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Eight Views of Women in the Church, Home, and Society within the Inerrancy Camp
Lately, an old post I wrote about different views of women in the church and home has been receiving some airtime and critique. The post was designed to show the spectrum of views held by those who self-identify as holding to the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture. Biola’s Octavio Esqueda writing for Christianity Today rightly observed about my outline that, “Not all egalitarians would identify as feminists, and not all complementarians would call themselves extreme traditionalists or patriarchal. Therefore, although not perfect, this outline provides a useful description of possibilities within the broad main positions.” It’s true—the list is not exhaustive or perfect; yet it does give us some categories and a summary of rationales. Based on…
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7 Views on the Role of Women w/in the Inerrancy Camp
I’m speaking at an event today at which I’m outlining seven different views on the role of women held by those who hold to the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture: 1. TRADITIONALISTS Believe women are more easily deceived than men, but also masters at deceiving. Women are ontologically inferior to men at created level. “Women are the devil’s gateway.” — Tertullian. Augustine, Aquinas, John Knox, etc. COMPLEMENTARIANS (spectrum of about 4 views) Women equal before God, but in some form of hierarchy w/ men/ husbands. Authority = the issue w/ several views on the public ministry of women: 2. Male “headship” – all men = “head” over all women.…
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FYI: A New Resource for Leaders
Today I want to make you aware of a new resource called "Rooted." It's a youtube channel from my former student, Haley Lee. She created it to help theologically minded women think and thrive through the partnership of spiritual and intellectual growth. I've posted an example here—a video in which she explains the difference between complementarians and egalitarians. She did another one recently about how to choose a Bible translation. You can see more and subscribe at youtube.com/haleyleerooted.
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“Egalitarian” and “Complementarian”: What’s the Main Difference?
When people talk to me about what the Bible says regarding the role of women in ministry, usually they’re asking if I think a woman may preach. But these folks don’t actually ask “Do you think women may preach?” They ask if I’m a complementarian or an egalitarian. Why? Because the complementarian and egalitarian camps appear to be the two opposing poles in the debate about whether the Bible restricts women from participating in some ministries. Especially public ones. I’m always careful how I answer, because different people draw the line between the two camps at very different places. So if I identify with one or the other label,…
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Comple-galitarian?
“Though women are free to use all of their giftedness in teaching and leading in the church, the role of elder seems biblically to be relegated to men.” This statement is the conclusion of a Dallas-area church that has long had a reputation for holding fast to the Word. It also represents what many other Bible-teaching churches have decided. And I think it’s worth discussing here not because of the conclusion they reached, but because of what it has revealed (again) about the dynamic of discussions within the church. We use the most astonishing rhetoric when we disagree! Look at the statement again. Interpretation: a woman may stand behind the…
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