...been a strong push for women’s equality. There are many Christians and non-Christians who believe Christianity had a hand in the perpetuation of the patriarchy leading to misogyny. Christians who oppose this idea may argue that it is founded on a lack of theological knowledge, that there is biblical evidence supporting that God desires equality, and that discrimination is not condoned in biblical stories and teachings. It is easy to initially construct the notion of misogyny in the Old Testament when acquiring only a shallow view of scripture. However, when applying a hermeneutical approach, one can see that equality among genders is a common theme. The Bible itself is, without a doubt, patriarchal in nature, but presents evidence of equality. Of note is the theme of religious equality; “that is, equality of the woman as a person before God.” This essay will explore various events in the Bible, beginning in Genesis, to support the claim that the Old Testament, though patriarchal, is not misogynistic and demeaning to women. Equality in Genesis Genesis states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27, NKJV). This verse provides evidence for equality between women and men and that they are both made in the image of God. Taking a look at Genesis 1:26-28 as a whole shows that the words “image” or “likeness” were used four times and implies significance. Men and women are both Godlike according to this...
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...Book critique: two views on women in ministry ___________________ A Paper Presented to Dr. Dietmar Schulze Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary ___________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course THEO 530 Systematic Theology II ___________________ by Peter Heikkinen February 17, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..….1 SUMMARY…………………………………………………………………………………….1-3 EGALITARIAN EQUALITY…………………………………………………………..1-2 COMPLIMENTARIAN ROLES…………………………………………………….…2-3 CRITICAL INTERACTION……………………………………………………………………3-6 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………....6-7 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………....8 Introduction Within Christian controversial topics that divide the Church as a whole Woman in Ministry is one of the most divisive. The two main sides of this debate are; egalitarian’s who believe there are no role differences in gender to authority or teaching in the church biblically. The complementarian view also known as the traditional view holds that men have a position of authority before God in church teaching and authority in the church and home governing. James Beck gathers four New Testament scholars two for each side on the issue and sets out to show case two arguments for each side and room for rebuttal in consideration of the New Testament scripture dealing with woman in ministry. With my own view being that of a soft complementation; women have a role in teaching and authority...
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...that seeks to champion the civil rights of women (Gregory and Giancola 378). Ecology is the study of living organism in relation to the environmental systems such as social ecology and economic ecology. Social ecology explores the symbolic, psychological, and ethical issues affecting the relationship between human beings and the environment. In most cases, eco-feminists surveys issues affecting women in the society such as political rights, access to employment, and other civil rights that are entitled to women. Nonetheless, women rights are still contemporary issues in the modern society because of the social alienation and discrimination of women in the society because of the patriarchal societal systems. For instance, the western culture does not advocate for equality for women as far as gender sensitivity is concerned. According to Gregory and Giancola, the issues affecting women in the society are ecological crisis dated from the 20th century (377). Therefore, Eco-feminism offers an alternative that society needs to adopt and embrace to foster equality without oppression of women. As such, there are varied Eco-feminist principles outlined by world ethics. The first Eco-feminist principle is reshaping of the dualistic concept of reality (Gregory and Giancola 382). The concept of reality focuses on the biblical fact that women were the last people to come to earth. Based on this assertion, eco-feminist argues that it is prudent for women to discover their reality on earth. This...
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...Sojourner Truth’s speech is about the plight of both women and black slaves and how they intersect with black women. Sojourner Truth makes statements regarding the womens rights movement and the slave rights movement and effectively joins the two movements. Sojourner Truth was a black woman who gave this speech at a women’s convention in 1851. She uses the repetition of “And ain’t I a woman?”, which is meant to draw attention to her being a woman and black. She uses this to bridge slave rights and womens rights because she is in fact, both a woman and a black slave. She lists off all the things that people say women should have done for them, and then calls it all out because she has not had any of these things done for her, even though she...
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...I believe that this book Christianity 101, as its catchy title shows, purports to be a textbook of basic theology, and in all fairness there are some doctrines in there that are evangelical and orthodox. However, it soon becomes clear that is more a vehicle to convey the hermeneutic. In an ironic way, therefore, I agree with Bill Hybels’ verdict: However Christianity 101 is organized according to eight chapters reflecting, innocuously enough, the author’s “eight basic Christian beliefs”: I believe the true revelation of God reveals himself in two ways these are called general revelation and Special revelation each one is explained to different but obtained from God in a roundabout way revelation. God in nature speaks of the lover that one have of God’s creation the Author of Revelation and the giver of the vision to the apostle John (Revelation 1:1). As such, He concludes the book with a confirmation of His testimony to the finality of the prophecies contained in Revelation. These are His words, and He warns against distorting them in any way, whether through additions, subtractions, falsifications, alterations, or intentional misinterpretations. The warning is explicit and dire. The plagues of Revelation will be visited upon anyone guilty of tampering in any way with the revelations in the book, and those who dare to do so will have no part in eternal life in heaven. Each of the areas of general revelation deserves to be closely examined and appropriately interpreted. (p.3...
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...Equal Rights for Some On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted into the system, giving freedom that may have never been intended. This document specifically affected blacks. One effect was the emancipation of slaves, which gave blacks their freedom. Although blacks tried to get equal rights into the new constitution, there has been several alterations which extended from the freedom of slaves to the egalitarianism amongst men and women. The position of slavery was involved in the drafting of the document. The declaration contained an evident undertake of liberty and equality that was discontented for African-Americans prior to the Civil War and was only moderately rewarded after. Thomas Jefferson wrote in the declaration...
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...Bradley Isbell Doctor James Strange Life and Letters of Paul 5.6.2010 Biblical Studies and the Gender Question in the Church The role of gender in the church is one of the toughest issues facing the church-body today. In fact, the role of women in all parts of society has come under scrutiny over the years. Concern and sharp disagreements across the globe are shedding light on the role women should play, do play, and are restricted from playing in the church. Many answers have emerged but no definitive conclusions have come to the surface. This is in part due to the apparent conflicting evidence that we see in biblical texts. It seems that everyone has an opinion on what it actually says. While some churches whose traditions and practices are less rigidly tied to Biblical doctrines have begun placing women in leadership positions such as pastor or teachers, others that interpret the Bible more literally have been slow to adopt changes. The opposing egalitarian and complementarian views on gender illustrated by the following interpretations can be attributed to differing approaches to exegetical techniques, hermeneutical principles, outside authorities, and contrasting ideas on authenticity both literal and situation-specific in scripture. These ideas will be explored a bit later. To begin our discussion we need a general explanation of what is meant by an egalitarian or complementarian view. Egalitarianism is a moral code that holds that everyone should be...
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...being philosophically and morally valid. They want all opinions to be changed to theirs. In other words, they want society to change as a whole. There was once a time this country stood unmovable against biblical offences such as this. What society used to call an abomination and see as evil is now tolerated and recognized as a “norm.” When professing Christians, due to biblical ignorance, accept a homosexual lifestyle as OK, consequently, as biblically permissible, that is a tragedy. God is love, yes, but “God is angry with the wicked everyday” (Ps. 7:11). God is perfect and righteous and takes a dim view at those who say, “Jesus is Lord,” then dishonor him by their practices and/or toleration towards these sins—Scripture is clear on the subject....
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...'The aim of feminist theology is simply to seek equality between women and men' Discuss. Feminist theology is a movement found in many religions. Feminist theology aims to reconsider the traditions, scriptures and theologies of those religions from a feminist perspective. It can be argued that feminist theology just wants equality between men and women, however, It can also be put across that seeking equality is not their only aim. Liberal feminist theology is fundamentally rooted in the Enlightenment philosophers who place a high value on reason and recognise that men and women share the same powers of reason. Key thinkers, such as Immanuel Kant, think that whilst there may be physical differences between men and women, there is no difference in terms of human reason. Liberal feminist theologians argue that although the Bible is often patriarchal and biased against women, there is nevertheless a strand which runs from Genesis to Galatians which consider men and women to be created equally in the image of God and therefore entitled to equal respect. They would argue that the Bible shows that women can perform a wide variety of roles and that certain texts are particularly important in demonstrating this. One is the story of Deborah. The scripture characterises Deborah as a prophet, judge and poet. She summons the Israelite commander Barak, addresses him forcefully with a command from the Lord and gives him specific tactical orders. A stark contrast to the strength and leadership...
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...encouraged not to teach or even to speak with women. Jewish wisdom literature tells us that "he that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna [hell]."[3] One reason for the avoidance of women was the belief that they could lead men astray: "From garments cometh a moth and from a woman the iniquities of a man" (Ecclus. 42:13). Indeed, men were often viewed as intrinsically better than women, for "better is the iniquity of a man than a woman doing a good turn" (Ecclus. 42:14).[4] In view of this low status of women, it is not surprising that they enjoyed few legal rights in Jewish society. Women were not even allowed to give evidence in a court of law. Moreover, according to the rabbinic school that followed Rabbi Hillel, a man could legally divorce his wife if she burned his dinner. It was in this oppressive context that Christianity was born. Many people - both men and women - have hailed Jesus as a feminist because of His elevation of women in a male-chauvinist society. Moreover, Paul's statement in Galatians 3:28 - "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (NIV) - has been called "the Magna Carta of humanity."[5] Because of the Christian's standing in Christ, it is argued, the subordination of women that was (allegedly) caused by the Fall (Gen. 3) has been replaced with total equality of the sexes in Christ. Any apparent...
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...15th centuries were not a somewhat comfortable place for a lot of women of this time period. Medieval women of the middle ages had a very rough time in an era when many men had lived harsh lives--farming, war time fighters or servants. Only a few women lived subtle lives because the medieval society was completely dominated by men, and women had to adjust to the teachings and cultures of knowing their roles in such a time. The majority of women had little or no role to play when it came to making contributions to their countries or communities at large. It is noted in medieval arts that the place of women in society was dictated by biblical texts, namely, Eve having eaten of the forbidden fruit, being responsible for the "original sin" and the source of humankind's depravity. A woman's main role in the medieval village was not of power and privilege or that of a queen, but to marry at a very young age, managing the household, and tending to the needs of her husband and children. The most important roles of the medieval women were that of childbearing, which often came with its own complications. Since women had no...
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... 12/01/2014 Prince of Egypt is a movie based on the Book of Exodus created by DreamWorks Studios and released in 1998. DreamWorks is a Hollywood company that is dedicated to entertainment, and it is not a religious organization. Due to that fact, there are differences between the story of Moses as depicted in the movie and as told in the Book of Exodus. While there were many changes made to the biblical story, the filmmakers succeeded at delivering a message that is universal to all religions. The main point of the movie is to show the life of a man who persisted through struggles and freed his people. The purpose of this essay is to concentrate on eight major differences and why they were introduced. This essay will analyze how changes made to the presentation of the material significantly changed the content, message, or understanding of the biblical story The first major difference is when Moses was found in his basket. In the movie, the Pharaoh’s wife finds Moses and there is no mention of who was breastfeeding the baby later in the film. According to the biblical story, Moses was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter and was breastfed by his biological mother later. In order to make it accessible to a larger public, DreamWorks had to satisfy an audience consisting of Christians, Jews and Muslims, as well as followers of other religions. I believe that in an attempt to satisfy the Muslim population and not to offend any religion, DreamWorks changed the plot according to...
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...In addition to her breakdown of intellect, Murray wakes up her neighbors by integrating Biblical ideas and texts into her ideas of equality. Murray writes about the story of Adam and Eve, and explains that Eve was not in fact the one at fault. She explains that Eve, in reality, had good intention when she picked the apple from the tree, writing, “ Let us examine her [Eve’s] motive...it doth not appear that she was governed by any one sensual appetite; but merely by a desire of adorning her mind; a laudable ambition fired her soul, and a thirst for knowledge impelled the predilection so fatal in its consequences” (Murray 561). Murray then compares Eve’s motives to those of Adam, saying that he “could not plead the same deception” and...
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...TWO VIEWS ON WOMEN IN MINISTRY A Paper Submitted to Liberty Theological Seminary Dr. Garry Graves In partial fulfillment of the requirements For completion of the course Systematic Theology II THEO 530 By Vernon L Langley July 26, 2012 Beck, James R. Two Views on Women in Ministry: Revised ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. ISBN: 978-0-310-25437-9. Thesis Statement: in view of the fact that my own outlook on women’s responsibility in ministry is in between social equality and Complementarian; however I will attempt to show that women have a part in ministry, through the assessment of these two differing points of views as offered in the principal book Two Views on Women In Ministry and as contrasted with other academic books. Introduction: Dr. James R. Beck has assembled four academic assessments which present the egalitarian and complementarianism / hierarchical analysis regarding women in ministry with unprejudiced supplementary counterpoints to completely enlighten the one who reads. The arrangement of analysis appear to evaluate and distinguish in a reasonable, impartial way that supply the one who reads with a good insight of the dispute, with opposing opinions offered at the conclusion of every article. However, the reasonable approach to the arrangement of both components regarding women in ministry do not completely disclose God’s genuineness; thus, the Two Views on Women in Ministry...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BOOK CRITQUE: TWO VIEWS ON WOMEN IN MINISTRY A PAPER SUMBITTED TO DR. SIMON GONCHARENKO IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE THEO 530 LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BY REGINALD TOWNSEND HATTIESBURG, MS SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Thesis................................................................................................................................1 Introduction......................................................................................................................1 Brief Summary.................................................................................................................1-3 A Critical Interaction........................................................................................................3-6 Conclusion........................................................................................................................7 Bibliography.....................................................................................................................8 THESIS My view on ministry has roots in both complementarianism as well as egalitarianism. It is my goal to show how these two views have led to my understanding of women in ministry in association with the review of Two Views on Women in Ministry. INTRODUCTION The debate of women in ministry is ongoing. This is one that has divided some churches and is split between two views...
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