By: Jean Ollis on April 4, 2019
“What does the word ‘ordain-able’ mean? It literally means, ‘possesses a penis,’”…“It does not mean, ‘is currently in seminary, has graduated with an M.Div,” or master’s in divinity, “‘and has gone before a licensure committee.’”[1] It’s no surprise that this week’s text by James R. Beck, Two Views of Women in Ministry, is controversial, emotionally…
By: Mark Petersen on April 4, 2019
At one time Two Views on Women in Ministry would have kindled my interest and passion. I was the first man to enroll in the first Women in Leadership course at my seminary when such topics were controversial in 1989, and when my evangelical institution was pioneering new ways of considering traditional texts which relegated…
By: Mario Hood on April 4, 2019
In, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt lays out a case for why moral judgments stem from emotional feelings rather than rational reasoning. In reviewing the book, Margery Lucas, a Professor of Psychology and Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences at Wellesley College, states, “this book remains an ingenious…
By: Dave Watermulder on April 4, 2019
“Most Christians do not realize how much our backgrounds and traditions affect the ways we read the Bible. Having held both egalitarian and complimentarian (or hierarchicalist) views on women’s ministry with sincerity at different times in my life, in both cases dependent on my desire to be faithful to God’s Word, I recognize the sincere reasons…
By: Chris Pritchett on April 4, 2019
It hasn’t been since 2005 when I last took a serious crack at studying the various sides of this debate about whether the Bible permits women to serve in ordained and other leadership capacities in the church. It strikes me that Beck’sTwo Views on Women in Ministryfails to add anything new to this conversation, even…
By: Jenn Burnett on April 4, 2019
The first week our family was back in Canada after many years abroad, we decided to take a relaxing trip to the movies after months of stress preparing for the move. Given my children’s ages at the time, the cartoon was the obvious choice and it happened to be “Inside Out”[1] ; a humourous tale…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on April 3, 2019
Obviously, everyone knows this topic is near and dear to my heart, which is why I’m devoting my dissertation research and future to advocating for women to equally lead alongside men. Being married to an amazing female leader and working with many gifted females over the years has emboldened my passion to help close this…
By: Jay Forseth on April 3, 2019
A few statements from our DMin have been forever etched in my memory. “God is queer” started it off, and “Jesus is egalitarian” followed later. I have worked past the first but am still a work-in-progress on the second. Similarly, in a later Zoom discussion, it was mentioned, “The Bible is egalitarian.” I have already…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on April 3, 2019
Haidt (as a social and cultural psychologist who has spent sixteen years researching and teaching at the University of Virginia) explores why society has such trouble discussing religion, and why we can’t, “make conversations about morality, politics, and religion more common, more civil and more fun.” Haidt contends that politics and religion as expressions of our…
By: Dan Kreiss on April 3, 2019
It has only been legal for 100 years in the U.S. It’s not too late to repeal the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. In the UAE it is illegal for most women to drive, imagine the reduction in traffic congestion and even carbon emissions if we prevent women from driving. Why stop at…
By: Colleen Batchelder on April 3, 2019
Welcome to the montage of Christian dialogue – a blistering didactic that bears the scars of experience, the endless boxes of research and the ultimate quest for conversion. We’ve all starred into our opponent’s eyes – peering into their soul and questioning the validity of their argument. However, most of us have not sought to…
By: Jennifer Williamson on April 3, 2019
I can’t tell you what a privilege it is for me to work alongside you for the sake of the Kingdom and the glory of the King. Your passion for the gospel and the sincerity with which you approach the Word of God inspire and bless me. I share your love and reverence for the…
By: Harry Edwards on April 3, 2019
Save for the author’s ardent commitment to Darwinian evolution, there is much to learn and appreciate from Jonathan Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. I also wished he addressed an important corollary of his project, namely, the grounding of morality. But that may be exclusively in the…
By: Mike on April 3, 2019
James Beck’s Two Views on Women in Ministry offers the egalitarian and complementarian sides of an evolving inside-outside church debate over whether women should have equal access as men to all church leadership positions. In short, the book says the debate needs more time to solve issues, become more irenic, and review new ideas.[1] I…
By: Karen Rouggly on April 2, 2019
It was February 2015 and overnight, everyone and their mother became concerned with the latest fashion statement. Everyone had an opinion on it and people were camped out solidly on their side. The internet was roaring. It’s almost as if you could hear the virtual chanting in the streets, “Gold, Gold, Gold!” and “Blue, Blue,…
By: John Muhanji on March 29, 2019
We have many indigenous churches which are now calling themselves as Africa Independent Churches (AIC) which broke away from the mainstream churches which were established by missionaries. Some of these churches are led with people who have never gone through theological training nor any other church leadership, but they claim to have been trained by…
By: Karen Rouggly on March 27, 2019
This last week, I’ve been at a conference that centers around the idea of vocation. Most of the conference attendees are folks from institutions of higher education, some religious and some not. As my colleague and I wandered the breakout sessions and sat through the workshops, we both remarked a few times on the terminology…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on March 23, 2019
Ross Douthat, an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times took an interesting faith journey through various streams of Christianity including infant baptism in the Episcopal church, attending evangelical and Pentecostal churches as a child, and converting to Catholicism after turning seventeen and becoming quite traditional in his Christian faith, has developed a passionate argument…
By: Mary Mims on March 23, 2019
I started reading Ross Douthat’s book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, with great interest because, in the introduction, he promised to talk about the Black Church and its role in the American Church. As I read on, I found Douthat’s first characterization of the Black Church ill-informed at best. Douthat states…
By: Wallace Kamau on March 23, 2019
Martha Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed-or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her. Jesus was categorical about the best place and posture for a believer to be safe on matters of God. Humility at the…
