RALEIGH, N.C. --- Within the nation's largest Protestant denomination, a woman may not lead a church or a home, but prominent Southern Baptists see nothing wrong with Sarah Palin's serving as vice president -- or perhaps even as commander-in-chief.

GOP presidential nominee John McCain's selection of the Alaska governor as his running mate -- the first woman on the party's ticket in history -- has thrilled conservative Christians. It also has led Southern Baptist congregations and seminary students to confront their beliefs about the role of women in leadership.

Interpreted from Scripture, the teachings on women are held close in thousands of Southern Baptist Convention churches. Among them: "The office of pastor is limited to men," and a wife should "submit herself graciously" to her husband.

Still, many in the denomination say the nation's second-highest leadership post is an apple to the pulpit's orange. Mrs. Palin's potential work in a McCain administration -- or even as president in the event of Mr. McCain's death -- would be separate from her family life with her husband, Todd, and their children.

"There's no disconnect or inconsistency whatsoever," said Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. "We don't go beyond where the New Testament goes. Public office is neither a church nor a marriage."

It's a question that's more than theological. The Southern Baptist Convention, with 42,000 churches and 16 million members, is reliably Republican. President Bush has addressed the denomination's annual meeting several times. During the 2004 race, the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign held a reception for Southern Baptist pastors.

The denomination is guided by The Baptist Faith and Message, a set of beliefs that includes restrictions on the roles of women. No Baptist is required to follow the statement, but it is a central theological document for Southern Baptists, their seminaries and clergy members.

A prohibition on pastoral leadership by women, affirmed within the past several years, is based on 1 Timothy 2:12, in which the apostle Paul says, "I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man." Regarding family life, Southern Baptists cite Ephesians 5:22: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord."

The Rev. Land said the Southern Baptists' position allows for a wife to work outside the home, so long as her husband agrees -- and Mr. Palin has long backed his wife's career in public service.

The Rev. Land's view is far from universal in the denomination, however. Many Southern Baptists believe women and mothers should stay home.

A year ago, the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Fort Worth, Texas, introduced an academic program in homemaking, in only women are taught how to cook and sew.

In a 2004 sermon, the Rev. Daniel L. Akin, the president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Wake Forest, N.C., cited the biblical book of Titus to argue that one of God's assignments to young women is to "be a homemaker."

"She is not lazy or a busybody, nor is she distracted by outside pursuits and responsibilities that eat up her precious time and attention," the Rev. Akin said. "This woman is not seduced by the sirens of modernity who tell her she is wasting her time and talent as a homemaker ... ."

In a recent interview, however, the Rev. Akin said he supports Mrs. Palin's candidacy, arguing that although the Bible speaks about the role of women in church and the home, it speaks nothing about women in government. Still, he said he would sound warnings to a wife and mother of five children who wanted to take on such a difficult job.

"Would that then disqualify her? No," the Rev. Akin said. "Do I think it's a big challenge for her husband and for she and their family? Absolutely."

Bill Leonard, a Baptist historian and dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, called the acceptance by Southern Baptist leaders of a woman in high-level government leadership "something of a retraction of their old view."

"The SBC is so rooted now in the Republican Party that their theological judgment on this becomes an issue," said Dr. Leonard, a critic of the Southern Baptists' conservative leadership.

In the Southern Baptist Convention, hundreds of congregations have distanced themselves from the denomination in recent years, partly over its views on women.

The Rev. Carolyn Hale Cubbedge, of First Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga., said the convention fails to consider the New Testament's entire story, including the social context of the patriarchal society when it was written.

"I shed a lot of tears over this," said the Rev. Cubbedge, whose church is now part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. "I felt like this convention that had nurtured me had really abandoned me. That was painful."