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God’s Call
In the summer and winter of 1944, the sovereign God transformed my life from temporal and purposeless to eternal and purposeful. Here’s how He did it. During that time my name was Douglas Rice, I had no home, no father not much of a mother, and she intended to put me into a religious boys’ home when I turned five late in 1944. I have no idea where I had been for the first four plus years of my life, but that winter I and my half-brother, Donald, lived with Anna Keeler, known to us as Mother Keeler, a British immigrant and a member of the Salvation Army. Mother…
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Haddon Robinson 1931-2017
In 1960, during my senior year of college when I was accepted by Dallas Seminary, I saw a picture of Haddon Robinson and thought, “What can a guy that young teach me about preaching?’ He looked the same age as some of my classmates, and all the professors I ever had looked like professors, like in their forties and fifties. During my first two years in seminary Dr. Robinson earned his PhD from the University of Illinois, so I did not have any courses from him until my third year when I gave my first sermon to him. I had taken preaching courses already, preached several times, usually did well,…
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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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“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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New Book: For Women Preaching to Women
Dr. Jackie Roese has been teaching women for a long time. And doing it well. Really well. The woman can preach. She’s even trained lots of others to do the same. And she has a key concern: those women who are most committed to the biblical text are the least likely to receive formal training in homiletics. The few among us who actually do get formal training end up reading books by men that speak to a male audience and include all-male examples. He, he, he. Not funny. So She Can Teach (Wipf & Stock, 2013) is by a woman for women, and it is designed to capitalize on women’s unique perspectives.…
