Having taught Mere Christianity in small group over the last year, I was not pleased with the comments C.S. Lewis makes in this book that he published early in his writing career. It was of great interest to me, then, to see this topic addressed at the CBE conference by Dr. Mary Stewart Van […]
Earlier in the main session, Craig Keener told how he recently got married. He had been friends with an African woman who had to flee the violence in the Congo. They had delayed getting married because of a misunderstanding about “ministry.” She had said that she did not feel called to “ministry” – meaning being […]
Craig Keener, in his workshop, pointed out the need for interpretation and looking at context. He asked us if we should obey all the commands in the Bible. What about: “Go to Troas and get the cloak” (2 Ti 4:13) or “Take up an offering for the church in Jerusalem.” No, we […]
Craig Keener’s “Marriage: A Biblical Model of Submission”
Keener discussed Aristotle’s “household codes,” a set of values widely regarded in Paul’s day which instructed men to rule over their wives, children and slaves. Paul, in Ephesians 5:18, sets forth his primary charge: “Be filled with the Spirit.” Then he offers practical “how-tos” by adapting the household […]
Workshop: Opposite Sexes or Neighboring Sexes? An agenda for Gender Reconciliation
Presenter: Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Ph.D.
Men and women are more like neighboring sexes than opposite sexes. We can only achieve a more just and healthy model for gender and family relations if personal and structural changes are made. The health and happiness […]
What’s so wrong with being a terror on wheels? There’s a certain “bad boy” image that is attractive to a lot of people. See How to be a Bad Boy and How Bush’s Bad-Boy Image Helps. What’s extremely odd is that women seem to fall for this type despite their verbal denials. […]
Well, I go off the church board next week, and I leave with mixed emotions. When they asked me to join it three years ago, I told them that church eldership was never anything I ever sought — in fact, was something I rather dreaded. They wanted me anyway. I suppose an organization […]
The NBC Today Show reported on recent research this morning that said that 25 percent of American families have wives that earn more than their husbands. This trend is only going to increase since women have recently been graduating from college in greater numbers than men. Although more men age 25 and up […]
Facts about divorce in America:
1) Over 50% of first marriages end in divorce.
2) Over 60% of second marriages end in divorce.
3) About half of the 1.2 million marriages each year are between couples where one or both have been married before.
4) The average […]
I don’t believe there is much in the way of happy one-way submission in the world amongst couples. Christian hierarchicalists, if they get around to it, try to emphasize that Christian men are to lay down their lives for their wives, but heavens, never submit to them. On the rare occasion that he […]