Role of Women in the Church, Readings #3
Changing One’s Views
Last month, I included a link to a brief YouTube video by Michael Bird under the subheading my "Changing One’s Views.”[1] He moved from a Complementarian approach to the role of women in the church to an Egalitarian view (see my brief explanation of these terms in my March 20, 2024, email).
[1] Here’s last’ month's link to Bird’s video, "QandA on How I Became Egalitarian”. Here’s a link to his Curriculum Vitae (a.k.a. resume) and his Wikipedia page. He has been hosted on The Table Podcast by Darrell Bock, director of Cultural Engagement at The Hendricks Center, Dallas Theological Seminary. Bird, though Australian and Anglican, holds to a high view of Scripture, salvation by grace alone, etc.
Attached is a briefer description of a different conservative seminary professor who changed his position like Bird did, Philip B. Payne.[2]
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Dan Hall asked me for an example of anyone who has changed their perspective in the opposite direction, from egalitarian to complementation. Rosaria Butterfield is one such example. Her conversion to Christ from radical feminism and her identity in the LGBT+ community is quite an astonishing story.[3]
[3] For an 20+ minute interview with Butterfield about her views on same-sex attraction and identity, the Christian life in general, and the role of the Bible, see this Desiring God podcast from 2013
Attached here are some of her comments, however briefly stated, of how she changed her view of the role of women in the church.
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Butterfield explains further her views on the role of women in the church in a YouTube interview with Joel Webbon, who aligns himself with patriarchy, "Feminism Thrives Most In One Place: The Church.” (Comments beginning at c. 25:23 are most relevant to the topic of women in the church).
Statements on the Two Major Positions
"The Danvers Statement is a statement of the complementarian Christian view of gender roles. It is not the product of any particular Christian denomination, but has been cited by the Southwestern Baptist Seminary, the Presbyterian Church in America, and the International Council for Gender Studies. It was first published by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) in Wheaton, Illinois in November 1988. Work on the statement began with "several evangelical leaders" at a CBMW meeting in Danvers, Massachusetts in December 1987. In 1989, a paid advertisement center-spread appeared in the January 13 issue of Christianity Today accompanied with the Danvers Statement.” (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danvers_Statement, accessed 4/27/24).
The Nashville Statement is also a product of the CBMW. It deals exclusively with sexuality and sexual attraction and immorality, as well as transgenderism.
Big Picture of Discussion
Much of the discussion of the role of women in the church by complementarianism focuses on I Timothy 2, especially vv. 9-15. For example, a major text on the theological grounds for complementarianism (Kostenberger & Schreiner’s Women in the Church, 2016) runs 400+ pages, focusing almost exclusively on this passage.
Of course, the role of women in Scriptures extends beyond Paul’s letter to Timothy, as both complementarianism and egalitarians acknowledge. Yet, for the complementarianism, I Timothy 2 seems to be the controlling passage, the passage through which all other passages should be read. (I Col 11 also plays a role, but to a lesser extent.)
Before we take a deep dive into I Timothy 2, it will be helpful to gain a big picture of women in the Bible. To that end, I recommend reading this article by N. T. Wright.[4]
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You can listen to his presentation on these platforms:
[4] Wright is not typically on the reading list of most church goers, though most pastors have at least heard about him. You can read more about Wright on Wikipedia, and note particularly the section entitled "Reviews of Wright's scholarly work.” Also, note a query and answer in ChatGPT regarding Wright’s acceptance among conservative Evangelicals.
Two recent books were published last year from conservative Evangelicals who take this approach on a popular level, if you wish to read further along these lines.
Gupta, Nijay. Tell Her Story. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023.
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Payne, Philip B. The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023.
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Finally, in the interest of gaining a big picture of the discussion on the role of women in the church, a few years ago Zondervan Press published a series of 3 books of authors on their views. Here is a brief review of each of these books, written by Kathy Keller (wife of the late Tim Keller), Michael Bird, and John Dickson. The reviewer at The Gospel Coalition concludes, "Bird and Dickson encourage us to consider their proposals by coming back to Scripture, and for that I’m thankful. However, I don’t find their arguments compelling, and their conclusions depend too much on speculation to convince us to deviate from the plain meaning of the biblical text."
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