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Is Ashley Wilkerson a false teacher? Time will tell.
If she is, then God will deal with her. That is for certain. He is not amused by falsehood "nearby or far off."
"The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." (Jeremiah 23:20-23)
Wilkerson, co-senior pastor of Pacific Coast Church in Tacoma, Washington has recently drawn a perhaps undesired intense evaluation of her theology.
Critics accused her of gross "false teaching" after her controversial speech at a women's gathering hosted last November by Trinity Church in Miami.
Wilkerson told the attendees at Trinity that the Holy Bible's translators had changed women's names in Scripture "because we understood, we thought, 'Oh no, they can't be women apostles.' Yeah, they were," she insisted, offering no evidence.
The critical controversy over the issue of women's roles in the Christian Church is reaching a boiling point. Interestingly, there does not seem to be such contention in Islam, Judaism or other faiths.
Orthodox Christians embrace the theology that nowhere in the Scriptures is there authorization for women to be either missionaries, elders, preachers, pastors, apostles or bishops.
Wilkerson's seemingly antagonizing sermon titled "Lead Like a Woman," posted on Nov. 10, 2023, had generated fewer than 1,200 You Tube views at the time of this writing.
The Christian Post reported that the video of her almost hour long speech drew undesired attention, after on March 23 The Holy Nope posted a snippet.
Critical reactions to her understanding of Scripture ranged from incredulous shock to gentle warnings that she was false teaching.
Orthodox Christian preachers, pastors and apostles contend that the Bible clearly shows that God reserved the aforementioned roles for men.
The Apostle Paul taught his "son" Timothy that women churchgoers should "learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." (1 Timothy 2:11-12, KJV)
Paul also taught declared, "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ;,and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God." (1 Corinthians 11:13)
Wilkerson's sermon at Trinity did not mention Paul or reference the above verses.
Her husband, JohnFulton Wilkerson, is the co-senior pastor with her at PCC. She praised him for being fully onboard with "empowering" women in the Church.
She is the daughter-in-law of Trinity's Senior Pastors, Rich and Dr. Robyn Wilkerson.
Pastor Carl A. Hargrove, associate professor of pastoral ministries at The Master's Seminary, sacked Ashley Wilkerson's sermon.
"The imaginations of a mind with an unbiblical agenda posing as spiritually enlightening. Women apostles, some whose names were changed to hide the truth??!!" Hargrove posted on X, in a seemingly incredulous tone.
He told the Post that Wilkerson lacked corroborating proof for her claims.
"Well, she has no evidence of names changed, of women who are apostles. She obviously didn't put it forth, even to make such a claim and put forward the evidence, there is none," Hargrove said.
Further, according to Scripture, shepherding a Christian flock is truly for men.
"The unbiblical agenda is her role as a pastor when 1 Timothy 2 clearly states that that is a role for a man," he said.
The associate professor said he is simply defending the Gospel. He proactively denied being a misogynist.
"So a person can say 'misogynistic' all day. Their issue is not with me. Their issue is with Paul and with the Scripture. Deal with what Paul said ... and the fact that his argument goes all the way back to creation, not just a localized case."
For emphasis, he leveraged the term "God's design."
"Obviously, the issue is not one of capabilities, but simply order of God's design."
Christian denominations in the U.S., such as the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church, disallow women pastors.
Women in the Roman Catholic Church cannot serve as priests.
Organizations including Wilkerson's Assemblies of God, the Lutherans, the Methodists and the African Methodist Episcopal Church permit women pastors. The latter permits women to serve as teachers, pastors, deaconesses, missionaries and bishops.
Female preachers or ministers in the Nation of Islam are historically very rare, if there ever were or are any now.
In the Arab Muslim world, women in the ministry are almost equally very rare.
Female Jewish rabbis are perhaps more rare.
In dismissing her critics, Wilkerson was defiant.
"I don't feel the need to respond at all to untrue and unfounded claims. I would encourage all people interested in this subject to research the history of the translations for themselves. The evidence is irrefutable if you're willing to look." she said to CP.
Offering no proof, Wilkerson roared that women apostles were sent out with the 11 disciples, in what some people refer to as the "Great Commission."
That is the commandment that Jesus gave to the disciples, after the Resurrection, to go into the world, teach all nations, preach the Gospel and baptize in the name of Jesus. (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-18, Acts 2:38)
Her sermon at Trinity highlighted specific women in the Bible: "Prisca, Mary, Phoebe, Junia, Tryphena and Tryphosa — their names are my favorite to say — many others that were apostles, leaders in the early church," Wilkerson claimed.
Romans 16:7 is the verse in which Paul mentions Junia. He did not actually say that Junia was an apostle, but that she was "of note," respected by or well-known among the apostles.
"Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me." (Romans 16:7)
Orthodox overseers including Pastor and Apostle Gino Jennings of the First Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ steadfastly proclaim that the Bible does not describe any female as a bishop, elder, preacher or an apostle.
When a CP interviewer asked Hargrove why Paul would referred to Junia as an apostle, Hargrove retorted that Paul was using the word in a generic sense.
"An apostle can also just be one who is sent, and that's the basic meaning. One who is sent out. There are people today that will say they are apostles today.
"But the problem with using that term is how are you using [it]? Are you saying you're an apostle as Peter and Paul?
"Then, if so, there are certain qualifications. Do you have the attesting signs and wonders of an apostle? Were you a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ as an apostle?
"Have you been commissioned by Christ to be an apostle? Are [you] commissioned through Christ and the local church to be an apostle? So that's the problem with claiming apostolic office today," he said.
"Now, if a person says, 'Well, I'm an apostle' simply in the sense that one who is sent out to do the Lord's work? Sure. Because that's the general sense of it. But we have to understand it in its context."
As for the notion that the Bible translators cannot be trusted, Wilkerson said this.
"I'm not telling you this so you distrust Scripture. I'm not talking about that. I'm calling you to dig deeper because sometimes it gets muddled in our culture," she said.
Almost all commenters denounced her presentation for reasons including the fact that she gave a sermon while wearing leggings or yoga pants.
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Reginald Spann is the senior content editor, publisher and founder of The Christian Commander. You may contact him through our Facebook, X and Truth Social platforms, or via the partnership page at Christiancommander.com
I can’t say that she is a false teacher. Though her teaching might be stretching. I can’t say that her attire bothers me, but I can tell you what the scripture states in Romans 16: 3-7, “Who are of note among the apostles “ Better “well known to the apostles.” The New Testament knows only the 12 apostles plus Matthias (Acts 1:26) and Paul. The office of apostle was not extended beyond this number. Andronicus and Junia (a woman) are not apostles but they are well known to many of the apostles.
Romans 16:18-For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and Fair speeches deceive the hearts of the…