Is It Biblical for a Woman to Hold Public Office?

First we had the Left savaging Sarah Palin after John McCain chose her as his running mate. Politicians and the media crossed the line in so many ways, I left off counting, the most egregious occurring when they made cracks about her pregnant daughter and her Downs Syndrome son.

I have to admit, though, I wasn’t terribly surprised.

Now we have some in the Evangelical community questioning whether Sarah Palin should be running at all because a woman shouldn’t hold public office.

I can’t believe this is even up for discussion.

The Bible contains examples of women leaders. Some were good, some bad. Jezebel immediately comes to mind as one of the baddies. She also happened to be a pagan high priestess and a big fan of the false Canaanite god, Baal. Her main goal in life was wiping out the Israelites’ Jehovah God in favor of hers.

Let’s not forget sweet, modest Esther, who is often held up as a prime example of womanhood. Nothing is said against the fact she was a queen. Admittedly she didn’t wield the power of her royal husband, but she had major influence and the authority to send out the decree which ultimately saved her people.

During the era when judges ruled in Israel instead of kings, Deborah was a judge. Her command of the army ensured a decisive victory over her country's enemies with the help of another woman, Jael, who hammered a tent spike through the temple of the commander of the opposing army while he slept. These women did not mess around. Both are extolled in the Song of Deborah.

Nor is anything negative said about the Queen of Sheba who came to visit King Solomon and was herself one of the wealthiest rulers in the world. In fact, the Bible honors her conclusion that Solomon was the wisest man in the world.

The Bible highlights three earthly spheres of government -- church, family, and civil. The Bible says that men are to be in charge of the churches. They’re called to be the leaders of their families. However, the Bible does not comment on who’s to be in charge when it comes to civil government. This includes business leadership as well.

The Woman of Proverbs 31 bought land and sold her handmade goods. Women in the New Testament ran successful businesses like Lydia, a prosperous traveling merchant who sold dyes and dyed cloth from Thyatira. Women like her were a huge factor in the birth of Christianity because of their financial support of Jesus’ ministry.

And let’s not forget that both men and women believers are promised they will reign together with Christ.

Where were these anti-women-in-public-office types when Hillary Clinton was running for the Democratic nomination for president? I guess since Hillary is not an Evangelical Christian, they didn’t bother to engage her on this topic. This is almost as bad as the way the feminists have no problem with Clinton or any other liberal woman running for office and yet they come out with guns blazing against Sarah Palin, a woman who epitomizes everything they claim to want for women in this culture. Ah, but Governor Palin doesn’t share their rabid support for abortion or their radical stance against men in general and men as husbands and fathers in particular. It shows where their true agenda lies. After all, the famous feminist slogan says that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.

It seems to me that women in government is one of those areas of discretion mentioned in the Bible. As a Christian, we have the liberty to decide how to handle all the aspects of our lives the Bible doesn’t comment on specifically. Some Christians might have a glass of wine with dinner while others avoid it altogether. Some eat meat, some are vegetarians. Neither is right or wrong.


At the very least, Sarah Palin running for VP falls into this category. I say let’s give it a rest.