Did he?
Well, I can't cite any commandment along the lines of "thou shalt ordain and consecrate only men to the offices of deacon, priest, and bishop," but the twelve that he did select to be apostles were all men. And it seems to have been understood from the beginning that only men were to be counted among the apostles and their successors. As evidence for this, consider Acts 1:21-26. It doesn't appear that any women were even considered to replace Judas among the remaining eleven. Why should these things be if women were just as eligible as men?
It depends on what you mean by playing it safe. True, Christians often have not been overly concerned with preserving their own lives in the face of mortal danger, and we rightly honor them for that. But I would say that when it comes to preserving the essentials of sound doctrine and holy tradition we should play it very safe indeed. As the Body and Blood of Christ, Himself, the Blessed Sacrament is the holiest object that we are able to perceive with our physical senses, and the utmost care should be taken to ensure that valid consecration of the Holy Gifts occurs wherever the Eucharist is celebrated. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have always been acutely attentive to this, and I believe Anglicans should as well.Since when has being the people of God been about playing it safe?
Seems to me like an odd mixture of traditional and revisionist theology, but everyone is entitled to his own beliefs, so welcome to the forum!
I fail to see how my theology is revisionist. Is it because I question whether the consecrated elements actually, biologically become human flesh and blood in the fullest, most literal sense? What I take to be essential to the traditional understanding of the Eucharist is that the consecrated elements really and truly become the Body and Blood of Christ, and I take this to necessarily entail that metaphysical alteration of the consecrated substances occurs. However, I don't see how it necessarily entails that they become the biological substances of human flesh and blood. In fact, I have an idea (still pretty inchoate at the moment, admittedly, but I'm working on it) of how the consecrated elements might really and truly be the Body and Blood of Christ, while remaining, in a sense, bread and wine.
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