Let Us Reason Together
I think this will be the last post about the book "Truth Decay," so you can all sigh with relief.
I have been generally positive in my references to that book — but that doesn't mean I agree with its entire content. For instance, chapter 9 ("Race, Gender & Postmodernism") contains some faulty material. I believe that males and females are equal before God in terms of salvation. However, I also believe God has assigned different roles for men and women in the church. It would seem book author Groothuis has ignored key Bible passages as he attempts to support a more complete egalitarian viewpoint.
In reference to Genesis 3:16 (which states that man will "rule over" the woman) he mentions that this is not a moral command but rather a result of sin. He does not balance that view with 1 Timothy 2:11-14, where Paul states that women should not speak in the church because Adam was formed before Eve and because the woman was deceived by the serpent. Paul does not seem to base the application of those facts to the church on anything cultural. He doesn't say "well, you guys just need to live with this unfortunate cultural result of Eve's sin — this cultural thing that has been handed down through the centuries. It is incumbent on you to not rock the boat and be different." (Christians really had no problem rocking the boat when important matters were at stake.)
In addition, Groothuis does not address the reality that priests in the Old Testament were always male, nor the fact that Paul refers to bishops as male. I don't think that was just cultural. God has a certain role in mind for women, and serving in the temple/being bishops of churches did not/does not fit that role.
This paragraph really made me squawk. My squawking in brackets.
"Many also assert that egalitarians relativize biblical passages about the submission of women by making them "merely cultural"... Hermeneutically, all Christians must fathom how ancient commands obtain today. Paul said to greet one another with "a holy kiss," [um, I do that] that women should wear veils in church [where's the correct interpretation of Scripture here? how about wearing a veil every time a woman prays?] and that slaves should submit to their masters [well, that would hold 100% today if I was a slave and had a master]. Christians today understand the cultural context of these questions, without rejecting them as uninspired [yeah, that's right. We understand the cultural context and we realize that the commands fit today just as they did in the past.]. The operative question in understanding such texts is, "What is the principle behind the commands and how do we obey it today?"" [We OBEY them, that's what we do.]
Anyway...
Overall, I'd still say the book is worth reading — you just have to analyze it carefully.
I have been generally positive in my references to that book — but that doesn't mean I agree with its entire content. For instance, chapter 9 ("Race, Gender & Postmodernism") contains some faulty material. I believe that males and females are equal before God in terms of salvation. However, I also believe God has assigned different roles for men and women in the church. It would seem book author Groothuis has ignored key Bible passages as he attempts to support a more complete egalitarian viewpoint.
In reference to Genesis 3:16 (which states that man will "rule over" the woman) he mentions that this is not a moral command but rather a result of sin. He does not balance that view with 1 Timothy 2:11-14, where Paul states that women should not speak in the church because Adam was formed before Eve and because the woman was deceived by the serpent. Paul does not seem to base the application of those facts to the church on anything cultural. He doesn't say "well, you guys just need to live with this unfortunate cultural result of Eve's sin — this cultural thing that has been handed down through the centuries. It is incumbent on you to not rock the boat and be different." (Christians really had no problem rocking the boat when important matters were at stake.)
In addition, Groothuis does not address the reality that priests in the Old Testament were always male, nor the fact that Paul refers to bishops as male. I don't think that was just cultural. God has a certain role in mind for women, and serving in the temple/being bishops of churches did not/does not fit that role.
This paragraph really made me squawk. My squawking in brackets.
"Many also assert that egalitarians relativize biblical passages about the submission of women by making them "merely cultural"... Hermeneutically, all Christians must fathom how ancient commands obtain today. Paul said to greet one another with "a holy kiss," [um, I do that] that women should wear veils in church [where's the correct interpretation of Scripture here? how about wearing a veil every time a woman prays?] and that slaves should submit to their masters [well, that would hold 100% today if I was a slave and had a master]. Christians today understand the cultural context of these questions, without rejecting them as uninspired [yeah, that's right. We understand the cultural context and we realize that the commands fit today just as they did in the past.]. The operative question in understanding such texts is, "What is the principle behind the commands and how do we obey it today?"" [We OBEY them, that's what we do.]
Anyway...
Overall, I'd still say the book is worth reading — you just have to analyze it carefully.
posted by Claire at 10:17
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