-
Can a Wife Ever be a Spiritual Covering?
Pastor John Gray was recently interviewed on Sister Circle Live concerning hardships in his marriage and how his wife was the one to see him through. His comments have since gone viral and have garnered the following questions: Is the man always a spiritual covering for his wife? What happens when he is not? Can a woman biblically act as a covering for her husband? People have called into question his sense of biblical manhood, the role of a husband and the church's view of the archetypical "Strong Women-" the good wife, that patiently endures the hardships of her husband while from a posture of prayer. Grey is quoted…
-
Resources for Revisiting the Question of Women in Public Ministry
For more than a decade, I’ve taught a course on gender in the church. And especially since #MeToo and #ChurchToo combined with Christian leaders saying women have to endure abuse to be biblical and also that women shouldn't teach in seminaries, I’m seeing a shift in attitudes. Some of the more moderate folks are saying, "Stop already. That misrepresents us." I'm hearing pastors get up and say, "I was wrong" in slut-shaming Bathsheba. I've been told by radio hosts, "If I had talked with you a year ago about this, I would not have heard you, but now. . . ." Something has changed. I've been inundated by requests from…
-
Do Males “Image” God More Than Females?
Do male humans “image” God more than female humans image God? Both male and female were created in the image of God. Recall Genesis 1: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make adam in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule . . . God created adam in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (vv. 26–27). The image of God is male and female. One sex does not “image” God more than the other. And, in fact, male and female are interdependent. I once had a student who wept with joy when she learned this. She was…
