in plain language, the doctrines continue to communicate today what they
communicated yesterday, and what they have communicated from their
first publication. They are immutable. We cannot rewrite them. We cannot
interpret them to mean other than what they purport to mean.
Some reinterpretations of the doctrines have occurred. But history has
shown that those reinterpretations have largely been refutations of ideas
wrongly added or attributed to the doctrines in the first place; and sometimes
they have involved denials of the clear teachings in favor of some other
authority, because the teachings run counter to the currents of contemporary
culture or are seen as obstacles to personal objectives.
In short, despite the pressures of the surrounding culture, still, in the New
Church, founded as it is on the Heavenly Doctrines, and because the Doctrines
have much to say about the sexes in relation to the church, the issue of gender
and the priesthood cannot be regarded as simply a cultural issue. It is, more
importantly, a doctrinal issue.
Cultural Background
To understand why so many press for women in the ministry, we first need to
understand something about the politically correct culture in which we now
live and its roots in the cultural revolution of the 1960s and early ‘70s.
Throughout history, people have been subject to cultural and social
upheavals. The Roman Empire and the later Holy Roman Empire were beset
with barbarian invasions. Pandemic plagues, too, took their toll. The Black
Death in the 14th century devastated not only families but whole nations.
The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century changed Christianity and the
religious concepts and practices of almost all European peoples and nations.
Some social transformations have taken place without disease or
bloodshed, but have been equally disruptive of the established order and have
led to their own problems and harmful effects. The Ind