http://www.christianegalitarians.org/archives/9 Christians for Gender Equality Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:51:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.3 http://www.christianegalitarians.org/archives/9#comment-3 Sat, 12 Mar 2005 23:37:00 +0000 http://www.christianegalitarians.org/archives/9#comment-3 To get an up-to-date overview of Evangelical egalitarian theology, I recommend the recent (late 2004) book, <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0830827293/qid=1110675743/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-9846217-8859913" REL="nofollow"><I>Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy</I></A>, edited by Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis. I especially appreciate Dr Gordon D. Fee's chapter, "Hermeneutics and the Gender Debate" in which he discusses the tension points in Evangelical hermeneutics, especially two areas of concern in which some Evangelicals tend to "create theology by implication rather than on the basis of clear and explicit statements in Scripture," and secondly, to "turn some ad hoc biblical imperatives into a form of Christian law requiring observance." Christians need to be careful about adopting theologies that supposedly articulate "what all Christians in all places and at all times should believe," because such theologies must avoid "ambiguity and diverse witness. Where there is ambiguity and diversity of witness, it would seem that what is being 'taught' is Christian truth that is being accommodated to that culture and its structures."<BR/><BR/>This book is not written for a general audience, but for those who can read and dig out the meanings from academic writings such as these. To get an up-to-date overview of Evangelical egalitarian theology, I recommend the recent (late 2004) book, Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy, edited by Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis. I especially appreciate Dr Gordon D. Fee’s chapter, “Hermeneutics and the Gender Debate” in which he discusses the tension points in Evangelical hermeneutics, especially two areas of concern in which some Evangelicals tend to “create theology by implication rather than on the basis of clear and explicit statements in Scripture,” and secondly, to “turn some ad hoc biblical imperatives into a form of Christian law requiring observance.” Christians need to be careful about adopting theologies that supposedly articulate “what all Christians in all places and at all times should believe,” because such theologies must avoid “ambiguity and diverse witness. Where there is ambiguity and diversity of witness, it would seem that what is being ‘taught’ is Christian truth that is being accommodated to that culture and its structures.”

This book is not written for a general audience, but for those who can read and dig out the meanings from academic writings such as these.

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