Very mischievous of you John - setting the cat amongst the feminist postmodern pigeons.

Lewis took the masculine third person pronoun very seriously indeed - but falls into the error of a grossly biological view of God’s identity - overlooking the genders as being both contained within His nature - Genesis 1:27.

He rightly highlights the metaphor of Christ as the groom (masculine), and the church as the bridegroom (feminine), but that contradicts his argument, as it would make male and female feminine in relation to Christ.

He then takes the biblical concept of the priesthood of all believers (male and female), but restricts it within the categories of his own church to a male priesthood only.

There is actually very little biblical discussion in his argument at all; it rests on tradition (seasoned with a little misogyny). He also shows the predilection for reason and syllogism which he otherwise criticises.

It’s all a question of context, isn’t it? Those churches where tradition (their own) is the most deeply rooted have the greatest problems with female church leadership. As we move forward through the Reformation, the traditions are questioned, and loosened, in the light of biblical enquiry. And so into the present day, the emerging church has the least sense of connectedness with the traditional contexts of the church in its practices, and so female leadership brings scarcely a second glance.

My older daughter, a Christian, attends a University on the South coast of England, in a town where the ‘student’ church is a branch of a new church sect which proscribes female leadership. Since the University Christian Union committee largely consists of students who attend this church, they have absorbed its standpoint on women, and forbid women to lead and teach at C.U. meetings - despite the fact that female Christian students have been far more effective leaders of the C.U. than men, and often better speakers as well. Needless to say, my daughter treats this affectation with the derision it deserves, and is involved with Christian groups which have better things to do with their time.

Anyway, what was the original post about?