I asked Dr. Craig Keener about his current thoughts on “headship.” He noted that “headship” has a range in meanings in the ancient sources and possibly doesn’t mean “source” as the old CBE literature strongly advocated. But Paul does not use “head” in a strong hierarchical way either. Craig is still reading […]
Finally, a comprehensive scholarly book from the egalitarian position! I have been in academic circles and egalitarian circles and I had not heard that this new book is out! It is Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy. Its general editors are Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and its contributing editor is Gordon Fee […]
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 […]
Were ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish cultures more liberating for women than the early church? Dr. Craig Keener argues that there was a range of perspectives on women in the cultures where the early church found itself, but that Paul was more liberating in his writings about women than any other writer of his […]
Dr. Craig Keener also said that it is very dangerous politically to write on this issue of gender equality as a New Testament scholar because you are likely to get the rest of your writings marginalized by people who disagree with you on this issue. There are a number of evangelical institutions that will […]
I asked Dr. Craig Keener, CBE workshop presenter, why more New Testament scholars are not writing on gender equality (both pro and con). He said that the vast percentage of NT scholars do not know much about New Testament backgrounds or ancient Judaism so they are not equipped for these sort of discussions. He mentioned […]
Re the call to service…
The workers are few
Divide by two.
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 […]
CBE Workshop — Craig Keener
There are instructions in Ephesians 5:21-6:9 for both husbands and wives and slaves and masters. Craig Keener began his workshop with a presentation about how the church has viewed slavery over its history. Slavery was justified for many years within the Christian community by a so-called “plain reading” of […]