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Must a Wife Stand, Wear, and Do What Her Husband Tells Her to Do?
Where should we go on date night? What extracurricular activities should our child participate in? Which toilet paper brand is preferable? Who will pay the bills? Week in and week out, husbands and wives must make many decisions. When they disagree, who has the final say? In a recent sermon, megachurch pastor Josh Howerton instructed the women in his church that on a bride’s wedding night, she should “stand where he [husband] tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do.” What does the Bible say about the final say in marriage?
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Unpacking the Spectrum of Views on Women and Church Leadership
Authoritarian, Libertarian, the Left, the Right…political polling data of United States voters reflects a broad spectrum of beliefs about organizational leadership and governing policies. Similarly, but in a different context, Christians hold a spectrum of beliefs on what the Bible teaches about women and their pastoral leadership.
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3 Reasons Why Believers Need the Guidance of Bible Scholars
In an authentic German pub a few years ago, I met John. We were fellow passengers traveling across Germany on a riverboat cruise. Over schnitzel and sauerkraut, I learned that John, a retired businessman, was on a quest to find the source of his prosperous life. He told me that, unlike others he knew, he had enjoyed incredible financial success, good health, and had a family he loved and who loved him. Listening to his story, I realized that John and I were having a divine appointment. I could almost hear his heart crying out to know the Truth. In our ensuing conversation, I shared a bit about the Way…
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Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a Clear, or Obscure, Text?
Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a clear, or obscure, text? The scripture says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet.” Before addressing the “clear or obscure?” question, it’s interesting that the one Bible verse that speaks of preventing a woman from teaching is 1 Timothy 2:12. Consequently, the overarching question for interpreters must be, “What is the divine meaning of 1 Timothy 2:12 in the context of the church?
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Shopping for a Shepherd: A Female Shepherd Like Rachel
I noticed the aroma of spiced apples scenting the air as I stepped into the shop. My eyes lighted on the carved wooden figures grouped into Nativity sets and nestled on long shelves lining the walls. Our group of fourteen had spent the morning touring biblical sites in Jerusalem, followed by lunch and a visit to the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem, part of the Palestinian-administered area of Israel. To finish the day, we were driven nearby for a requisite gift shop stop. Sipping complimentary apple cider, my husband Lindsey and I began browsing the wares. We had purchased an olive wood nativity set during our first trip…
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A Historical Review: Black Women Who Won the Battle to Preach
Any review of women’s religious history is incomplete “without an adequate grasp of the groundbreaking work” of Black preaching women.[1] Historian Bettye Collier-Thomas in her book Daughters of Thunder: Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons, 1950–1979, explains that during the nineteenth century and the twentieth century, “in most black religious traditions, women won the battle to preach.”[2]
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Refuting the Lie: Woman is Defective in Her Nature
I've lost count of how many times I've wanted to climb the highest summit and roar like a lion. For too long, I believed the lie, that by God's design women are less valuable than men.
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I Believed the Lie
Not many years ago, I realized I’d internalized a lie. A lie that wreaks havoc. One that many others have believed too. I believed the lie that the Divine One values his sons more highly than his daughters—that, by design, woman is inferior to man. The Lie of Women’s Inferiority In a human sense, this lie plays out by characterizing men as deserving of life’s focus and spotlight, with women functioning as accessories. In a reverse example, Ken tells Barbie in the movie Barbie, “I don’t know who I am without you… There’s no just Ken. That’s why I was created. I only exist within the warmth of your gaze.”…
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Historic Siblings Who Partnered in Ministry
During my flight to Italy for a seminary summer course, I looked again at a photocopy of an ancient mosaic of four women. In my pre-course research on the history of women in ministry, I happened upon this photograph of a ninth-century mosaic adorning a wall of an ancient basilica (church). While in Rome, I hoped to find the Basilica of Santa Prassede and to learn these women’s stories, two of whom were siblings who partnered in ministry. A God-Wink One steamy afternoon while the rest of our group toured the Colosseum in Rome, my professor Sandra Glahn joined me to search for the Basilica of Santa Prassede. Though Rome’s…