K
kaylagrl
Guest
Im going to re-post what I posted on the new thread on this subject. It will take a few posts to do so.
Interesting read...Since few will read it and just argue back I'll post some of the points.
Can you imagine the person under water looking at the line and saying something like, “Man, I can’t have that black guy save me!” or “I can’t have a woman save me!”?
Absurd, right? And can you imagine if someone on the shore refused to link arms with people because they weren’t the right age, color, shape, religious belief or gender? Again, absurd. Because then there’d be a gap in the line, and that gap may very well be where the person lay under water—dying.
Figuratively speaking, a whole lot of people have sunk under the water, dying little deaths and big deaths all over the place. There are people outside and inside our churches drowning. Those people can’t afford for us Christians to stand on the shore fighting or dredging the lake with gaps in the line because we’re too busy arguing over who gets to do what.
Woman was created to be man’s warrior partner against evil. Pointing again to Genesis 2:18, our Creator said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a suitable helper (ezer kenego).”
The common, patriarchal, interpretation is that man leads and woman supports his leadership in an assistant role. A more complex story emerges, however, when we consider, rather than the modern interpretation of “helper,” the word ezer as it is used in the Old Testament. Ezer is used 20 times in the Old Testament, most often to reference God, and frequently to reference warriors and battle. Some prime examples of this can be found in:
Deuteronomy 33:29 (shield, helper, glorious sword)
Psalm 70:5 (provider, deliverer)
Psalm 89:19 (strength of a warrior)
Psalm 121:1 (protection)
These images challenge the common caricature of the ideal biblical woman as sweet, pure and receptive. For, words such as protect, provide, warrior, and strength are military terms.
In a culture where women were forbidden to study the Torah, Jesus invited them to “sit at His feet.” (Luke 10:38-42). In a culture where women’s work was entirely confined to the home, Jesus invited women to travel as ministers (Luke 8:1-3). In a culture where women were considered unreliable, Jesus invited them to witness (to men) the epic event of the resurrection.
Theologians. Ministers. Preachers. Culture might limit women leaders, but Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world—in Jesus’ world, women lead. Jesus’ very purpose was to redeem, restore and renew what was lost in the fall.
Paul’s apparently restrictive passages regarding women must be considered within the meta-narrative of the Garden and Gospel narratives highlighted above, as well as Paul’s own life example.
Paul frequently worked alongside women serving in leadership roles. There were Euodia and Syntyche, Lydia, Phoebe (who likely was the courier of the Roman epistle and the first to interpret it to her listeners), Priscilla, Chloe and Junia, to mention a few. These women were leaders, preachers, apostles and deacons.
So why the current focus on a few restrictive texts, namely 1 Timothy 2:12, which says, “Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them” and 1 Corinthians 14:34, which says, “Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak.”
In the words of Sesame Street, “one of these things just doesn’t belong” with the others. In light of the example he lived, I think we should view Paul’s prohibitive texts as contextual, rather than continual, a chapter in the book, not the whole story.
3 Things Christians Get Wrong About Women Leaders | RELEVANT Magazine
Interesting read...Since few will read it and just argue back I'll post some of the points.
Can you imagine the person under water looking at the line and saying something like, “Man, I can’t have that black guy save me!” or “I can’t have a woman save me!”?
Absurd, right? And can you imagine if someone on the shore refused to link arms with people because they weren’t the right age, color, shape, religious belief or gender? Again, absurd. Because then there’d be a gap in the line, and that gap may very well be where the person lay under water—dying.
Figuratively speaking, a whole lot of people have sunk under the water, dying little deaths and big deaths all over the place. There are people outside and inside our churches drowning. Those people can’t afford for us Christians to stand on the shore fighting or dredging the lake with gaps in the line because we’re too busy arguing over who gets to do what.
Woman was created to be man’s warrior partner against evil. Pointing again to Genesis 2:18, our Creator said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a suitable helper (ezer kenego).”
The common, patriarchal, interpretation is that man leads and woman supports his leadership in an assistant role. A more complex story emerges, however, when we consider, rather than the modern interpretation of “helper,” the word ezer as it is used in the Old Testament. Ezer is used 20 times in the Old Testament, most often to reference God, and frequently to reference warriors and battle. Some prime examples of this can be found in:
Deuteronomy 33:29 (shield, helper, glorious sword)
Psalm 70:5 (provider, deliverer)
Psalm 89:19 (strength of a warrior)
Psalm 121:1 (protection)
These images challenge the common caricature of the ideal biblical woman as sweet, pure and receptive. For, words such as protect, provide, warrior, and strength are military terms.
In a culture where women were forbidden to study the Torah, Jesus invited them to “sit at His feet.” (Luke 10:38-42). In a culture where women’s work was entirely confined to the home, Jesus invited women to travel as ministers (Luke 8:1-3). In a culture where women were considered unreliable, Jesus invited them to witness (to men) the epic event of the resurrection.
Theologians. Ministers. Preachers. Culture might limit women leaders, but Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world—in Jesus’ world, women lead. Jesus’ very purpose was to redeem, restore and renew what was lost in the fall.
Paul’s apparently restrictive passages regarding women must be considered within the meta-narrative of the Garden and Gospel narratives highlighted above, as well as Paul’s own life example.
Paul frequently worked alongside women serving in leadership roles. There were Euodia and Syntyche, Lydia, Phoebe (who likely was the courier of the Roman epistle and the first to interpret it to her listeners), Priscilla, Chloe and Junia, to mention a few. These women were leaders, preachers, apostles and deacons.
So why the current focus on a few restrictive texts, namely 1 Timothy 2:12, which says, “Women should learn quietly and submissively. I do not let women teach men or have authority over them” and 1 Corinthians 14:34, which says, “Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak.”
In the words of Sesame Street, “one of these things just doesn’t belong” with the others. In light of the example he lived, I think we should view Paul’s prohibitive texts as contextual, rather than continual, a chapter in the book, not the whole story.
3 Things Christians Get Wrong About Women Leaders | RELEVANT Magazine
