APRIL 28TH, 1874

APRIL 28TH, 1874

^[p. 264] Dear Miss Prior, Of course every Christian is a servant of God and of Christ. But service in every house is different, one may be a butler or a scullion boy. There is moral authority in a gift. Official authority is another thing. If I have the word in power, I shall have authority in the consciences of those to whom it is addressed. The word shews distinctly the relationship in which we stand to this moral authority: 1 Corinthians 16: 15, 16; 1 Thessalonians 5: 12, 13; Hebrews 13, where “they that have the rule” is the same word as “chief men” in Acts 15: 22. 1 Corinthians 11: 5 applies to no meeting of sisters. It might be in their father’s house, without any formal meeting at all, as Philip’s four daughters. It refers to inspiration, not to teaching. A woman is not suffered to teach.