Date of Award

3-1975

Document Type

Project

Department

Seminary

Abstract

Excerpt: "There are only a few references made to the minister's wife in the Bible. But there is no question about her existence. Both Matthew and Luke refer to the mother-in-lav! of Peter. Paul, in writing to Timothy, asserts that the minister is "the husband of one \.rife" (I Tim.3:2). Paul also says that the deacons' wives are to "be grave, not slanderers, sober, and faithful in all things: (I Tim. 3:11).

The one reason for the fewness of Biblical references to the minister's wife is the fact that at this early period the ministry had not become professionalized.1 That is, the religious leadership of the New Testament church was essentially a lay leadership. The concept of a clearly defined ministry in which a dichotomy was made between the layman and the clergyman evolved subsequent to New Testament times. Therefore. on seeking a picture of the minister's wife we must look to references in the Bible to wives in general."

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