Both Fuller and Wallis\u2019 books were helpful primers for our week together in DC and I am looking forward to learning from them both together as cohorts!<\/p>\n
Fuller seeks to add perspective in his book\u00a0High Ceilings<\/em>\u00a0and his own insights into a long history of scholarship and debate around the biblical role of women in leadership. He identifies himself in his introduction as a “complementarian-egalitarian” where biblical roles in the family are different from roles within the church.<\/p>\n I appreciate his insight on the first pages that, “The fullness of Man would be seen in two image bearers.\u201d[1]<\/a> This is such an important point to make; that both men and women together are needed to fully reflect the image of God.<\/p>\n However, Fuller and I quickly diverge in our viewpoints when he states that, as a result of the fall, God has given men authority in the home over women because “eve sinned first”. While the objective of this post is not to go too far into detail, this was the major theological sticking point for me of his argument, which the rest of his position flows from. He ignores the fact that Adam, “was with” (Gen. 3:7) Eve when she took the fruit and that they both failed in this moment together. The results of the fall, then, were separation and hierarchy, which were not a part of God’s original design. Fuller seems so close to being an egalitarian, but something is stopping him from getting there in the need for a hierarchical view of the marriage relationship (even if not really in practice, see page 26). I think the answer is in his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11 and his assertion that, “from there didatic statements we know that the heavenly Father is positionally over the Son.”[2]<\/a> This may not be subordinationism in its heretical sense, but it does help me understand where the argument comes from, though I disagree with it.<\/p>\n In his treatment of the text in Ephesians, he misses the context of household codes in the Greco-Roman world[3]<\/a> and the radical nature of Paul’s thesis statement, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”[4]<\/a><\/p>\n What I’d like to ask Pastor Fuller about in regard to this text is how and when he made the decision to separate family roles from congregational roles? I am always curious how our experiences and training impact the way we read texts like these and interpret them. What hermeneutical lenses influence his interpretation of these texts? Have those lenses been questioned?<\/p>\n In Fuller’s second text, Dreaming in Black and White<\/em>, Fuller tells us that this book, “is about believe for, creating and capturing iconic moments of resolve and healing.”[5]<\/a> Ultimately, he hopes that in writing this book the reader might develop skills of reconciliation that resist bitterness and work towards the kingdom vision of a multi-ethnic people living and worshipping together. This book is an important testimony to the stories of heartache and of hope that future generations of leaders need to know. Fuller’s approach is winsome and he shares his personal story along with national stories. His main heart as a pastor is this prayer, “Lord, make (this church) look more like heaven than like me.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n What I’d like to ask Fuller in regard to this prayer is how pastors from places where there isn’t as much racial diversity can live this out? How can I be a “kingdom culture builder” in a town that is predominantly white?<\/p>\n Finally, in doing an inspectional reading of Jim Wallis’ book, God’s Politics, <\/em>I was intrigued and encouraging by the goal of his book to bring hope and perspective to what often feels like a hopeless situation. Wallis writes that his book, “challenges both the Right and the Left–offering new vision for faith and politics in America.”[7]<\/a> I chuckled cynically as he talked about how divided the world was in 2005 and just how far we\u2019ve continued to divide in this country. Wallis puts a special emphasis on the poor and the special emphasis that God puts on caring for the poor in Scripture. From our class zoom chat last week, I was able to identify Wallis as another \u201cAugustinian\u201d when it came to the role of faith and politics. Concerned about fundamentalists desire to create a theocracy he admits that \u201cbiblical faith regards political power much more suspiciously.\u201d[8]<\/a> While I don\u2019t have space to continue my inspectional summary of Wallis\u2019 book, I did develop some questions I\u2019d like to ask him next week. First, since writing this book in 2005, where have you seen progress of \u201cGod\u2019s Politics\u201d in America making a different for the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven? Secondly, how do you continue to \u201cchoose hope\u201d when there are setbacks and fight bitterness and cynicism and discouragement?<\/p>\n I look forward to interacting with these authors together next week!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Fuller. High Ceilings<\/em>, 5.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Fuller, High Ceilings, <\/em>33.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Aristotle and the Household Codes | Psephizo<\/a><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ephesians 5:21, NIV<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White, <\/em>7.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Fuller, Dreaming in Black and White<\/em>, 48.<\/p>\n