DIFFERENT kind of portrait of Mary in which she sits in a more demure, traditional pose, holding baby Jesus. In her book, Kateusz hypothesizes that the altarpiece was installed around 1916 when the Vatican ruled that images of Mary as a BISHOP were no longer permitted. She argues that this was part of a deliberate effort “to disguise the fact that Mary was portrayed as a bishop.”

Even more so than the artwork itself, is the fact that the Roman Catholic Church tried to HIDE the artwork. I did find a video teaching on the historical evidence of the Roman Catholic Church having women in leadership positions such as being BISHOPS in history before the1900’s which is when women bishops no longer were allowed. The teaching was kind of boring to me so if you want to skip to the end around 46 minutes you can hear some really good evidence that women were even BISHOPS in the Roman Catholic Church UNTIL the late 1800s. The Last Female Bishop [1874] - Las Huelgas, Spain.

Here is the video.

The Hidden History of Women's Ordination

Here is a quote from Wikipedia. The comment in parenthesis and the emphasis is mine.

“The Abbess (Or the HEAD LEADER of an Abby are called Abbot and Abbess depending if they are male or female) of the monastery was, by the favor of the king, invested with almost royal prerogatives, and exercised an unlimited secular authority over more than fifty villages. Like secular lords, she held her own courts, in civil and criminal cases, and, like bishops, she granted Dimissorial Letters for ordination, and issued licenses authorizing priests within the territory of her abbatial jurisdiction to hear confessions, to preach, and to engage in pastoral care. She was privileged also to confirm the Abbesses of other monasteries,(Having the authority much like a Cardinal today in the Roman Catholic Church) to impose censures, and to convoke synods. At a General Chapter of the Cistercians held in 1189, she was made Abbess General of the Order for the Kingdom of León and Castile, with the privilege of convoking annually a general chapter at Burgos.

The Abbess of Las Huelgas retained her ancient prerogatives up to the time of the Council of Trent, in the 16th century.”

In other words, some women held HIGH positions of AUTHORITY in the Roman Catholic Church from the very beginning of the Roman Catholic Church all the way up to the council at Trent in the 16th century. And the only remaining WOMAN bishop was not booted out of power until she died in 1874. Here is another quote from a Catholic website that shows just how POWERFUL these women were in the Roman Catholic Church and in the governing of the secular community.

“The following year, Pope Clement III placed the monastery under the direction of the Apostolic See and, by royal decree, it is exempted from the authority of the Ordinary of the area. From then on, the Abbess, Prelate of Las Huelgas, accumulated so much power and autonomy that she only had above her the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, who had placed her higher than the episcopal curia, with very similar jurisdiction to that exercised by bishops in their dioceses.

From that moment on, the Mother Abbess of Las Huelgas became Lady of towns and villages, where she exercised full temporal and spiritual powers. She had authority not only over the secular population but also OVER the entire religious estate: nuns, friars, priests, and pastors of all the parishes in the 54 villages of her ladyship, with their convents, churches, and hermitages.

She was the most powerful woman of Castile; there was just one above her throughout Spain, Her Majesty the Queen. It was the Abbess and not the bishop of Toledo who granted the necessary licenses to confess, preach, and celebrate Mass and the sacraments. Without the dimissorial letters, signed by her own hand, no one could access the sacrament of the Order.

For seven centuries, her power was not only recognized but also increased by pontiffs such as Clement III, Honorius III, Innocent IV, Alexander IV, Pius V, Sixtus V, Urban VIII, Leo X, Innocent VIII, and Clement XII, among others.

During the Middle Ages, the Royal Monastery was the site chosen for the coronation of the monarchs of Castile and the place where these and other members of the nobility were knighted. It was the favorite space to celebrate magnificent royal weddings, bonds, and burials of the upper Castilian nobility.

The Lady Abbess could appoint mayors and judges, administrators, and clerks; deal out justice and control the two prisons inside the monastery, one for ecclesiastics and another for laypeople. Her power and prestige were such that in the 14th century Pope John XXII granted her powers "to fulfill censures against anyone who holds or usurps property, houses, possessions, lands, rights, and prerogatives of the monastery."

“Another 12 monasteries of Cistercian nuns were under the authority of Las Huelgas, whose Abbess attended and approved the election of prioresses in all convents under her jurisdiction. She confirmed, or not, the new abbesses and named all the major and minor appointments and offices. She could change and transfer nuns and abbesses from one monastery to another, and it was not possible to admit new nuns, receive the veil or profess without her permission.

The ladyship and privileges of the Abbess of Las Huelgas remained intact until the 19th century when Pope Pius IX reformed the situation of all the exempt territories that remained in Spain and Europe. The Bull "Quae Diversa" suppressed the ecclesiastical jurisdiction that the monastery had on people, towns, parishes, and convents, and placed the monastery of Las Huelgas under the authority of the archbishop of Burgos.

The prelate of Las Huelgas, with her "quasi episcopal vere nullius" powers, is an interesting case that tells us about the role that women have had at some point in the history and life of the Church. She was a female figure who, for over 700 years and with the support of the Roman pontiffs, ruled an extensive territory, almost like a bishop, with vast powers and faculties now unimaginable.

The abbesses of Monteviliers in Normandy, of Wadstena in Sweden, of Luca and St. Benedict of Conversano in Italy, exercised their authority in a very similar way. The latter had a vicar general who was a bishop, and she wore pontifical gloves and sandals, ring and pectoral, miter and staff to receive the homage of the clergy in her territory. The last abbess of Conversano, who died in 1809, was buried with miter, brimstone, staff and other insignia of a bishop. However, none of these reached the splendor of the abbess of Las Huelgas.”

And, according to legend, there was a FEMALE POPE but that legend was put to silence as well in the 16th century. It could be just a coincidence or just maybe there was a deliberate cover-up of women being LEADERS in the Roman Catholic Church until the late 1800s, almost the 20th century.

Let us move on to God raising up women in the PROTESTANT church around the SAME time that the Roman Catholic Church began their DISALLOWING women to be leaders in the church. Could that be just another coincidence? OR do you think that MEN will not win their fight to disallow women to be used by Almighty God in the church?

Here is a list of women that God has used in the ministering of the gospel of Jesus Christ starting in the late 1800s. Again, you can do your own research as to how God used these women.

Aimee Semple McPherson, also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles–based evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church. McPherson has been noted as a pioneer in the use of modern media, especially radio, and was the second woman to be granted a broadcast license. She used radio to draw on the growing appeal of popular entertainment in North America and incorporated other forms into her weekly sermons at Angelus Temple.

Ida B. Robinson was an American Pentecostal-Holiness and Charismatic denominational leader. She was the founder, first Senior Bishop and President of the Mount Sinai Holy Church of America, Inc. Robinson formed the organization in response to her vision and Divine Call to secure an organizational home where women preachers would be welcomed and encouraged. Mount Sinai Holy Church of America is the only organization founded by an African-American woman that held consistent female leadership from its founding in 1924 until February 2001.

Anne Graham Lotz is an American Christian evangelist. She is the second daughter of evangelist Billy Graham and his wife Ruth Graham. She founded AnGeL Ministries and is the author of 11 books, of which her best known is Just Give Me Jesus.

And here is a link to a website teaching us about 9 more famous women pastors from the MID-1800s to when women pastors began to become more common and accepted in many Protestant churches, especially the Pentecostal churches. I already mentioned Aimee Semple McPherson which is why I say 9 more rather than 10 more women pastors.

10 Awesome Women Pastors from History

And below are some exhortation videos for women to be lifted up and inspired to be used by God in these last days before the coming of Jesus.

Women in church leadership!

Can God use women in revivals?

Kathryn Kuhlman’s miraculous ministry!

Marilyn Hickey-Esther 4:14

Women are called to be mighty women of God!

What does the Bible say about Women in the ministry by Marilyn Hickey?

And always remember that God will use WOMEN to RULE and REIGN with Jesus during the Millenial reign of Jesus.

Please read the studies “CAN WOMEN TEACH IN THE CHURCH?”, as well as ALL the studies under the heading >>>CAN WOMEN BE PASTORS?<<< Also, here is a link to a video teaching that I came across in my research on the role of women in the church. It is titled Women in leadership! Must women keep silent? And here is another video showing how women are faced with choosing God over their families misguided beliefs and, therefore, they are faced with LOSING their family. Twisted Scripture - 1 Timothy 2:12. And below are some more video teachings by others.

Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

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Here are some links to some of the research sources that I used. Some of my readers have been asking for video teachings so I have been searching for some good sound Bible video teachings by others on the subject that I myself do not yet have video teachings on those particular subjects. And this is one of those subjects that I myself have not yet made any video teachings. 

Here is the link to the article that I quoted from in some of my studies on the subject of women because it was the most in-depth and unbiased article that I found.

Junia, a Female Apostle: An Examination of the Historical Record

And here are some links to some video teachings on WOMEN in the Bible.

In this first video, there are two different men teaching. The first half is from a radio teaching and in the second half, you can see the teacher. The video is around 13 minutes long.

Paul’s high view of women

In this second video below, I do not agree with his teaching on the Trinity but what I do agree with is a conclusion on the subject about the abuse of Scripture when it comes to lording over women. 

Ephesians 5:22 and 1 Timothy 2:11

The following video is also a short video that teaches us a little about Jewish CUSTOMS and how the Jews viewed women as basically their PROPERTY. I chose this video so that you can see that the Jewish Judaizing Christians did not agree with the teachings of the Apostle Paul and they were EXAMINING Paul as to whether or not he was a true Apostle of Jesus Christ.

JEWISH CUSTOM view of women 

Now, this next video teaching is rather long but I believe this man put a lot of research and study on 1 Corinthians 15:34,35 and the other verses that SEEM to teach that women must not be used by God to teach men in the church. Now, while I agree with his research on those verses I DISAGREE with his own personal opinion on women wearing head coverings. He simply failed to do any research on that particular subject of the Jewish CUSTOM of women wearing head coverings. Please understand that there are many good Bible teachers on PARTICULAR subjects BUT on OTHER subjects they may simply “PARROT” what they were previously taught by their church denomination WITHOUT doing their own in-depth Bible studies on those other subjects. Around 18 minutes into the video, he talks about Junia and later alludes to Junia being Joahna but I would listen to the whole video the entire context.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

In the following video, I find one of the best explanations and teaching on 1 Corinthians 14:34,35 that I ever came across. But because this video is by a WOMAN I listed it toward the end. For you see, some may wrongly think that teaching about women by a woman might be biased. But in truth, this woman shows the PAIN that some women suffer needlessly because of false teaching. And to me, her teaching is SOUND Biblical teaching on this subject concerning women being used by God as teachers in the church.

Women in the new testament

In this next video, there is a list of the NAMES of all the women in the New Testament for those who want to do their own Bible study of how God uses women in the Bible.

NAMES of women in the New Testament 

And this last video I just added for those want-a-be scholarly type men that like quoting the Greek just to look smart.

Xenophon of Ephesus 5 and 1 Timothy 2

Derived from Greek ξενος (xenos) meaning “foreign, strange” and φωνη (phone) meaning “voice”. That is to say, xenophone means a strange voice.