I stood with a coworker, staffing a booth at a convention of evangelical scholars. A booth advocating the shared leadership of men and women is not the most popular at this event, so most people just smile politely as they pass by. When a middle-aged man with an impressive mustache meandered over to our table, a glance at his nametag revealed an unfamiliar name, but I recognized the name of his predominantly complementarian school. I prepared to graciously explain our mission and presence at the conference.
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Essential to an academic journal is a group of scholars who ably advise the editor. These four women and four men have agreed to comprise the Priscilla Papers Peer Review Team. They deserve our gratitude for sharing their expertise and thereby advancing the mission of CBE.
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I sat uncomfortably rehearsing how I’d ask the question that had to be asked. I knew it would initiate a painful conversation, but we couldn’t ignore it forever.
I was not wrong. It became clear in that meeting that yes, our pastoral candidate was a staunch complementarian. Our church, with its egalitarian tradition, governing documents, and leadership structure, was poised to hire a pastor firmly opposed to the leadership of women.
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My perhaps-naïve assumption is that the editor’s introduction is the least-read part of any journal. As a result, I should briefly reiterate my first introduction from the autumn 2014 issue—in case you missed it. My name is Jeff Miller. My wife Dana and I live, work, and minister in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. I have become increasingly involved with CBE since attending their 2007 conference in Bangalore, India. My predecessor Bill Spencer and his editorial team of Aída Besançon Spencer and Deb Beatty Mel deserve sincere thanks for their decade of exemplary service. “Tertius” at the top of this page refers to Romans 16:22, where Paul’s amanuensis says, “I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord” (NIV). I feel an affinity with Tertius; the work that associate editor Theresa Garbe and I do for Priscilla Papers is not terribly unlike the work Tertius did for Paul.
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The Christmas season is upon us, and this year I’m grateful that Mutuality has guided my thoughts to an unusual Christmas text: Genesis 1–3, the creation account. This is, after all, where everything begins—history, life, and even Christmas.
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Near the end of Paul’s letter to the Christians of Rome, we gain a rare glimpse of a behind-the-scenes participant in Paul’s letter-writing ministry. Romans 16:22 says, “I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord” (NRSV). Tertius was Paul’s amanuensis, the person who penned the letter which Paul spoke aloud. His job was to prepare Paul’s words to be read and heard.
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“Your epidermis is showing!” my friends gasped, struggling to keep straight faces. Noticing the mischief in their eyes, I rolled my own with feigned confidence and hoped nothing embarrassing was actually happening. Still, I felt uneasy until I learned that “epidermis” was just a fancy word for skin. Their teasing capitalized on the distress we feel when we learn that something we thought was hidden (or didn’t know existed) is on public display.
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Several months ago, my wife and I attended an event where a panel of experts spoke about sex trafficking prevention. When asked what we, as regular people, can do to prevent sex trafficking, a Minneapolis police officer who works with both victims and perpetrators on a daily basis had only one response: “We need to reinvent what it means to be a man in our society.”
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Few things bring me more joy than seeing the gospel incarnated in the different cultures of our world. Each one has the potential to reveal something of the nature of God and his love. I was reminded of this recently when I read two accounts about Bible translation in Cameroon, both distributed by Bob Creson, the president of Wycliffe USA.
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Reporting a conversation he had with Martin Luther between April 7 and May 1, 1532, John Schlaginhaufen quoted the great reformer as contending:
Christ was an adulterer for the first time with the woman at the well, for it was said, “Nobody knows what he’s doing with her” (John 4:27). Again with Magdalene, and still again with the adulterous woman in John 8, whom he let off so easily.
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