How Did She Respond to Wayne Grudem?

How Did She Respond to Wayne Grudem? September 20, 2017

From Anxious Bench, by Beth Allison Barr:

In a 2006 interview, Wayne Grudem argued that female leaders in the church (especially pastors) are disobeying God’s word and thus open to “the withdrawal of God’s hand of protection and blessing.”  As Grudem explained:

“A woman who serves as a pastor, preaching to both men and women, is disobeying the word of God. There are always negative consequences to that.”

Female leadership, Grudem argues, leads to an erosion of orthodoxy in churches–including misinterpretation of scripture and lack of trust in the Bible–and an erosion in proper family roles–including lack of male leadership and gender identity confusion among children. He then provided a specific example of a female preacher who suffered the loss of God’s protection in her life. “Judy Brown…contributed a chapter to Discovering Biblical Equality. She was an Assemblies of God pastor of maybe Foursquare, I’m not sure. And she actually, sadly, is in prison in Virginia for attempted murder. It’s tragic.” When the interviewer asked if Wayne Grudem thought “her situation is related to her views about women preaching,” his answer was clear: “in this case it seems to me there’s an area of disobedience to the command of scripture regarding male leadership and teaching in the church.”

HT: JS


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