“We are to concentrate on the inner characteristics of a person, not on his or her gender.” So states author Gretchen Gaebelein Hull, a biblical feminist whose new book, Equal To Serve, comes to grips with the controversial social issues of today. What are the roles of women and men in marriage, parenthood, the workplace? They are to be assumed with complete freedom and shared responsibility, answers Hull.
Equal To Serve takes a close look at the women of the Bible and the men they lived and served with. The author takes issue with the many traditions that Christians seem to be comfortable with today. She garners strong scriptural evidence that with truly Christ-like attitudes, male and female can serve God completely and sacrificially, each using their God-given talents in whatever role he or she feels led to follow.
The author points out that biblical feminists such as herself believe that Scripture affirms the worth and value of male and female equally, Hull favors partnership, not competition; mutual submission, not domination; and a priesthood of all believers, not a male hierarchy.
The author states, “To those who keep trying to tell me that there exists a peculiarly female role that all women must play, I simply point to God’s Word as my authority in the matter. Miriam, Deborah, Abigail, Huldah, Priscilla, Phoebe-the list could go on. These women approved by God, were indeed the exceptions who prove that all believers should have equal opportunity to serve Him as He calls… God is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Can His church be less?”
Gretchen Gaebelein Hull, daughter of the noted theologian Frank Gaebelein, is married to an attorney and the mother of three children. A Sunday School teacher and elder in her local church, she has been actively involved with the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy.
Equal To Serve is a finalist for the 1988 God Medallion Book Award, Theology and Doctrine Category, sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. The other finalists in this category are authored by R.C. Sproul, Tony Campolo, John Stott, and Billy Graham.
