Deciphering Complex New Testament Texts about Women Part One: An Introduction
From the Vatican Museums. Centered in this panel is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, seen wearing a priestly pallium in Niccolo de Giovanni’s Last Judgment painting, 1150-1199.
Image source: Shala Graham, Visual Museum of Women in Christianity
An Introduction to This Series
When first studying egalitarian theology (or theologies more accurately), many women have told me they’ve been afraid. Fear lurked in their hearts - that they were not being faithful Christians, that they were doubting the accuracy of Scripture. They feared other people’s words, and that God would be mad at them for not taking God’s Word seriously. They had been so conditioned that anything outside of “complementarian”[1] arguments were theologically suspect that they worried they were diverging from their faith by simply trying to learn another perspective.
In studying the work of various egalitarian[2] authors, I have discovered something beautiful: these scholars are Jesus-loving, orthodox[3] scholars who uphold the authority of Scripture. More than uphold it – they love the Word of God, considering it an honor to spend their lives studying it. They remind me of the author of Psalm 118, who genuinely delights in God’s Word.
So, many complementarians may wonder, how could these scholars be faithful Christ-followers AND simultaneously not believe men were given different roles from women in the church and the home?
While these egalitarian scholars uphold the accuracy of Scripture, they do not support all interpretations of Scripture by human beings. The meticulous work of translating anything from one language into another is tricky, especially if the document in question is ancient. Different languages have different expressions, idioms, and word meanings. To complicate that, ancient people had different ways of life, so stories and parables don’t always make as much sense to modern audiences as they did to ancient ones. There’s also the challenge of slight textual variance across Biblical manuscripts. Usually, these variances are incredibly minor and do not change the meaning of the texts, but in rare situations, the variants do matter quite a bit. Translators must make choices as they translate. Sometimes these translation decisions are excellent and sometimes they are not. All translations are made by human beings. Human beings, even the most careful and faithful ones, are subject to making mistakes.
Further, sometimes a passage is translated well but has not been understood well for centuries. Human bias and prejudice have colored the history of interpreting God’s Word, sometimes with disastrous effects on groups of God’s people. God’s Word has been misused to uphold slavery across time and space. It has been misused to deprive women and people of color of civil rights. It has been misused to cause harm to people of other belief systems. It has been misused to harm LGBTQIA+ folks. Unfortunately, it will continue to be misused to harm specific people and people groups.
In this series, I will address New Testament passages that have historically been and are currently being used to discriminate against women[4] in the church and the home. I will present what I consider to be the most convincing egalitarian arguments, hopefully in a succinct, accessible way. I will include excellent resources for further personal study, all of which are the work of faithful, orthodox, Jesus-loving Christians who view Scripture as God-given and authoritative. They are faithful to the text, but critical of theologies that have interpreted or translated the text in a way that subjugates women, past or present. They are humble, open to feedback, and continue to learn and hone their understanding of Scripture, as should we all.
I will begin with the most common texts used to prevent women from holding authoritative positions in the church. Then, I will move to passages that address marital relationships between men and women.
Series Links
Notes
[1] I will define complementarians as those who reject formal female leadership in the church (this varies from church to church but can include denying ordination for women or not allowing them to become pastors, elders, and/or deacons) and those who believe wives are subject to their husbands in ways not reciprocated by their husbands. They typically also believe wives have different household and familial roles than their husbands. These arguments usually assume a marital relationship between a man and a woman only.
[2] I will define egalitarians as those who believe called and qualified women can be ordained and serve at all levels of church leadership. They also believe there are no specific roles for men and women in the home. Most believe marriage should be only between a man and a woman. That is not the belief of this author; however, I will address only marriages between men and women in this series of posts because that is the assumption of every complementarian I have known or read. The Scriptures also assume a marital relationship is between a man and a woman; remember that marriage between same-sex partners was not done at the time the Scriptures were written, though same-sex male sexual relations were not uncommon in the first-century Roman Empire.
[3] Small “o” orthodox, referring not to the established Orthodox church, but rather describing a Christianity in line with our faithful ancestors, who upheld the Nicene Creed.
[4] I will not define who qualifies as a man and who qualifies as a woman as that is not my decision to make.
