The CBE Scroll

We still invite comments about the conference  and also there is a new comment by Anca on the post re Titus 2 (see below)

Good questions which deserve solid answers. I’m sure there are some from the Scroll community who would love to contribute.

“Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis” by William J Webb

This book starts out with the question: Which of these instructions from Scripture are still in force for us today exactly as they are articulated “on the page”?

Webb then lists several Scripture passages. Here is a short sample of them:

• Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deut 6:5)
• Do not approach a woman to have sexual relations during the uncleanness of her monthly period (Lev 18:19)
• Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman (Lev 18:22)
• Go and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:19)
• Do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you (Mt 5:42)
• Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh (1 Pet 2:18)
• Do not take interest of any kind from your countryman (Lev 25:36)
• Is any sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord

The purpose of this exercise is to help the reader understand the difficulty of understanding which biblical verses are cultural and which are transcultural.

In this book Webb confront three topics, that of slavery, women, and homosexuality and asks which aspects of the Scripture passages on each are dealing with a cultural situation and which are transcultural.

He goes through the difficult Scripture on slavery and women and comes to the conclusion that there is movement in the passages on these subjects. The movement he is referring to is in contrast to the surrounding culture of the time. Many of the passages on slaves and women modify the harsh conditions that both slaves and women lived under. So while they appear to support slavery and the subordination of women, there is movement towards liberation for both slaves and women within them. On the other hand, he states there is no movement on the restriction of homosexuality. In the surrounding culture of the time in some places homosexuality was accepted, and in other places it had mixed acceptance. But Scripture doesn’t accept it at all. This is in contrast to the surrounding culture. Therefore there is no movement towards acceptance of homosexual activity.

His point is that when we try to assess which parts of Scripture are cultural and which are transcultural we need to see whether there is any movement in Scripture. We do see movement on the issue of slaves and women; therefore we should view these verses in a cultural context. We do not see movement on the issue of restriction of homosexuality; therefore we should see these verses as transcultural.

Webb believes slavery is morally wrong and supports the egalitarian view of Scripture in regard to women. However, he believes that homosexuality is biblically wrong.   His understanding of movement in Scripture is what underlies his opinions.

I enjoyed this book and it helped answer a lot of questions for me. I must say that I found it a little on the difficult side to read. I had to read it in parts. But for those like me, who struggle with what is cultural within the biblical text and with what is transcultural this is an excellent resource.

When most of us egalitarians have a friend with questions about women in ministry, we offer them one of a few classic books.  We give them Gilbert Bilizekian’s Beyond Sex Roles or one of the multi-views books published by InterVarsity Press or Zondervan or perhaps (if we’re really creative!) refer them to an article on the CBE website.  We now, however, have at least one entirely different option: Scot McKnight’s new book The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible.

The remarkable thing about Scot’s book is that it’s not really about women in ministry or anything else relating to gender–it is, as the title, suggests, about how to read the Bible.  The first section of the book is about reading the Bible as a larger narrative (similar to how N. T. Wright suggests we read it in books of his like The Last Word), the middle sections are about ways to interpret the Bible, and the final section applies these principles to the issue of women in ministry.  The genius of the book is twofold:

(1) Those that have no interest in gender issues may end up thinking about them because they wanted to read this book about interpreting Scripture.

(2) Those that are interested in gender issues can read this book and focus a lot less on the back-and-forth between egalitarians and complementarians (which has its place) to, instead, consider this much broader and–in many ways–more important issue of how to read the Bible.  Once their way of reading the Bible is different, it’s unlikely they can return to their same old views of gender nearly as easily.

Admittedly, there were aspects of the book I wasn’t completely enthused by, and you may wish to read a more complete review of the book on Amazon or Christianity Today before giving it to a friend.  However, solely considering its merit as a resource with the potential to improve the status of women in Western evangelical churches, I am quite impressed.

What I most admire about the book is its ability to see the big picture.  While many of us are so passionate about gender issues that we could spend all day discussing the related Bible passages, Scot realizes the interpretation of these passages is not his top priority.  Seeing the many academics that debate women’s roles, I think we often forget the place most lay people are in: it’s not just that they don’t know the Greek and Hebrew to solve this gender mystery themselves.  Rather, if we are to ever move forward on this, or many other issues in the church, we’re going to have to study–and dialog about–how to read the Bible to begin with.   After all, few of our churches really teach us to handle this seemingly basic task.

Scot’s book may not please everyone in the sophistication of his argument for women’s equality, nor the depth of its coverage of this larger question about Scripture, but I think we could learn a lot from his humble willingness to let the specific issues of women in ministry take a backseat while we work tirelessly to improve general interpretive skills.  Each emphasis has its place in our writing and teaching, of course, but The Blue Parakeet fills a gap few seem to have noticed.  While it’s crucial to continue our study of the specific issue of women in ministry, let’s not forget the foundational questions we must help people answer in order for them to mature in their faith.  We may be surprised just how well more specific issues like gender equality can be connected to these larger questions and how much more open people are to new ideas when approached from that broader and potentially less threatening angle.

The ‘priesthood of all believers doctrine’ is well stated on the Southern Baptist Convention’s website: “We affirm the priesthood of all believers. Laypersons have the same right as ordained ministers to communicate with God, interpret Scripture, and minister in Christ’s name. That is why the Convention requires strong lay involvement on its boards. This doctrine is first and foremost a matter of responsibility and servanthood, not privilege and license.” (http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/pspriesthood.asp)

 The clearest Scriptural statement about this is in I Peter 2: 5,9 “…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. …But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (NIV)

To me, this doctrine teaches that Christian women are priests. If they are priests, why can’t they preach? I suggest that women in the ministry fulfils the doctrine. Ministers “declare the praises of him,” as do all true Christians. Paul talks about specific gifts people have, and so specific people have specific tasks in the church, but this priesthood is not a gift, it is a calling given to all Christians. To say that a priest cannot fulfill a leadership function because of gender says to me that the “priesthood of all believers”  is only completely given to men, which seems to pervert Peter’s teaching here.

Does my interpretation make sense? I am not a Biblical languages scholar. Does the “declare” in I Peter indicate the ability to preach? The word is exaggello (Strong’s #1804), the base word of which means messenger or angel (Strong’s #32That seems to me to cover preaching.  I’m aware of at least one denomination that disagrees with my interpretation.

What do other denominations teach concerning this doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and women in the ministry? I’d love to know.

Does anyone have any other verses that give strong direction concerning this that they would like to share?

I’m looking forward to hearing from you all.

2nd Timothy 2:2

(NIV)

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

(TNIV)

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

Does the word “anthropos” translated as “men” in the NIV refer only to men? The TNIV translates it as “people.”

Reference: Online Greek Interlinear, 2 Timothy 2:2

(click to enlarge)

The interlinear Greek also translates it as “people.” But note that the English translation on the right translates the word “anthropos” as “men” rather than as people.

So should Bible translators be translating it as “men” or as “people.” What do you say?