Two Plus Two Newer Archives - wemon in the conservative christian church

The following is a blog entry written by my brother. He is a member of a very conservative southern baptist church. I found this to be exceptionally written and thought provoking to those who might have similar opinions to that of Mr. Grudem.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Today Beliefnet.com posted an interview with respected conservative evangelical scholar Wayne Grudem. [You can read the articale here .] Grudem is a graduate of Havard, Westminster Theological Seminary, and Cambridge, as well as the author of a very well received book on Systematic Theology. He is also the author of the recently published book, Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood. In his interview Grudem shares that his experiences as a pastor have led him to solidify his particular hermeneutic principles (which also happen to be the same principles held by many of my conservative brethren) into a list of positions and services that women should and should not perform for the church. While Grudem's view may be grouped in with the Complementarian view of gender, his reasoning for adopting such a view seems, to me, suspect. Grudem says that his views are based on the "pattern in the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, where there is never an instance where a woman does teaching of God’s word to an assembled group of men." Really? Should we then ignore the account of Deborah (Judges 4 & 5), whose reign brought fourty years of peace to the land of Israel? Judgement could not be separated from the Law in ancient Israel as there were no secular courts. How then did Deborah rule? And what of Phoebe? (The one in Romans 16, not the one who sang "Smelly Cat!") The greek word used to describe her is diakonos. While it can be translated "deacon" or "servant", it is equally possible to translate it "minister." [See 1 Tim 4:6 where Timothy is called a diakonos by Paul yet is clearly in a position of authority within the church at Ephesus.] While simple biology leads me to have certain diagreements with the Egalitarian view of gender, Grudem's blatantly patristic interretation of the Bible is clearly outdated and can only add to the stereotype that the church (and God) does not value women as highly as men.