The CBE Scroll

Comment by Frank

September 15, 2008 @ 11:58 am

Another evidence is that we are all regenerated, indwelt, and animated by the same Holy Spirit, and who pours out God’s love in our hearts, confirming we are God’s royal children and co-heirs of Christ’s present and coming kingdom: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put the misdeeds of the body to death, you will live…The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom 812-17, TNIV).

Comment by KM

September 16, 2008 @ 10:55 pm

Clement of Alexandria had a similar view about A.D. 200

“‘For in this world,’ he says [Luke 20:34], ‘they marry, and are given in marriage,’ in which alone the female is distinguished from the male; ‘but in that world it is so no more.’”

and

“Ἄρνες, too, the word for lambs, is a common name of simplicity for the male and female animal. Now the Lord Himself will feed us as His flock forever. Amen.”

See:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iii.i.iv.html

Comment by faith

September 18, 2008 @ 7:02 am

historically in the first century, to speak of brothers and sisters was the most equal term available.

Also, In our union with Christ we are sons (heirs) inheriting the blessing of God. That’s pretty equal. I think Paul uses the Christiocentrism - our union with Christ to inform his ethics and break down barriers between groups in the first century.

It is what Gal 3:26-28 is about. We are united with Christ in baptism, sons, and through that rite of passage, we emerge a new community in Christ in which there really is no Jew nor Greek, Slave or Free, Male or Female. A new community is formed in Christ that is unlike the community they knew in the greco-roman empire marked by status and station. The new community formed through union with Christ has implications for how we engage with one another in the church. It is not only about salvation as some suppose but about union with Christ and all of the implications that follow–one of which is equality.

Comment by Jo-Ann (Brown) Russell

October 19, 2008 @ 11:13 am

Some people I have spoken to concerning biblical equality agree that spiritually we have equal access to the Lord and His gifts but when it comes to leadership it’s up to the men. The reason they use for exclusive male leadership is that it has been the precedent in the Bible. They cite the fact that the twelve tribes of Israel chosen by God were male and the 12 apostles were all men. How do I answer?

Comment by Watcher

October 19, 2008 @ 3:24 pm

Uhm, you could say something along of the lines that only Jewish men can be leaders since the 12 tribe leaders and 12 apostle positions were all Jewish men. Not a gentile among them.

Comment by SingingOwl

October 19, 2008 @ 3:34 pm

The twelve tribes were all male, so that means only men can lead? I do not see the connection. The land was promised to Jacob and his descendents–sons (and 2 grandsons). It was a patriarchial culture, to be sure, but just because the Bible records what happens doesn’t make it an example to follow. I wonder how these friends of yours feel about polygamy? After all, if it was okay for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and many others, it must be okay for us too. (Of course, this is not the case.) As for the 12 disciples…consider the times and the culture. Jesus was a Jewish male in his life on earth. In many ways he and his followers were following rabinnical culture and precedent. Women did not attend school, did not learn the scripture from rabbis, did not travel around the country in the company of a bunch of guys! The women’s reputations would have been ruined, since it woudl have been assumed that they were prostitutes. BUT…this didn’t stop Jesus from being radical in his confrontation of false ideas. It was Jesus who said that Mary of Bethany had chosen the better part when she did the unthinkable and sat at hs feet as a student. It was Jesus who touched women, spoke to them, healed them, raised them to full personhhod, chose two to be witnesses of his resurrection (women could not be witnesses in a court of law), taught them, and never patronized them or told them to keep to their place. He spoke to the woman at the well, something he should not have done as a good Jew, and he sent her back to town to share the good news. I do not think it is an accident that the first recorded “evangelist” was a women. Jesus had many disciples, and they were not all men.

Comment by Mary

October 20, 2008 @ 7:04 am

The Twelve followed, actually, and followed quite imperfectly, until the Holy Spirit came upon them and all the many others on the Day of Pentecost. The leaders who resulted from that holy empowerment included women, if we’re to believe the accounts in Acts and the corroborating evidence throughout the Epistles.

Comment by Mary Gruben

November 26, 2008 @ 9:15 am

I am a non-traditional college student working on my Masters at a university in Abilene Texas. I am disgusted and saddened about the way women are treated in the average Southern Baptist Church.

I am writing a research paper on the difference in autonomy and decision making among women in subordinated roles vs. women in egalitarian roles.

If any of y’all have any good information on stats re family violence in Baptist churches or any good peer journal articles I could use, please let me know.

It is my guess that domestic violence is as protected in Baptist families as much as it is in the FDLS.