August 14, 2007

• On the second day of the Christians for Biblical Equality conference, I went to a workshop led by the President of CBE, Mimi Haddad, Ph.D. (I feel like saying here, "of course, Ph.D." because I think every single person at CBE was so incredibly educated!)  Mimi is so brilliant and charming, and I just loved interacting with her.  Here is a summary of what she taught us - abridged.

  "Ontology, Gender, and Women's Authority in the Church:  Noticing the Particulars"

  Ontological assumptions have functional consequences.

  Women’s primary function in Greek culture was bearing and rearing children.  There was a pre-eminence of males.  Women were not valued.

  The Early Christians lived very differently however.
  -    they rescued girl babies abandoned by the romans (the Christians were valuing girls!)
  -    women served as house church leaders, as prophets, deacons, apostles, preachers, and teachers
  -    women participated in agape meals, baptism
  -    Gal 3:28 – all one in Jesus.  This was a very radical statement for 1st century ears.

  However, this didn't last long.  The culture was too valued. The Early church fathers began to adopt patriarchy from the surrounding culture.  They began to absorb the culture of the environment and read that into the Bible.  There are many examples of church fathers saying that they believed women were a deformity, deffective and the misbegotten.  [Many examples cited here.  Please ask me if you want the extensive notes.]

  And yet, during this time (347-1380 AD), there were many women who did not function according to the assumptions made from their ontology.  They were brilliant, and they did incredible things with lasting impact.  Examples:  Paula, Maerina the Younger, Deacon Apollonia of the church in Alexandria, Empress Theodora, Hildegard von Bingen, Catherine of Siena, etc.   [Ask me if you want a summary of what incredibles each did.]

  Even as all this was going on, Christian men continued to believe women were no good (these are my words, not Dr. Haddad's).  For example, Thomas Aquinas said that the souls of women were inferior to the souls of men.  [Appalling, isn't it?!]
   
  Even so, the reformation was advanced by many women: Jeanne D’Albret, Lady Jane Grey, Anne Askew, Catherine Parr, Katherine Von Bora.  And between 1808-1930, women greatly shaped the great missionary movements as they also insisted upon the equality of women.  (Jessie Penn-Lewis, Amanda Smith, Katherine Bushnell, Catherine Booth, Sojourner Truth to name a few.)  Women missionaries outnumbered men missionaries by a ratio of 2:1.  [still true today, isn't it?]

  These missionaries demonstrated that just because you challenge the assumptions of the traditions does not make you a heretic.

  Because of women’s efforts, the face of the church was changing.

  However, women’s contribution got retracted after all this because of a secular movement of modernism (she referred to it as the fundamentalist-modernist controversy).  People began to become highly critical of accepting the Scriptures.  "Reason" was the master.  And through reason, they began to explain away the miracles of the Bible.  (i.e. "it wasn't a miracle, it was actually as a result of..." something more scientific)

  As a result, the church began to fear the use of too much reason. They decided that there should be no more Greek or Hebrew.  You've just gotta preach the Word, only.  Just read the words in the Bible, stick to the 'plain reading' of the Bible.  Don’t interpret, because if you interpret anything, then you might become a liberal and lose a vibrant Christian faith.

  So what happened when they stopped reading and interpreting the Bible contextually?  They read words like "I do not permit a woman to teach..." and that settled it for them.  No one challenged the (complementarian) conclusions that were being made.

  People in a fallen condition like having control and power over other people.  Gordon Fee & AJ Gordon remind us that every time you read the Bible you need to say, "I am a fallen person and I like to have more than my fair share of the strawberries."  We need to read the Word with the community of believers.  Believers will help us keep on track, because there’s always a temptation to read the Word through the eyes of self-interest. [selah]

  Conclusion
  Our dignity rests on our position in Christ.  We ought not assess men on their position in Christ (i.e. believing them to be redeemed, gifted and free to serve God in whatever way He calls) while continuing to assess women based on the fall (i.e. continuing to label women as those who sinned and need to be ruled over; aren't women redeemed also?).  We need to interpret the Bible consistently.  We can’t put the new wine of the gospel into the old wine of domination.

  Gal 3:28-29, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." 

  Some people argue that Gal 3:28 just means that salvation is for all and has nothing to do with one's service in the church, but if God views us as heirs to the promise, then we inherit all God has, and this changes the way we function. How can you say that Gal 3:28 is only about salvation and has no impact on who you are and what you do in Christ?  “Our Christology directs and informs our ecclesiology.”  Who we are directs what we do in the church. 

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