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Biblical Womanhood, Part 2
Several weeks ago, I wrote about biblical womanhood. Afterward a theologian posed some good questions for clarification. So I’m using that conversation as a Q/A here to help further explain what it means to be a woman as God designed her. His statements are bold; my explanations follow: You say of woman that, “She is an image-bearer,” but then argue that because “she” is an image-bearer the female bears that image completely in and of herself. The underlying assumption is that an individual human being, whether male or female, carries the whole divine image. Woman is indeed an image bearer, completely in and of herself. But that does not mean…
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Married and Single: A United Church
This week I'm happy to feature guest columnist Angela Cirocco, a full-time seminary student who works as the nurse manager at Southwest Pregnancy Center in Duncanville, Texas. The men and women of Katie’s small group met separately most weeks. As the only single person in a group of couples, she felt less awkward with this arrangement. But Sarah, the group leader, announced that the next week they would all meet together. Because two new couples were joining, Sarah explained, “We don’t want them to walk in alone to the gender-separate groups. That may make them uncomfortable.” Katie sank low in her chair. She thought, why don’t you notice that I…
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How Do You Feel about Valentine’s Day?
Quick! What do you get when you mix history, myth, marketing, romance, and angst? Yes, indeed—Saint Valentine’s Day.
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Women “Going Solo” Sexually
Lots of Christian leaders have sought in vain to find masturbation mentioned in the Bible. It’s just not there, so perhaps we’re going overboard when we categorize it up there with murder. When they can’t find anything on the topic, some folks point out what they consider the next best thing—mention of “unused seed.” And they take readers to the story of Onan, found in Genesis 38:6–10. Onan’s story is part of the faith-legacy of Tamar, one of the faithful women in the genealogy of Jesus. Tamar’s husband was evil, so God struck him dead. And Old Testament levirate law said that when an Israelite man died childless, his brother…