There have been some very encouraging articles posted on websites around the world this week, which, in some way, promote the equality of men and women in Christian marriage and ministry. Here are a few of them.
Reclaiming Eve: Idelette McVicker’s story (suzanneburden.com)
“If anyone is in Christ, she is a new creation…Substituting a ‘he’ for a ‘she’, for the first time ever in my life, I felt like I was meant to be included in those words, not stand outside of it. Always reverent, hopefully obedient, but always excluded.”
This is the story of a 21 year old woman who went to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work in an orphanage and ended speaking about equality in Christ to thousands of women and men.
“For the next two months, I was invited to travel with the President of the Covenant Denomination in the Congo. I spoke to groups of 30 to 1,000 women, men, and pastors on the biblical basis for equality and the value and need for education for women.”
This is a great read with lovely photos.
“Something can be wonderful simply because it’s unremarkable. Early in the book of Judges we read that “Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies for as long as the judge lived” (2:18, NIV). One of the first judges in Israel was Deborah, who was so appreciated for her gifts of leadership that she held court under a palm tree named for her (Judges 4:4-5). Why is this so delightfully unremarkable? Because Deborah’s gender is never mentioned.”
Complementarians Shifting Views by Scot McKnight (Jesus Creed)
In this post Scot McKnight provides a brief summary of Jamin Hübner’s article called “The Evolution of Complementarian Exegesis.” Hübner’s full article, which was recently published in Priscilla Papers, shows that some prominent complementarian scholars have changed their minds on how to interpret key texts such as 1 Timothy 2:12.
Scot quotes Jamin: “One obvious implication is that complementarians should be careful in proclaiming to possess a sure foundation that evidently does not exist. As long as interpretations keep changing in substantial ways, interpreters ought to exercise all the more caution about wielding such interpretations to prohibit women from proclaiming the gospel to men.”
Slanderous Accusations Against Egalitarians by Scot McKnight (Jesus Creed)
Scot McKnight also wrote a piece about Mimi Haddad’s article in the most recent Priscilla Papers.
“…complementarians have politically, rhetorically and in some ways successfully slandered egalitarians by direct accusation or insinuation that they are liberals. This is slander in many cases just as it is slanderous in many cases to suggest that complementarians are authoritarian, violent and misogynist.”
“Submission is a fraught mixed message for the church” by Julia Baird (Sydney Morning Herald)
“A growing number of Australian theologians are expressing deep concern about the consequences of what is known as the doctrine of headship.”
Women Biblical Scholars is a new website which promotes the work and profile of…well…women biblical scholars. New articles are posted regularly, some of which are interviews with scholars such as Karen Jobes and Jeannine Brown. Take a look.
What interesting posts that support biblical equality have you seen this week?
*Note: Linking to these posts is not a CBE endorsement of previous or future written work or statements made by the authors.
