Becoming Egalitarian in Greek Class

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You’re in for a treat today as Meredith and her husband Curtis share the interesting story of how he came to hold his egalitarian position.

She said:  I picked my seminary, in no small part, because it fully supported women in ministry.  They had decided the issue long ago, and so I expected to experience a learning environment that responded to me as a unique person, not as my gender.  This was indeed the case.

I studied theology in undergrad and went straight on to grad school.  Eager for a change of pace, I decided to start with the Greek Intensive.  It’s the only class you take for the quarter, which meant I could bank on three months without having to read a book or write a paper.  As a bonus, it was capped at 25 people, and became a great way to make friends as a new student.

He said:  I became an Egalitarian in Greek class.  While for some people changing core theological positions between declensions might be common, this was a unique experience for me.  Frankly, it wasn’t even Greek class itself that did it (sorry, Dr. Hill, I know you tried); it was someone I met in Greek class.  She was as surprised as I was.

It was an intensive class: four hours per day, three days per week.  We all saw a lot of each other, and got to know each other pretty well during class breaks.  I got to know one person particularly well, but most of that is another story. (#MeetCuteInBiblicalGreek?)

The part of the story that matters for now began during one of our daily breaks.  We had just discussed in class the fact that the passage starting in Ephesians 5:21 was all grammatically one piece, and should therefore be read together instead of being split apart as is often done by those who support strict gender roles.  She asked what I thought about it all and I said I didn’t really know.