Bourgeois Babes Bossy Wives And Bobby Haircuts

Taking a stand over the gender-issue divide Author and New Testament scholar Michael Bird was formerly in favor of distinct gender roles in ministry, a viewpoint commonly called “complementarianism.” But inconsistencies in practice and careful biblical study convinced him to rethink his position. Originally published as a short ebook, Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts offers an engaging, incisive perspective on biblical gender equality and the egalitarian view—a preference for allowing women to hold teaching and leadership positions in ministry. While Bird is now egalitarian, he nevertheless strikes a respectful tone toward those in his previous camp, seeking to craft a perspective that both values women and upholds biblical differences between the sexes. Humorous and hard-hitting, Bird will challenge readers on both sides of the gender-issue divide.

Women have played significant roles in ministry and leadership throughout the history of the church and the pages of the Bible. Today, women make up more than half the church, and do much of the mission, ministry, and discipleship in the life of the church. But women have often been held back from ministry roles. Graham Joseph Hill outlines the biblical vision for women in ministry and leadership. He offers a biblical and passionate call for women to be released to teach, to lead, to preach, to serve, to pastor, and to minister in every area of the church. The Bible paints a radical vision of women, empowered and emboldened for full ministry participation in Christ’s church. The biblical vision for women and for their role as teachers, witnesses, disciplers, and leaders transforms not only personal lives, but also the church and the world. This book offers a biblical case for women teaching and leading in the church. Hill then explores practical ways that we can empower and release more female leaders in the church, and ways that we can amplify the voices and honor the gifts of women in the way Jesus intended. Together women and men can revitalize the church and renew the world.

This book dismantles every mistruth that you've heard about the role of women in the Bible, her place in the church, and the patriarchal lie of so-called “biblical manhood and womanhood.” In its place, Aimee Byrd details a truly biblical vision of women as equal partners in Christ's church and kingdom. The church is the school of Christ, commissioned to discipleship. The responsibility of every believer—men and women together—is being active and equal participants in and witnesses to the faith. And yet many women are trying to figure out what their place is in the church, fighting to have their voices heard and filled with questions: Do men and women benefit equally from God's word? Are we equally responsible in sharpening one another in the faith and passing it down to the next generation? Do we really need men's Bibles and women's Bibles, or can the one Holy Bible guide us all? The answers lie neither with radical feminists, who claim that the Bible is hopelessly patriarchal, nor with the defenders of “biblical manhood,” whose understanding of Scripture is captive to the culture they claim to distance themselves from. Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood presents a more biblical account of gender, marriage, and ministry. It explores the feminine voice in Scripture as synergistic with the dominant male voice. It fortifies churches in a biblical understanding of brotherhood and sisterhood in God's household and the necessity of learning from one another in studying God's word. Until both men and women grow in their understanding of their relationship to Scripture, there will continue to be tension between the sexes in the church. Church leaders can be engaged in thoughtful critique of the biblical manhood and womanhood movement, the effects it has on their congregation, and the homage it ironically pays to the culture of individualism that works against church, family, and a Christ-like vision of community.

This is, perhaps, the most multifaceted collection of essays Zondervan has ever published. A fitting Festschrift to Stan Gundry, a man known by many people for many things, but never for being one-dimensional. As a pastor, scholar, publisher, mentor, and trusted friend, Stan has played diverse roles and worn numerous hats in his professional tenure. Contributors from a variety of disciplines put a Gundry spin on a topic of their expertise and choosing--whether it's an evangelical-historical look at recent developments in their particular discipline or reflections on a topic at the center of Stan's interests. The result is this Festschrift--as multilayered, engaging, and authentic as the man it honors. Contributors and essays include the following: Craig L. Blomberg - "Does the Quest for the Historical Jesus Still Hold Any Promise?" Millard J. Erickson - "Eighty Years of American Evangelical Theology" Gordon D. Fee - "On Women Remaining Silent in the Churches: A Text-Critical Approach to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35" Robert A. Fryling - "A Key to a Publishing Friendship" Robert H. Gundry - "A Brotherly Tribute" Carolyn Custis James and Frank A. James III - "The Blessed Alliance: Already But Not Yet" Karen H. Jobes - "'It Is Written': The Septuagint and Evangelical Doctrine of Scripture" Tremper Longman III - "'What Was Said in All the Scriptures concerning Himself' (Luke 24:27): Reading the Old Testament as a Christian" Richard J. Mouw - "Faithfulness in a 'Counterpoint' World: The Role of Theological Education" Ruth A. Tucker - "Eve, Jezebel, and the Woman at the Well: Biblical Women Hijacked in the Fight against Equality" John H. Walton - "The Tower of Babel and the Covenant: Rhetorical Strategy in Genesis Based on Theological and Comparative Analysis" John D. Woodbridge - "The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy" Christopher J. H. Wright - "The Missional Nature and the Role of Theological Education"

Though many today accuse Christianity of being a white, imperialistic religion, it is actually the source for cherished Western ideals of racial and gender equality. In More Than a White Man's Religion, author and speaker Abdu Murray shares stories from the Bible and his own experiences as a global apologist, a member of an ethnic minority, a son of immigrants, and a former Muslim to show that the gospel message provides dignity and liberty to non-whites and women. More Than a White Man's Religion reveals: The ethnically diverse roots of biblical stories and passages that inspired some of the greatest social reforms in history How challenging and sometimes confusing Bible passages and stories can be best understood to champion equality for ethnically diverse people and women Ways believers can bring real and lasting change to our culture's pervasive racial, ethnic, and gender equality issues by following Jesus' and his followers' examples Without overlooking the places where Christianity has failed to live up to its own ideals, Murray challenges the myth that Christianity is an oppressive, Western religion and shows believers how to better fulfill their God-given mandate to uphold the dignity of every human being. Tackling head-on one of the most serious challenges to the Christian faith in our multicultural age, More Than a White Man's Religion demonstrates how the gospel can inspire positive change for modern culture.

Equipping a New Generation to Live Out God’s Design This thorough study of the Bible’s teaching on men and women aims to help a new generation of Christians live for Christ in today’s world. Moving beyond other treatments that primarily focus on select passages, this winsome volume traces Scripture’s overarching pattern related to male-female relationships in both the Old and New Testaments. Those interested in careful discussion rather than caustic debate will discover that God’s design is not confining or discriminatory but beautiful, wise, liberating, and good.

Encountering theology for the first time is exciting, but it can also be daunting. Some struggle to connect with doctrinal discussion they perceive to be abstract or abstruse. Others may find the scope of theology, and the connections between different theological issues, dizzying. In order to address these difficulties and keep the initial excitement alive, A New Introduction to Theology offers a range of accessible, practical, experiential and interactive encounters with the major elements of academic Christian theology. The guiding motif of this book is the claim that theology is full-bodied thought. The phrase 'full-bodied' shows both the richness of the experience of theology and its nature as a thoroughly embodied encounter with ways of knowing God and God's ways with the world. This motif allows the authors to bring together topics ranging from theology through the arts, sexuality and the body and the nature of the church's everyday life, to mystical theology, spirituality, political action and ecology. Working imaginatively with the five senses and the notions of loving and resting, each chapter provides a range of activities, guided discussions and reflections on key theological texts, authors and issues. This is a unique introduction to the key innovative and interdisciplinary elements from contemporary theology, ideal for individual reflection, classroom work, or flexible and distributed learning.

In today’s world, Christian leaders are being exposed to the public through sex scandals or abuse, gender wars fill social media feeds, and religious institutions are viewed with distrust, disgust, and disenchantment. Thankfully, everlasting hope and the answers we seek are always found within a relationship with Jesus Christ. Shane Anderson relies on his experience as a lay-theologian to explore and connect biblical concepts to reveal how Jesus Christ is at the center of human relationships and how the first promise of God in Genesis 2:18—that God will make for man a suitable helper—is fulfilled in Christ. While offering believers a fresh understanding of the transformative power of the Spirit of truth, Anderson reframes the ancient story of man and woman in the garden to rediscover the mystery of God’s radiant love, embrace the timeless truths clearly laid out in the scripture, and repent, restore, and find new hope while fulfilling Christ’s mission to save a hurting and lonely world. Helper is a groundbreaking narrative of how Jesus Christ fulfills God’s first promise, found in Genesis 2:18, to make for humanity a mutual helper.