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I was temporarily persuaded by this argument, until I re-read the controversial verses more thoroughly. To make a long story short (this essay isn't on women's ordination, after all), I simply couldn't get around the force of Paul's statements. The things he said did not seem to be the simple angry rhetoric used against gossiping women – no, he was asserting that God has different roles for women in church and society than men. It's a natural part of their femininity. It's not that women are not equal to men, it's just that the Lord has other plans for them than being priestesses.<ref>I know some Protestants object to the word “priest” being applied to certain Christian ministers. However, many don't realize that the word “priest” is simply derived from the word “presbyter”, which is itself found in the original Greek of the New Testament as “presbuteros” (“πρεσβύτερος”). It simply means “elder”, and very early on in the Church it came do designate the ministers who presided over the Eucharist. In English, the word “priest” denotes both Christian presbyters and Jewish temple ministers; in the Greek New Testament, however, these Jewish ministers have a separate name, “hiereus” (“ἱερεύς”). It is proper to use either priest or presbyter when describing “elders” in the Catholic Church, as both mean the same thing. I should also note that Christian presbyters are intrinsically different from Jewish priests. The latter hold the priesthood on their own, offering repeated sacrifices of their own. The former are not priests of themselves, however, but simply share in Christ's priesthood (it belongs properly to Him alone), being the instruments of Christ's ''one'' sacrifice (not many), which is re-presented (not re-performed) in the sacrifice of the Eucharist. St. Paul clearly speaks of the Eucharist as a sacrifice in 1 Cornithians Corinthians 10:14-22. Note how he compares pagans eating meat sacrificed to demons on the “table of demons”, and then describes Christians partaking of the Eucharist on the “table of the Lord.” Thus, the word “table” here is a synomym synonym for “altar.” The early Christians were also quite clear that the Eucharist is a sacrifice.</ref>

To me, it seemed that the person I had been debating with was taking modern feminist ideology (which is very new, having only been around about a hundred years or so) and trying to re-interpret the Scriptures in a more liberal sense to suit those newer values; and this is against the traditional view that had been around since Christianity's inception. For fear of being labeled “sexist”, modern folk water down the Lord's teachings about masculinity and femininity. The way the Scriptures and Christian tradition have walked hand-in-hand on this issue since the time of Christ until very recently should be more than enough proof that women cannot receive priestly ordination.<ref>Though women cannot currently be ordained into any of the sacramental Orders (diaconate, presbyterate, and episcopate), there is conclusive evidence from the early Church that women did function to some extent as deaconesses. This is because in ancient times people were baptized completely naked. Since male deacons obviously couldn't perform this task for women candidates, other women did the job instead. The evidence does not warrant the conclusion, however, that these women received the “laying on of hands” mentioned by St. Paul, or any special grace like that which is confered conferred on male deacons. Canon 19 of the Council of Nicaea (held in AD 325) seems to indicate that deaconesses were not ordained sacramentally.</ref>