By Lucy Peppiatt, who can be followed @lucepeppiatt

Check out Lucy’s interview here:

And a 2 minute interview here:

The Biblical Scholar from the Throw Out Box

Last Thursday I met an amazing woman, Katharine C. Bushnell (sometimes misspelled as Katherine). Unfortunately, like so many of the people I wish I’d met, she’s dead. She was born in 1855 and died in 1946. I read a book that she wrote in 1921 detailing all the information she could possibly gather on women in the Bible and laying out her case for why God never intended for women to be subjugated, subordinated, disqualified from ministry, or subjected to their husbands in any form.

‘Nothing is of more importance to the Christian woman to-day than to understand that God did not Himself subordinate woman to man.’ (Par. 450)

I was sent her book by a man who had taken our open online course that we run at our college, while living in South Africa. He had then seen an interview with me on my work on 1 Corinthians, and he thought I would like her work. I’d never heard of her. He rescued her book, God’s Word to Women, from the ‘throw out box’ of a South African seminary.

Before I started to read, I looked her up. Here’s what I found. Not only was she a medical doctor specializing in nerve disorders and a medical missionary to China, she worked tirelessly fighting against the degradation of women as sex-slaves and victims of abuse wherever she saw this happening – including in the U.S. In addition to this, she was a formidable biblical scholar. She was fluent in seven languages; her command of the biblical languages and the texts is remarkable. Her work is ground-breaking and creative (still), and totally radical for her own times. If she had been a man, every single contemporary Bible scholar writing on gender would have had to reckon with her findings. As it was, she was a woman, and her work was ignored.

Her pastor, Dr Gray, said this about her, ‘She was one of America’s noblest women.’ What about her work? ‘Her work was like a rock dropped to the bottom of the ocean. Kerplunk. It was gone, and it seemed the end of it.’ And as if to confirm his verdict – there she was in the throw out box. I have asked among my friends and peers if anyone had heard of her. The answer was no.

But I opened her book and I found one gem after another.

The book is 100 ‘Bible studies’ on key texts that give us an understanding of the scriptural view of the identity, role, and character of women. She calls it a ‘study book’ but this is misleading, as if it were a guide for home groups. It is a major piece of scholarship, reliant on a close textual reading of the original languages and textual variants, reference to ancient and contemporary scholarship, and awareness of other relevant contemporary texts and historical documents. In her conclusions, she provides the reader with her own informed and robust views. At times, she is very amusing, as well as intolerant of the ‘stupidity’ of the deliberately misinformed! In addition to this, every now and then, there is an almost prophetic exhortation to her women readers: to gain scholarship for themselves so that they will have a true understanding of God’s word; to learn who they are in Christ so they will no longer be downtrodden and subjugated; to speak up for what is right, humbly but firmly, in the face of injustice – because this, she believes, truly reflects God’s own heart.

In all this, she is a committed evangelical. The Bible is ‘authoritative, inspired, infallible, and inviolable.’ It is this that drives her to discover the correct meaning.

On dealing with mistranslations, she writes that they are like ‘strong talons holding tenaciously to the only correct sense that can be legitimately made of the sentence.’ This has so often held us in error. Consider, for example, the refusal to acknowledge that Junia was a woman, ‘of note among the apostles’, now a well-known case.

Her job, as she sees it, is to prise apart these talons to release the original, intended meaning. Where she finds a bias has operated that skews the meaning of a word, she digs deeply into her scholarship. For example, in her word study of cha-yil she lists every instance – normally a word denoting strength, might, power, and variations on a military theme – until used of a woman. Suddenly, it becomes ‘virtue’! See Ruth 3:11, Proverbs 29, and Proverbs 12:4. This was in her day. Now it is more likely you will find ‘nobility’ or ‘noble character’ – a step forward? Possibly, but still not the power, strength, and valour that the word conveys.

There is no doubt that, at times, she can become a bit convoluted, thus proving herself to be a true biblical scholar! Nevertheless, my point stands. If she had published as a man, her findings could not have been ignored for so long.

She begins at Genesis, and systematically works her way through the Bible, arguing that if we assume that God’s intention was for the full equality of men and women in all spheres, and then revisit the texts with fresh eyes, we will find in our Bibles God’s message that women are co-image-bearers, co-rulers, co-heirs, and co-ministers of the Gospel with men. There are many now, as there were some in her own day, who agree with her. She’d be delighted.

Much of what she argues is now being acknowledged: the prevalence of matriarchy in the ancient world, the provision of protection for women in the Mosaic law, and (my own interest) the concern in Paul’s writing for the full participation of women in the church. She was a hundred years ahead of me on 1 Corinthians 14:33-36 as containing a quotation from Corinth. On 1 Corinthians 11 she tangles up a bit, but we share our conclusions: ‘Shall man attempt to require that woman veil out of respect for his authority (?) over her? Not when God does not require man to veil out of respect for God’s authority over man.’ (Par. 248)

She is adamant: Paul did not want women to veil.

I was so pleased to have connected with one scholar who has worked on Bushnell. Kristin Kobes Du Mez (Calvin College) has written A New Gospel for Women: Katharine Bushnell and the Challenge of Christian Feminism (OUP, 2015). I can’t wait to read it.

I’m really grateful to Scot for allowing me to give Katherine Bushnell a hearing here. I’ll be spending time with her for a while and blogging on her work at our own WTC blog in the future http://theologicalmisc.net/ Check in there if you’d like to read more.

By Tara Beth Leach, posted originally at Missio Alliance.

Growing up, I sat at the feet of countless remarkable male preachers. Besides Beth Moore, I don’t recall ever hearing a woman preach until my sophomore or junior year of college. I witnessed countless men stand behind pulpits, open their Bibles, and preach the Word of God in awe-inspiring ways. I am thankful for these men, because at the feet of them, my faith was formed and challenged. But I often wonder what it would have been like for me to listen to a woman preacher before I myself preached for the first time. I imagine I would have been deeply encouraged and wildly inspired.

When women don’t preach, the church suffers. It is as Carolyn Custis James says in her book, Half the Church,

When half the church holds back – whether by choice or because we have no choice – everybody loses and our mission suffers setbacks. Tragically, we are squandering the opportunity to display to an embattled world a gospel that causes both men and women to flourish and unites us in a Blessed Alliance that only the presence of Jesus can explain.[1]

Because, when a woman preaches, something profound begins to happen in the pews, the ground begins to shift, barriers are torn down, and the once silenced mouths are opened1.[2]

When She Preaches, Women In The Congregation Begin To Imagine Gifts Outside Of The Traditional/Patriarchal Roles

When she preaches, the women in the pews can begin to undo the narrative that tells them they are inferior to men. Many women sitting in the pews on Sunday morning aren’t sure what to do with scriptures that tell them to “keep quiet in the church” and are even told that scriptures like this should be applied to all women in every context. However, when she preaches, other women in the pews are pushed to think critically about those tough passages; they are pushed to consider their own gifts; they are forced to ponder a false narrative that they have embraced for far too long – that they are somehow less capable or less gifted in the Kingdom of God. When she preaches, women see a super-natural talent embodied in another woman, empowered by the Spirit, and propelled to edify all of the people of God.2 And it is then that women in the congregation begin to ask: can I preach, too? Maybe they will unearth the talents that have been buried for far too long; maybe they will spread their wings and fly; maybe they, too, will use their gifts in new and inspiring ways.

When She Preaches, We Get A Glimpse Of The Women As Told In The Story Of God

When she preaches, we get a glimpse of leaders in the early church such as Phoebe, a financial sponsor for Paul’s missions and a deacon; Priscilla, the gifted preacher; Mary, the first to proclaim the risen Lord to the world; Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Junia, the bright and respected Apostle. And then there are women such as Deborah, the fearless leader; Huldah, the prophetess who helped reignite Israel’s faith; Miriam, the gifted musician for the people of God, and Esther, the brave queen who seized the moment and boldly approached the King.[3] When she preaches, she is not alone, just as Scot McKnight writes on the Apostle Junia,

Junia, my friends, is not alone. Many women today are active in ministry and are continuing with confidence and power the storied history of women in the Bible and the silenced history of women in the church. They are not silenced as they once were, and so we look around and sing to the women among us who are embodying the gifts God has given to them.[4]

These women were called by God, gifted by the empowering presence of the Spirit, and used to encourage the people of God in big and bold ways. So when she preaches, she carries the legacy that these women started in the very beginning of God’s story. She stands among the priesthood of all believers and the Christological proclamation in Galatians 3:28.

When She Preaches, We Get A Glimpse Into The Eschatological Kingdom Of God

On the day of Pentecost, when the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit fell upon all of God’s people, Peter – filled with this Spirit – boldly stood before the masses and declared:

In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)

The Holy Spirit inspires men and women alike with no distinction in God’s new end-time Kingdom. When she preaches, the people of God are living into the eschatological vision proclaimed by the Apostle Peter. Empowered by the Spirit, women are living the life of the future here and now just by using their gifts to edify the church1 (1 Cor. 12:4-11; Rom. 12:4-8; Eph. 4:11-13).

When She Preaches, The Women In The Congregation Begin To See That They, Too, Are Invited To The Table

Just yesterday I received a handwritten letter in the mail from a young twenty-something who is wildly in love with Jesus and is wildly in love with her local church, but is also wildly confused. She writes in her letter,

I’m really wrestling with God’s view of women, and what role my life is. It’s really hard for me as a new believer to be able to intellectually and Biblically understand why women are treated they are in American churches. It’s hard to piece apart what is Biblical and what is sinful patriarchy warping scripture to keep women in their place…. Are we just a subplot in a men’s game? Did God really create me for a greater purpose that isn’t just what man I belong to?

Sadly, this young woman is not alone in her discouragement or confusion. She doesn’t see a narrative or a church that invites her to the table. She is one of the brightest young people I have ever met; she graduated from an Ivy League school at only 20 years old. She is spunky; she is talented; she is gifted. When I watch her, it’s hard for me not to imagine all the ways her gifts could be used to edify the church. I could see her as a teacher or as a writer or as a theologian or as a seminary professor or as a pastor or as a preacher. But sadly, she doesn’t see a seat at the table for her.[5] Do you see, my friends? When a woman preaches, young women – much like the one who wrote this letter – begin to imagine what it would be like to sit at the table, and their imagining turns into an empowering and then to an edifying.

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, when women preach, something profound begins to happen in the pews, the ground begins to shift, barriers are torn down, and the once silenced mouths are opened. Other women are given the confidence that they are not only able but also called to use their gifts within the Body of Christ. Who will you welcome to your pulpit today?[6]

What would you add? Join the conversation on the comment section, and let’s also start a conversation on Twitter! Tweet #WhenShePreaches and add the positive things that happens when a woman preaches. For example: “#WhenShePreaches I am inspired!”

[1] Carolyn Custis James, Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), 19.

[2] See a powerful post on Sarah Bessey’s blog, “Why Not Have a Woman Preach” right here.

[3] See a helpful post on women in the early church by Ed Cyzewski on Rachel Held Evans blog right here.

[4] Scot McKnight, Junia Is Not Alone (Englewood, CO: Patheos Press, 2011), eBook location 228.

[5] Also read a beautiful and honest post by Kayla Blair on the Junia Project Blog, “Made in the Image of a God Doesn’t Look Like Me” right here.

Also: Scot McKnight has an interesting series on John Stackhouse’s new book, Partners in Christ: A Conservative Case for Egalitarianism. You can read it right here. I read his last book, Finally Feminist and loved it. I am eager to read his new book.

[6] Interested in learning more on women in ministry? I recommend the following excellent reads: Scot McKnight, Junia Is Not Alone (Englewood, CO: Patheos Press, 2011); John G. Stackhouse and Jr, Finally Feminist: a Pragmatic Christian Understanding of Gender (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005); William J. Webb, Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001); Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010).; Dr. Jackie Roese, Lime Green (Dallas, TX: HIS Publishing Group, 2015). I also recommend Jory Micah’s Blog, Breaking the Glass Steeple.

Amy R. Buckley is a writer, speaker, and activist. She is a contributor to Strengthening Families and Ending Abuse: Churches and Their Leaders Look to the Future and serves on the board of Life Together International. Read more at amyrbuckley.com and find her on Twitter @AmyR_Buckley.

[SMcK: This post is from Arise. This post shows how the church needs to own up to Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11.]

“Where are you headed,” asked the man seated beside me on a plane to Philadelphia.

I paused, debating whether or not to say that I was on the way to a conference on biblical equality. “Just a conference. What about you?”

I felt relieved when the conversation turned to his business trip and he didn’t ask anything further about the conference. Not knowing where he stood religiously, whether or not he had a relationship with Jesus, I hesitated to admit that gender equality is even an issue in Christian communities. If he didn’t know God and I admitted the necessity of a conference devoted to biblical equality in the Christian community, I worried that he might think less of God. Considering the many struggles souls encounter in knowing God, I decided to steer clear of biblical equality.

I did admit that I went to seminary in the Boston area. That piqued his interest immediately. He asked questions about my major. I told him I was pursuing a Master of Divinity with an emphasis in theology and women’s studies. He then asked a few more questions about my classes. The discussion eventually turned to the recent conversion of his brother and sister-in-law to Christianity.

“It happened suddenly,” he explained. “They were having marriage problems, and a friend of theirs told them that faith in God and going to church had turned their own marriage around.” 

I listened, curiously, wondering where the conversation was going. Silently, I asked the Spirit to help me know how to respond. I felt as if I were walking on a tightrope. As a woman, I wrestled over what to say to an unknown man sharing very personal things about his family and life.

“My brother and sister-in-law started going to church and a Bible study. They have become Christians and their marriage has gotten so much better.” 

We exchanged a few more comments on the nature of Christianity, comparing the faith to other religions and analyzing people’s reactions to Jesus. The conversation didn’t go any further. The man seemed deep in thought, so I picked up a magazine, leaving him alone to consider our faith dialogue. As we approached Philadelphia, we chitchatted about the weather and the Red Sox. The conversation reminded me of a time when I would have felt uncomfortable teaching this man about faith. Seminary was changing that–I was gaining tools for studying Scripture and theology and learning as I went along that many support the equal function of men and women in Christ’s body.

To that point, I’d wrestled greatly over what I could and could not do in churches as a woman, according to some church doctrines. Some experiences had been friendlier than others. Thankfully, I’d landed in an egalitarian-minded community after moving to Boston. I was fortunate to receive my training from an excellent pastor. Together with a talented team of musicians, I organized and led worship services. I enjoyed writing congregational readings and prayers. I also led a spiritual formation class for men and women. Sadly, that changed when God called that pastor and mentor to another ministry and the church hired a new pastor who did not support women using their gifts in ministry.

During that confusing period, the females on the worship team experienced extreme limitations. The new pastor called for a congregational study of women in ministry. He led a two-part class demonstrating why women should not speak, pray, or write things for men to speak and pray during worship services. He also argued that women should not teach men, although in some situations outside of a worship setting–such as giving directions–a woman could tell him the way to the grocery store. As the plane approached the landing strip, it occurred to me that some Christians would approve of a woman teaching a man the way to Jesus on a plane, but not from a pulpit. 

I recalled how painful it was to resign from the worship team and move to another church so I could use my gifts. For a time, I felt lost. I floundered, although I knew God loved me and wanted me to exercise my gifts in Christ’s body for his glory. I reflected on how glad I was to know Dr. Catherine Clark Kroeger in seminary. Her eyes always sparkled whenever the discussion turned to women in the Bible. Eagerly, I had signed up for her course “Women in the Early Church.” I’d always wondered about women who seemed to occupy the margins.

Cathie–as she asked to be called–challenged me and other students to learn a variety of disciplines for studying the Bible: ancient Near Eastern context, Greek and Roman classical evidence, original languages, hermeneutics, church history, biblical theology, and more. She explained: “Plain readings of modern Bible translations–that are far removed from original contexts–tend to color our modern understandings.” This happens, for example, when 1 Timothy 2:8-15 is used to universally exclude women from ministry, leadership, and teaching. Patiently, she explained that Paul meant to address cultic practices creeping into the newly birthed church from the nearby Temple of Artemis. “In this context,” she added, “it is appropriate to silence loud, out of control, recently converted women who dominate men for selfish gain.” Cathie answered numerous questions about other passages that endorse the ministry, leadership, and teaching of women including Lydia, Dorcas, Priscilla, Tryphena, Euodia, Synteche, and Junia.

Gaining tools for studying Scripture rescued me from confusion about my identity as a woman in Christ. It alleviated frustrations that I’d long felt because I didn’t know any other ways of reading the Bible. Over time, I became more and more comfortable in my female skin. I grew more secure in using my gifts to further the kingdom, on a plane and from the pulpit. As the plane landed in Philadelphia, I thanked God for enabling women and men to know true freedom in Christ.

Any sensitive reader feels the tension in 1 Corinthians. Now some claim Paul is patriarchal and thinks only males are to be teaching and talking in the gatherings of the early Christians. They can appeal quite quickly to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 or even more forcefully to 1 Corinthans 14:33b-36. Game, set, match.

But that conclusion for the one who reads the whole letter in the context of the Book of Acts and other letters of Paul creates some serious tension with other elements in the text. Lucy Peppiatt, in Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul’s Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians, lays out the opposing evidence that forces good readers to ask how the tension can be explained. Here is her simple, irrefutable evidence:

… the obvious reality that many of Paul’s fellow workers were women. In Romans the names Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis are mentioned (Rom 16:6, 12). He was happy with women as leaders of house churches (Lydia in Acts 16:14-15 and Phoebe in Rom 16:1 [Nympha in Laodicea in Col 4:15]). We know of Priscilla and Aquila, who were both leaders and who both discipled Apollos in the faith (Acts 18:26), and Phoebe, who led a church at Cenchreae (Rom 16:1). Paul refers to his friend and coworker Junia as an apostle (Rom 16:7). Furthermore, he is clearly happy with women prophesying and praying in public in Corinth, and obviously approving of Philips four daughters, who were known as prophets (Acts 21:9).

Before we continue with her statement just this observation. No one questions that women were prophets in the apostolic churches and that Paul knew it and approved of it. This to me is a clinching argument: Paul values prophecy above all gifts. Speaking the mind of God to the people of God is what Paul saw as the highest of gifts. So, Peppiatt continues:

Given the way in which he describes the gift of prophecy as being that which edifies the whole church, and given that he elevates the gift of prophecy above the gift of teaching (1 Cor 12:28 is expressed in terms of priority and precedence: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers), it would seem strange for him to implement a contradictory practice that women should stay silent. This poses an immediate problem for the verses on silencing of women.

There’s the tension. Isn’t it odd, you must agree, that he can tell women to be silent? How to explain it? If one simply appeals to hierarchy, or to patriarchy, one is dealt a self-defeating blow by the reality that women were prophets in public places (prophets don’t talk to themselves). Thus, we must have a different explanation for the silence in those two Pauline texts. What might that be?

Peppiatt’s conclusion is that (1) Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians has a long history and that the letter reflects conversations and correspondence between himself and them, and (2) 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 reflects that complex back and forth. It is not simply Paul speaking but Paul citing and responding and commenting and quoting and responding and their responding … and as I said in an earlier post, the one who read the letter to the Corinthians knew how to perform the letter just as the Corinthians knew exactly who was saying what because they, after all, knew their own communications with Paul.

Put another way, there is tension here and it might not be an inconsistent Paul but readers who are sensitive enough to Paul’s tension with some at Corinth who don’t like it that God has empowered women to prophesy, pray and teach. The tension can be resolved by positing citations in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. [I will develop her argument in later posts. Today I just want to observe tension and resolution through citation discovered by observing rhetoric at work.]

I quote again what I quoted earlier: this is Peppiatt’s reconstruction of who said what in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.

The italics are words from those Corinthians with whom Paul is disagreeing:

1Cor. 11:2   I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.  3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ.

4 Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,  5 but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.

6 For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.

7 For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.  8 Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man.  9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.  10 For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 

11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman.  12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God.  13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled?  14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him,  15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.  16 But if anyone is disposed to be contentious—we have no such [“no other”] custom, nor do the churches of God.

I am sent a link to The Southern Blog, hosted by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where Danielle Hurley asks herself the questions about single females who wonder if they are called to missionary work. She frames the questions and then answers them. First her framing of the questions:

So you’re interested in overseas missions? You aren’t sure, but have a sneaking suspicion that God has called you to a life of serving him overseas? Do you have a strong desire to live outside of America? Would you like to spend your short days living in light of eternity?

I dip into her answers, which begin nobly with the calling for all of us to focus on the great commission, and then I will pose our different way of doing things at Northern Seminary when it comes to such questions and answers. One of her emphases is distinguishing desires from callings.

Question 1: As a young woman, if you have a desire to make disciples outside of America, does it mean you are called specifically to overseas missions?

Maybe, but not always. A desire should not be misunderstood as a calling. It may simply be a feeling. This feeling may be from God, or it may be an impulse of your own heart. What is clear is what is revealed in God’s Word.  Before looking at your specific calling, let’s look at God’s calling for women in general. According to God’s Word, God’s highest calling for most women is being a wife and mom (Genesis 2:18; Titus 2:4). As a wife, I am designed to help my husband be the best man he can be as he lives out his calling to make disciples. So this means that if I am married, I can be confident that I am following God’s calling when I support my husband in his calling. If you are called to singleness, you are still created to be a helper in a general sense to the body of Christ, but you are also able to maximize your giftedness in a unique, devoted way (1 Cor. 7:32-35). So if you are single, I would encourage you to find a ministry that you love with leaders that you can work under and help. Then devote yourself to helping them be the best they can be as they further the kingdom.

[She then explores singleness and missionary work and you can read the rest of the piece at the link above.]

Well, on this one there is likely to be some strenuous disagreement [Does “helper in a general sense” refer to helping male-led ministries? The same for “leaders that you can work under and help”?] and I could get into a lengthy discussion about women and ministry, but the whole answer she gives is framed by complementarianism, what a wife’s calling is, and motherhood — and singleness fits within that larger pattern of thought.

If I may be so bold, I speak now for Northern:

1. Not all are complementarians so not all (I mean Northern) would begin where Danielle Hurley begins. In fact, for the egalitarian or mutualist (my preferred term) the answers she proposes can irritate a different kind of calling not to mention a significantly different hermeneutic that turns the whole answer upside down. I have written about this both in The Blue Parakeet and Junia is Not Alone.

2. We would answer this by asking What is the Spirit of God leading you to do? What has the Spirit of God gifted you to do? What kind of recognition does your church give your perception of your calling? What kind of evaluations are you given by others who know you well? We don’t ask if you are female or male or if you are married or not. Nor — so far as I know — will you be asked to think about helping male-led ministries on the foreign field. We want to focus on God’s gifting, regardless of who has the gift. Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11, not to ignore the wonderful stories of women prophets and deacons and apostles in the NT.

3. The history of missions — and I’m now talking in general about the 19th and 20th Century missionary movement, was heavily populated by women, many of them single (and heroic at times), who heard a call, who remained single and celibate, who entered into the discernment processes, who were approved and who went and served faithfully. I knew two (at that time) wonderful, godly, courageous single women who went off to the mission field and who returned “on furlough” to regal us with stories of God’s grace through their ministries, which included plenty of teaching. My father once told me one of them — I think her name was Grace Jepsen — knew more Bible and theology than anyone at our church.

That history of missions gives a different narrative into which we can insert these questions and provide answers.

From Arise

By Jon Zens is an American author, speaker, scholar and theologian on Christian topics. Zens is best known for pioneering New Covenant Theology, which sees the entire Bible as a revelation of the gospel of grace fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jon has been the editor of Searching Together since 1978. He has a BA from Covenant College, an MDiv from Westminster Seminary, and a DMin from the California Graduate School of Theology. Jon and his wife, Dotty also have a ministry that aids women who have been taken into the sex slave industry.

And by Kat Huff has been writing prose, poetry and articles for years. Kat also blogs at Harvest of Pearls at kathuff.com. She is part of the Searching Together editing team, and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

A multitude of Bible translations exists, each with their own interpretation of what the biblical authors “felt” or “thought” was most important. Therefore,we must be diligent, so that when we discover a bias that has changed the meaning from the Greek word so that it implicates something other than the intent of the original author, we then perk up our ears to discover the truth.

The basic Greek word for “humanity” is “anthropos.” This is a gender-inclusive word. In many translations, “anthropos” (singular) and “anthropoi” (plural) are translated as “man/men.”

Unfortunately, these renderings often contribute to misunderstandings.

Partial Sentence of Paul’s Correspondence Labeled as Ephesians 4:8:

“Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, And he gave gifts to men.” (NASB version)

The Word:
The Greek word here is “anthropois,” the plural form of “anthropos.” It is not a gender-specific word.

Reality:
“Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, And he gave gifts to people.”

The above may not seem important, but let’s remember that in his letter to Ephesus, Paul writes about important gifts of function in the body of Christ–“apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.” (Ephesians 4:11) Are only males included in these functions? Phoebe was a deacon in the ekklesia in Cenchrae; Junia was an apostle (Romans 16:1, 7); Philip had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses (Acts 21:9).

A Sentence of Paul’s Correspondence Labeled as 2 Timothy 2:2:

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (NASB)

The Word:
The Greek word here is “anthropois” (plural), and it is an inclusive word which embraces men and women.

Reality:
“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.”

Upon the Ground of Men?

Biased and wrongly translated non-gender words often become the norm, because those mistranslations are read over and over again. And usually no thought is given to the divisive implications for the body of Christ.

Now, if you are thinking that it doesn’t matter, because women consider themselves to be included in “man” or “men,” I think the reality of our lives shows just the opposite. I ask you the following questions: Do you, brother, open a door labeled “women”? Do you, sister, generally shop for all your clothing needs in a store area labeled “men”? If you do, then never mind about this Greek word that is inclusive to both genders. However, if you do not, then imagine what else hides in the recesses of our perceived reality when we are exposed to biased translations.

The Walls of the World

There is a great barrier created when we use inaccurate, gender biased words. This gender divide has become a hidden thought that plays out in the reality of our everyday lives together.

We have become so accustomed to this bias of gender distinction that we no longer see the wall dividing us. Thus, we cannot see that the wall is built from the perspective of the unbelieving world. This bias has no ground in Christ. He broke all the barriers. All the walls came tumbling down. In Christ, there is no divide, no walls, no hills, no valleys, only level ground. All other ground is faulty and will be shaken until it is level or no longer exists.

The One New Human

Ephesians 2:14-16 reads, “For he himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the dividing wall of the barrier…so that in himself he might create the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” (NASB)

The word translated here as “man” is the Greek word “anthropon.” Yet again, not a gendered word. This Greek word is more accurately translated as “human” or “person.”

Reality:
“so that in himself he might create the two into one new human.”

When the above Greek word is translated without bias, far more meaning is given to Paul’s words in his writing to the saints in Galatia –“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” ( Galatians 3:28, NIV).

Our Unshakeable Ground

If there is any hope for the church, it must begin with everyday life, so that when we come together as one, we will know that we are all priests in equal standing upon the one unshakeable ground of Jesus.

“It’s a Man’s World”

We also need to understand that there are women all over the world who deeply resent men, because of how men have sinned against them. In many parts of the world, women live in the cruel bondage of men. Thus, when they come to the Bible and see gender biased verses, they figure the Scriptures are not for them. You can suggest that when women see the word “men” in Scripture, they see themselves included in it. But the truth is, to use the word “men” in the Bible today is unnecessary and extremely misleading. The inspired reality of the translated Greek words would be best served with designations like “people,” “humans,” “men and women,” “persons,” “folks,” and “brothers and sisters.”

The image of God is both male and female (Genesis 5:2). In order for Christ to be expressed in his fullness, the manifestation of the Spirit in each part of the “new humanity” must be living and active. As God’s people, may we be aware of any divisive bias that has influenced our thinking, so that together, we may have the mind of Christ, and be found standing upon the one unshakeable ground.

From Christian Daily: Name them: Deborah, Huldah, Junia, and Priscilla.

Theologian John Piper was recently asked if the Bible allows women to preach as long as they do it under the permission of church elders. Piper answered, “No.”

“A woman teaching men with authority week in and week out … or regularly … under the elders is not under the authority of the New Testament … and neither would they (elders) be for putting her in that situation,” the Baptist preacher stated….

Paul, Piper explained, provided two reasons for why he would limit the teaching and governing office in the church to spiritually qualified men. First, Adam was formed before Eve. Second, Eve was deceived by Satan. Paul was not trying to absolve Adam of blame (Paul lays all the guilt on Adam in another text) but the main point of 1 Timothy 2:14 is to show that Satan’s first assault was on the order that God appointed, Piper explained. “Paul is saying Satan undermined the order of creation and focused his deceptive words on Eve and made her the spokesman, not Adam, and she became the focus of deception,” said Piper. “Adam failed in his leadership and she was willing to take it up and the result was the fall.”

Responding to the question on women preaching even under the authority of elders who govern and teach in the church, Piper clarified that the issue is not about competency. “Don’t ever think … a woman … is incompetent,” he said.

Rather, “the issue is that it would compromise the way men and women are supposed to relate to each other,” he stressed. Allowing women to preach would compromise God’s order, he said.