What does “saved through childbearing” (1 Tim. 2:15) mean?
There are various interpretations of “she will saved through childbearing.” In this article, I explain how I understand the phrase.
October 30, 2023
37 Comments
Tag: Gender Roles
3 Formidable Bible Women with Strange Stories
Rahab, Tamar, and Rizpah were in precarious social situations. They each took matters into their own hands, and the consequences of their daring, unorthodox actions were life-changing.
June 25, 2023
21 Comments
Being an ezer is not a gender role
I look at how the word ezer is used in the Hebrew Bible, including how it is used in people’s names in the Bible. And I show that being an ezer is not an especially feminine role or obligation.
January 2, 2023
31 Comments
What does it mean to be made in the “image of God”?
In this article, I briefly explain what I think it means to be made in the image of God and why it doesn’t have much to do with either God’s gender or ours.
October 11, 2020
33 Comments
Are Men Physically Superior to Women?
I’ve been getting emails lately from young women convinced that men are physically superior to women. The hurt in these emails is profound. Here’s part of an email exchange I had with a woman named Jade.
September 13, 2020
40 Comments
The Household Codes are Primarily about Power
The household codes in Eph. 5-6 and Col. 3-4 are not about gender but primarily about power and about mitigating abuse that often comes with power.
February 27, 2019
50 Comments
Paul on Gender Roles in Ministry and Marriage
A few verses in Paul’s letters are frequently cited by Christians who exclude women from some ministries. Did Paul really restrict women in either ministry or marriage? This is part 3 of a series on gender roles in the Bible.
June 2, 2018
7 Comments
Jesus on Gender Roles and Gendered Activities
Does Jesus give instructions about gender roles as complementarians understand them? What does Jesus teach and say to women in the Gospels? This is part 2 in a series of gender roles in the Bible.
May 29, 2018
10 Comments
Gender Roles & Gendered Activities in the Old Testament
Does the Old Testament teach that husbands are to be the leaders of their wives, or that men have authority over women? Are some roles forbidden to women? This is part 1 of a series on gender roles in the Bible.
May 24, 2018
16 Comments
The authority of police officers, ship captains, and men
In this post, I respond to how the authority of police officers, etc, is used as an analogy by some Christians to support male-only authority.
May 12, 2018
34 Comments
Three Scholars with Two Views on Eve’s Role as Helper
What did Eve do to help Adam? Here are two very different views from three top scholars about Eve’s role as helper in Genesis 2.
October 26, 2017
21 Comments
Do women have a special obligation to be helpers?
Does “a suitable helper for him” (ezer kenegdo) in Genesis 2:18-20 speak about a defining gender role for women? Are all women “helpers” of men?
March 9, 2016
12 Comments
How Christian Egalitarians understand “Equality”
One misunderstanding about what Christian egalitarians believe concerns the words “equal” or “equality.” How do egalitarians understand and use these words?
March 3, 2016
30 Comments
Complementarians and Same-Sex Friendships
The complementarian ideology that men are designed to lead, and women are designed to submit to male leadership, has many drawbacks. In this post I highlight one of them.
July 26, 2015
13 Comments
Men, please stop trying to ‘elevate’ women
The idea of men elevating, or raising, women usually sounds condescending to me, rather than encouraging or empowering. Now I understand why.
July 7, 2015
12 Comments
Western-Style ‘Biblical Womanhood’ and the Wider World
Here is a link to one of the best articles I have ever read on so-called ‘biblical womanhood’. In this article Jenny Rae Armstrong writes that “the privileged frivolities of Western homemaking” have nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus.
August 18, 2014
4 Comments
5 questions about Adam’s role in Genesis 2 and 3
This article addresses 5 questions about Adam’s role and prominence in Genesis chapters 2 and 3. For example, did God only call Adam in Genesis 3:9?
August 11, 2014
21 Comments
25+ Biblical Roles for Biblical Women
Here is a list of more than 25 roles of Bible women. These roles, or activities, helped God’s people and the women are not criticised in any way.
September 7, 2013
74 Comments
Some girls want to fly paper airplanes too
Some girls want to fly paper airplanes, and some girls are very brave, but a 2011 study put out by Desiring God suggests these roles are for boys.
August 5, 2013
1 Comment
Add Women, Change Everything
Carolyn Custis James writes that it’s important for women to be included as equals in ministry: “The high price of the missing female perspective is incalculable.”
July 9, 2013
No Comments
Gender Obsessions: Emphasizing our Differences or our Similarities?
Some Christians seem determined to emphasise and polarise gender differences. Adam, however, marvelled at the similarities between man and woman.
April 8, 2013
18 Comments
Does “role” mean “rank” in complementarianism?
When some Christians, complementarians, use the word “roles” they seem to mean “rank” or a gender hierarchy.
January 14, 2013
22 Comments
Gender Roles and Speaking Ministries in the Church
Does the New Testament teach that men and women have different roles in the church Are some ministries too important for women?
January 12, 2013
5 Comments
A Critique of Kathy Keller’s “Jesus, Justice and Gender Roles”
Kathy Keller argues that women are prohibited from just one kind of speaking ministry and from holding one kind of position in the church.
January 6, 2013
28 Comments
The Complementarian Concept of the Created Order
Mary Kassian places a great deal of importance on the created order of man first, woman second, given in Genesis 2. Is she correct?
October 20, 2012
38 Comments
Book Review: God’s Good Design by Claire Smith
“God’s Good Design” is an Australian publication that promotes complementarian gender roles. This review by Dr Lyn Kidson contains information from primary sources on the Roman virtue of “quietness.”
August 20, 2012
5 Comments
Submission in Christian Marriage
What does submission mean? What does the Bible say about submission in marriage? Is wifely submission relevant in our modern western societies?
August 14, 2012
20 Comments
Mutuality in Marriage: 1 Corinthians 7
In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul deals with the subjects of sex, marriage, divorce, and singleness. Paul’s instructions here reveal an egalitarian ethos.
June 26, 2012
10 Comments
Leading Together in the Home
Leviticus 19:3 says “Every one of you shall reverence his mother and father …” I decided to search for other verses that also mention “mother” first. Here’s what I found.
June 19, 2012
12 Comments
Paul’s Masculine and Feminine Leadership
Paul described his ministry in maternal and paternal terms. It seems God does not want his people led only in a masculine manner.
May 17, 2012
11 Comments
Beauty, Marriage, Motherhood and Ministry
There are differences between the Old and New Testaments in how women are described, especially in regard to beauty, marriage, motherhood, and ministry.
April 1, 2012
49 Comments
Protecting the Weaker Sex
Is protection a man’s job? Do women need protecting? Perhaps instead of “protecting” capable Christian women, the church should be empowering her women.
February 16, 2012
21 Comments
Is it only men who can represent Jesus?
Some Christians believe that because Jesus is a man, only men can represent Jesus in their congregations. Does the fact that Jesus is male mean that women cannot be church leaders?
January 2, 2012
12 Comments
Mark Chanski on Gender Roles
Complementarian Mark Chanski seems to think men and women each have just one role, or position, they are to play and maintain throughout their lives. I disagree.
November 16, 2011
3 Comments
“Biblical Manhood” that Overlooks and Ignores Women
Complementarian Jeff Robinson relates what he considers to be different expressions of ‘biblical manhood’. Do these activities and qualities really constitute ‘biblical manhood’? And where do women fit with this?
May 29, 2011
3 Comments
Reading the Bible with a Masculinist Bias
Do you read the Bible through “blue-tinted” lenses? My friend Norman does. He completely ignored Samson’s mother when retelling Judges 13.
May 7, 2011
8 Comments
More Scary Women of Complementarianism
Mary Kassian recently posted an article on her website about “Scary Straw Women of Complementarity”. But she failed to mention two important women of complementarianism.
April 27, 2011
8 Comments
Is Complementarianism a Traditional Belief of the Church?
Mary Kassian claims that Complementarianism represents the Church’s “traditional, orthodox, historic belief” on gender. She must be reading different accounts of Church history to me.
April 20, 2011
15 Comments
Wayne Grudem on What Women Should Do in the Church
In a 1995 article, Wayne Grudem ranked 83 ministries in order of decreasing authority. His lists reveal whether he really thinks men and women are equal.
April 15, 2011
38 Comments
Is motherhood the highest calling for women?
Is motherhood the highest calling for women? Is fatherhood the highest calling for men? What did Jesus have to say about this?
March 9, 2011
23 Comments
Junia in Romans 16:7
This article is about Junia—a minister mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:7—using and critiquing the ESV as a reference. Was Junia really a female apostle?
April 1, 2010
44 Comments
A Suitable Helper (in Hebrew)
Many people have had a narrow and lowly view of the meaning of “helper” (ezer) used for Eve in Genesis 2:18 & 20. How is ezer used elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible?
March 8, 2010
43 Comments
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