Women were planting and leading churches right alongside Paul and Timothy. No matter the obstacles, they haven’t stopped.
KEEP READING
Not many people realize that the Salvation Army is a denomination as well as a charity. From its small start, the Salvation Army has grown to a membership of 1.7 million people and counting. It could be called one of history’s most successful egalitarian church plants. Church planters and leaders would be wise to learn from its example.
KEEP READING
How easily we swallow the myth that “boys don’t cry,” forgetting that male saints, and Jesus himself, often failed to conform to the gender stereotypes of their (or our) day.
KEEP READING
While some Christians rationalize sexism and patriarchy by appealing to the “plain reading” of Scripture, others instinctively question whether what they see on the pages of Scripture is a faithful and consistent translation of the original text. At stake is something much more costly than a statue; we risk living our lives based on distortions of Scripture, which, in turn, justify a Christianity centered not on Christ but on male rule.
KEEP READING
Two Bible translations from the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were the solo efforts of women scholars. Let me introduce you to Julia Evelina Smith (1792–1886) and Helen Barrett Montgomery (1861–1934).
KEEP READING.jpg)
Today, the Church persecutes some Christians simply for believing God equally gifts men and women. These persecuted Christians believe so earnestly in the truth of biblical equality that they are willing to stand firm and accept loss rather than turn their backs on that belief.
KEEP READING
A believing coworker recently commented on her intellectual agreement with biblical equality. But she went on to explain that she would not personally want a woman as pastor, simply because that is not what she is accustomed to seeing.
KEEP READING
What the example of Deborah reveals about gender authority: As women have gained increased influence in society, and as Bible scholars offer a consistent egalitarian interpretation of Scripture, gender traditionalists have had to work harder and more creatively to justify the subordination of women within the church and family—even to themselves.
KEEP READING
How ancient Greek philosophy has influenced the church’s teaching on gender
KEEP READING