Wyatt Graham

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Complementariansim

Review: Paul and Gender by Cynthia Westfall

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Westfall, Cynthia. Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016. Pp. xix +347. ISBN 9780801097942. $32.99 USD [Softcover]. Source for Book Cover.

Cynthia Westfall’s work Paul and Gender will likely become the standard evangelical work on Paul’s understanding of gender in the Bible. Westfall thoroughly exegetes the key biblical texts and avoids writing a book merely on women’s issues or on controversial biblical passages on women in the church.

Pastors and biblical students should read Paul and Gender to understand the contemporary discussion on the topic. Complementarian readers should especially invest time in reading Westfall because she presents a well-argued and biblical rationale for an egalitarian reading of Paul. Westfall’s monograph is not without its negatives, and Westfall’s arguments for an egalitarian Paul run into numerous problems. [Read more…] about Review: Paul and Gender by Cynthia Westfall

Jory Micah: If Matt Chandler Had a Degree, Sopposedly He’d Be an Egalitarian

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William Murphy. Source.
William Murphy. Source. CC BY-SA 2.0

Recently Jory Micah, a relatively well-known advocate of women pastors, argued that Matt Chandler teaches the most unjust evangelical doctrine (that women cannot be pastors) and that this is due to his lack of seminary education. She continued to criticize Chandler on Twitter and explain her position:

In Micah’s view, male pastors without seminary education like Chandler push complementarian teachings because they are insecure, thus perpetuating the injustice of sending women to seminary without the possibility of receiving a pastoral position.

And this scenario in which a woman goes to seminary without gaining a pastoral position is what makes complementarianism the most unjust doctrine of evangelicalism. Seminaries admit female students with the promise of a pastoral career, which does not materialize and female students are left with 80 grand in debt (see also: here):

I find Micah’s critique of Chandler and of evangelicalism’s supposedly most unjust doctrine wanting. In fact, I find her critique of Chandler to be unfounded, assuming that an educated person could only hold to the egalitarian position (women can be pastors). I also find her critique of evangelicalism to be parochial, something that can only proffered in America which is supposedly the centre of the evangelical faith. [Read more…] about Jory Micah: If Matt Chandler Had a Degree, Sopposedly He’d Be an Egalitarian

Review: Women in the Church

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Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Edited by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016. 

women_in_the_church

Women in the Church has gone through three editions (1995, 2005, 2016), showing that the issue of women in the church still excites intense debate. If anything, the discussion of how women serve in the church has increased in its intensity over the last twenty years. Two sides have emerged, each attempting to articulate how women serve among the congregation. One side affirms that women can function in the church as pastors (egalitarian), while the other side maintains that women cannot serve as pastors (complementarian).  1 Timothy 2:9 -15, the topic of this book, sits in the centre of the debate.

1 Timothy 2:12, for example, reads: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” Situating itself on the side of the complementarian position, the authors of this work undertake a massive effort to understand 1 Timothy 2:9–15 from nearly every angle.  [Read more…] about Review: Women in the Church

The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt II)

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The last two weeks have witnessed the break out of a civil war between complementarian Trinitarians. One side affirms the eternal functional subordination of the Son (EFS), while the other side affirms only the economic subordination of the son (classical or non-EFS). Put more simply, one side argues that the Son has eternally submitted to the Father, while the other side asserts that the Son only submits to the Father in history.

I chronicle the beginning of the civil war here, providing context for the rest of this article in which I detail the on-going debate during June 11th to June 21st. During this period, the war intensifies. On June 13th Lewis Ayres and Michel Barnes, reputable patristic scholars, weigh-in on the Trinitarian debate, assaulting the position of Ware and Grudem (EFS). The patristic hammer weakens the EFS side, but they counterattack on the 14th and 20th. [Read more…] about The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt II)

The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt I)

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Over the last two weeks, Christian blogs have been ablaze with debates about the Trinity. These debates have centered on how the Son relates to the Father. One side argues that how the Son submits to the Father in history is the same way God the Father relates to the God the Son in eternity. The other side argues that the way the Son submits to the Father in history is not the way God the Son relates to the Father in eternity.

The first position goes by at least three names: eternal function subordination (EFS), eternal relational subordination (ERS), or eternal relational authority-submission (ERAS). More specifically, it argues that the way the Son differs from the Father is by submitting, while the Father to the Son is by exerting authority. This relationship is how these two members of Trinity differ in eternity.

For EFS proponents, the submission of the Son does not indicate any inferiority between the two essentially. Actually, submission is an honorable role that does not require an ontological difference between the Father and Son. Further, this analogy between the Father and Son makes sense of human relations, relations between husband (authority) and wife (submission). 1 Corinthians 11:3 provides justification for this position: “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” [Read more…] about The Complementarian Trinity Debate: A Chronological Summary (Pt I)