Women in the Church

This CT article reminded me of the nasty battles that occur in Christian circles regarding the role of women in the Church as well as in the home. There are two main views: complementarianism and egalitarianism. I pitch my tent in the egalitarian camp. In my view, women can hold any office in the church hierarchy including senior pastor and moderator of the General Assembly. And in the home I don’t think the biblical data supports the concept of male “headship” as it is commonly thought of. Two books I’d recommend (and there are many being published these days by evangelical presses) are Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality by Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry by Stanley Grenz and Denise Kjesbo.

For an excellent online examination, check out this series at the Christian-Thinktank. It’s a bit lengthy so I’d especially recommend reading section 4-Women in the NT and the Early Church, and especially the fourth article, Paul and Women which looks at the controversial passages such as 1 Cor. 11, 1 Cor. 14, 1 Tim. 2, Eph. 5.