25 Tough Question About Women And The Church

Although women in the United States have civil freedoms, equal rights in the workplace, and the full protection of law, many church leaders continue to quench the fire that burns in our sisters. We deny them equal rights to participate in the life of the church, and we slam the door on opportunities for leadership. In Women and the Church Grady takes these attitudes to task, providing answers from God’s Word that will set women free.

Although women in the United States have civil freedoms, equal rights in the workplace, and the full protection of law, many church leaders continue to quench the fire that burns in our sisters. We deny them equal rights to participate in the life of the church, and we slam the door on opportunities for leadership. In Women and the Church Grady takes these attitudes to task, providing answers from God's Word that will set women free.

From Christian Piatt: "When I was a teenager, my youth minister threw a bible at my head for asking questions." Too often, for various reasons, people don't have the opportunity to ask the hard questions they have about faith, religion, salvation and the bible. And when questions are left unanswered in communities of faith, people either seek answers elsewhere or lose interest all together. The purpose of the series is to collect the most compelling and challenging questions from various theological areas and pose them to a panel of "experts" who are challenged with responding in two hundred words or less in plain English. This volume addresses challenging or controversial questions about scripture collected from people on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networking media. Respondents include theology professors, clergy, lay leaders, liberals, conservatives and voices representing a spectrum of views. The idea behind the books is not so much to provide definitive answers as it is to stimulate thought, reflection and discussion. By offering multiple perspectives, readers have the opportunity to arrive at their own questions. Better, they come to understand that questioning faith is not taboo, but rather that it can be at the foundation of a strong and growing faith. The directive given to each respondent guided them to be concise and to speak in plan language, but also not to rely exclusively on "the Bible says it" justifications, or to wax abstract or overly intellectual. Instead, they write from personal experience as much as possible, and provide real-life contexts that will allow the average seeker or churchgoer to apply such ideas to their daily lives.

For many years I have had an interest in the equality of women and men, particularly in the church, where it has been woefully lacking for the most part. More recently Fundamentalist theologians have become increasingly blatant in asserting that the Bible teaches subordination of women to men both inside and outside the church. I have argued that this idea results from an irresponsible proof-texting from the Bible. I am convinced that, when taken as a whole, looking at all passages referring to women, the Bible supports the complete equality of women with men. I have undertaken to demonstrate this fact by looking carefully at the stories of women in the Bible, both named and unnamed, who were not submissive to men and who refused to settle for the role which their society attempted to assign them. I have taken these passages from the Bible and interpreted them within the context into which they are placed, to the degree that this can be determined. My goal was to find every story in the Bible in which a woman stepped out of her societal role and did something only men were supposed to do. I leave to the reader to decide whether or not I have succeeded.

1 Timothy is one of the more controversial documents in the New Testament. For years, critical scholars have rejected Pauline authorship, highlighted the apparent misogynistic quality of the text, and argued against any coherence in the letter. Jeon takes a fresh look at the letter, incorporating many recent advancements in NT scholarship. In detail he demonstrates the macro- and micro- chiastic arrangement of the entire letter and explains how the presumed first-century audience would have heard and responded to an oral performance of the letter. In doing so, Jeon offers a fresh challenge to more popular ways of (mis)understanding the letter and points a way forward for appropriating the letter both in academia and in the church.

Charisma Editor Delivers Honest Critique of the Renewal Movement

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Female leadership has been a topic of debate for centuries between theologians and laity, Christians and non-Christians, as well as men and women. This study will present a theological analysis of the debate concerning male and female roles in leadership positions and ministry. An analysis of the role of the female pastor’s spouse, the effects of sexism in religion, and how it has influenced the ecclesiology of the church will be examined as well. Reflections of case studies employing biblical narratives of couples in the Bible will be used to substantiate the roles of women leaders and their spouses. Each scenario identifies the particular role of the husband and the wife, specifically when the wife is the spiritual leader. Read with anticipation the outcome of biblical interpretation of the roles of the female leader and their spouses.