In the realm of Christian apologetics, Frank Turek is one of the major players. Theologically, he swims in the Calvary Chapel lane, which is exhibited by his speaking appearances. Because of his cultural commentary, which is philosophically related to apologetics, he will be speaking at TPUSA’s AmericaFest this December.
However, whereas he offers standard commentary on issues of gender and biology, he does not apply the proper biblical apologetic to the question of whether a woman can be a pastor. In a recent video that he published on his Cross Examined YouTube Channel, which has amassed 549K followers and over 100K views in a matter of days, he is asked the questions surrounding his perspective on the issue.
The question is framed by someone who grew up in the Nazarene tradition which is egalitarian and grew out of that towards complementarianism after studying the Scriptures. Frank Turek answers in the following:
Christians can divide over this without and still have fellowship. This is not an essential issue, but I think the biblical position on this is that the senior pastor is supposed to be a man and that women of course can serve in ministry but not in the senior pastor role.
Each facet of this response is incorrect. This is an essential issue as it pertains to the authority of Scripture, thereby making disobedience a sin issue. This is not a difference of interpretation, but a rejection of the Apostle Paul’s inerrant, inspired, and infallible instructions as laid out several times in Scripture. The second major flaw is that he inserts a “senior pastor” caveat that is an unfounded loophole too many churches, even those in the SBC, employ to violate Scripture.
He proceeds to say that men and women are equal but have different functions, comparing it to the Trinity. In a crowd that might include skeptics and biblically illiterate people, it is confounding that he would employ an argument for the pastoral office based on the divine roles found within the Trinity versus using the institution of marriage, the fall of man, or an appeal to the created order. Is Trinity really the “model for how we behave” since man is not God? Again, this comparison is unnecessary when there are more appropriate models found in Scripture that pertain to the roles of men and women.
Turek proceeds to recommend Mike Winger’s elongated series on the subject of female “pastors” and women in ministry, which is presumably longer than necessary and not as digestible for most viewers even if Mike Winger is correct in his conclusions.
The questioner then elaborates that the egalitarian perspective contends exceptions, errantly citing Ruth as a judge. Turek proceeds to use the “descriptive vs. prescriptive” argument for women in ministry. Rather than state his interpretation on whether Phoebe was a Deacon, not a deacon, he sidesteps the issue as an exception rather than normative. Even the notion of exceptions is errant as it would introduce a contradiction within the epistles of the Apostle Paul.
The problem with conceding that there can be exceptions is that people will go out of their way to justify exceptions to make their conduct permissible. It is no different than the Side A/B proponents who make exceptions for their preferred sins. In regards to women preaching, a church might contend that they had no other options or that the woman was the most qualified candidate, but is that truly believable in a nation whose population exceeds 350 million? Certainly, for a large enough church, there would arise a male candidate, but often these churches desire to go in that direction. Moreover, if there are no qualified male candidates, then biblically, the question might be posited of whether there exists a proper church body.
Historically, this is an issue of little debate. In fact, there were deliberations during the Reformation as to whether there were exceptions outside the clergy to whom could perform the sacraments, that being baptism and communion. The only woman in Scripture depicted as performing a sacrament is Zipporah, the wife of Moses, who in circumcising her son with a sinful heart usurped her husband’s duty. So even as a laic exception, it was concluded by the Reformers that it was impermissible for a woman to perform baptism. To then ordain women and permit them to perform the sacraments is an even greater offense.
Frank Turek placates the feminists by making the unbiblical senior pastor distinction while appealing to exceptions to biblical prescriptions. Ultimately, part of the reason for this compromise is that Turek works with a Grace Covenant Church where he films his Bible Study at their campus. This church has a so-called Connections Pastor who is a woman and two kids’ pastors.
The question of female ordination is one of the most pressing theological arguments of 2023 thanks to Rick Warren, but rather than defend what the bible unapologetically states, Turek sounds more like Warren than he does like Paul. A world that confuses itself as to what is a woman is desperately in need of a biblical stance on gender and gender roles. The church needs good apologetics, but we must not compromise clear biblical teaching on subjects like the exclusive male ordination to placate a lost world.
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