Following Bruce Ware's Primrose Path to Domestic Abuse (Part I: Ideas that fed those Shiny Happy People)

When the reporter, Peter Smith, contacted me to ask questions about my relationships with Bruce Ware and Russell Moore and my thoughts about them, I told him that I had no reason to believe that either of them had any clue about who I was. (Earlier that year, I'd earned the badge of honor through a dishonest public denouncement for criticizing their teachings in a lecture earlier in 2008.) 

He assured me that both men "knew exactly who I was," sharing deeply personal insults about me that were too derogatory for him to repeat. He was sure that one of them knew me in real life because of the nature of his comments. I assured him I'd only ever reviewed their teachings and had never met either man.

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Pinocchio, Al Mohler, and Geoff Botkin

I don't know how this stuff happens. I'm deeply honored that my Jiminy Cricket meme has been featured right beside Christa Brown's comment about the new public relations move of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It reminds me of that Judge Judy saying, “Pee on my shoe, then tell me it's raining.”   [I also don't know why the formatting is so crazy in this post.  I give up on it.  Please don't write to tell me.  I already know.]

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The Right Side of History

An excerpt from Marshall's The Peril of Selective Inerrancy:

Today is a time of reckoning for Southern Baptists, as even Albert Mohler has observed. It seems like he is hastening to get toward the right side of history on sexual abuse — distancing himself from his colleague — even though he was a pawn in the larger conservative movement. His ambition blunted his theological perspicuity, and he changed his course for the sake of being acceptable to his sponsors. As a professor when he was a graduate student, I remember a different persona.

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Spiritual Advice from Jiminy Cricket?

Yes, I drew this.

While trying to update the links on an old post concerning CJ Mahaney, I stumbled across an article published that same morning that declared that Al Mohler has apologized for standing by CJ Mahaney so staunchly when members of Sovereign Grace Ministries filed a class action suit against him for sexual abuse and coverups. The Gospel Coalition was quite vociferous in their support, and I'm told that they started deleting social media posts because their readers were so appalled. 

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Driving through the Gateways of the Mental Burqa

A few years ago, I wrote a post about the surreptitiously misogynistic film, Courageous. It was popular and hated, depending on whether you know anything about the Evangelical Christian subculture's cultic fringe movement that prompted it. The Baptist church that produced the film had an earlier success with a film called Fireproof, and a now defunct 'ministry to families' called Vision Forum tried to cash in and ride along with them. They used these and other films to sell a lifestyle – primarily to Christians who wanted to homeschool. Homeschooling became a gateway for this evolving, anachronistic belief system to introduce a host of other beliefs which weren't quite as wholesome as they appeared on screen. (Read more HERE.)

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Don't Let Nashville Tell You Who You Are

(Disclaimer: I am already an outspoken critic of CBMW and the Danvers Statement. I wish that there had been this much of a response to this as there has been to the new Nashville Statement. Please visit the FreeCWC Channel on Vimeo or YouTube for more. CBMW sows the ideological seeds that foster domestic abuse of women.)

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There's a great phrase in the first Matrix film when the protagonist ponders his life before he figured out what the real world looked like. He asks what it means if he liked the noodles at a restaurant that was only computer code in a program that created a dream. His companion says that it means that he still had a unique identity, and even the deception of a dream could not tell him or make him who he really was. It was the part of himself that was wholly his own.

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Modern Day Witch Hunting in the Christian Church

A guest post by author, Shirley Taylor 

from her blog,  

bWeBaptist Women for Equality

CBMW on Women 

and the Devil

(originally published July 29, 2016)

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Owen Strachan Responds to the FreeCWC's Petition

You can also view this press release at the Christian Newswire -- an agency that apparently reconsidered their position on the matter of the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition's press release and the subject of the subjugation of women.  

(Thanks to them for publishing this second item, though the fee for service should be thanks enough.)

Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Disregards Demand for an Apology 

from Evangelical Women's Group

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Let's See if this FreeCWC Press Release Makes It!

Update:  We're live on the Christian Newswire:
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/6929574019.html

Well, we've decided to try it again.  Let's see if this media release qualifies for publication with the Christian Newswire...  The Christian News Service seems to have also passed on the previous press release, too.

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Finding Our Harmony in the Chorus: How I Came to Support the FreeCWC Petition

A week or two ago, I wrote to a group that advocates for gender equality in the Evangelical Church, asking them if they would consider supporting and signing the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition's petition at Change.org. 

 A representative of the group responded to me so graciously to decline, explaining their concern over what they described as the demanding tone of the petition. 

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Why Demand an Apology? CBMW's Actions Belie their own Disclaimer on Abuse

I was never really a fan of social media, but I'm developing an appreciation for Twitter. I've just fallen in love with some of the sarcasm and spoof Twitterlings. “Sergius Martin-Georg” at Steam Tunnel Pilot most recently caught my attention, but the first of them was “False Wayne Grudem.” I find their sharp wit and insight delightful, using humor to elucidate the true nature of so much rubbish that too many accept blindly as a faithful reflection of Christianity.

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Does the Christian Newswire Support the Subjugation of Women? Agency Censors the Coalition

The Freedom for Christian Women Coalition (FreeCWC) and Jocelyn Andersen have used the Christian Newswire in times past to distribute press releases. The news service featured an announcement of the Seneca Falls 2 Evangelical Women's Rights Convention on July 2, 2010, noting the formation of the FreeCWC.

Perhaps that is why the Coalition was so shocked to learn this morning that the Christian news distribution service, a subsidiary of the Christian Communication Network, has decided to censure their press release concerning the petition to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW). The FreeCWC decided to wait to submit a press release to celebrate the collection of 200 signatures, and was thus was made by co-founder Andersen on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 10:55 AM. Christian Newswire sent the notice of decline by email on the evening of April 6^th.

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Concerning the Trinity, Gender and Subordination: The Misuse of “Roles”

In a previous post examining the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood's Problematic Doctrine of God, I briefly mentioned how changes in language and perhaps language translation contributes to the understanding and use of the word “role” as opposed to “function,” “act.” or “operation.”

It is my hope that by pointing out the major issues that I have with CBMW's doctrines that readers here will be encouraged to join with the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition in signing the petition at Change.org, demanding an apology of the group because of the harm that their teachings have done to so many.

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Is Negativity Biblical? Responding to the Biblical Women of SWBTS

Debunking the Myths of Christianity

Earlier this week, the Associated Baptist Press publishedan article noting what it suggests may be a response to the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition's Change.org petition demanding an apology from the Council on Bibilcal Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW).  

The Freedom for Christian Women Coalition (FreeCWC) FedExed the same content that the petition now details to CBMW in July of 2010 but received no response.  Perhaps this effort will yield different results.

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Celebrating 200 Signatures!

Midway through Thursday, April 3rd, the Freedom for Christian Women Coalition's petition (FreeCWC) demanding an apology from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) exceeded 200 signatures. 

Thanks to all who have signed the petition and those who have helped to spread the word. The original signatories of the letter of demand turned petition believe that it is a bold first step that will work justice for abused and disenfranchised Christian women, particularly those within Evangelical circles.

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CBMW's Problematic Doctrine of Man (It's not just traditional patriarchy.)

9Apr14 Addendum:  Visit the Junia Project to read Bob Edwards' post on this topic as well.

A recent post examined the teachings of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) concerning the Doctrine of God and the ways in which it deviates from traditional, orthodox Protestant teachings. Complementarianism (a neologism for CBMW's version of patriarchy) builds upon them, and understanding them will be helpful when trying to grasp the true nature of the inherent problems with their teachings regarding man and woman. I don't intend to cover all of the beliefs in this post. I'd just like to highlight some of CBMW's teachings that I find most troubling.

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Understanding CBMW Concerning the Old Testament and the Law

It is not true of all of those who participate with the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), but Reformed Baptists and Presbyterians have had a predominant influence and now control the organization. Though Paige and Dorothy Patterson are notable exceptions to this, I believe that understanding the guiding theology that propels complementarianism can help the reader understand why CBMW teaches certain ideas. We've already noted in a recent post how the Covenant of Redemption from Covenant Theology has profoundly influenced CBMW's concept of the Eternal Subordination of the Son.

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Is the FreeCWC Petition Demanding an Apology from CBMW Too Egalitarian or Not Egalitarian Enough?

Last week, I approached a wide variety of people, asking them if they would sign the petition demanding an apology for the harm suffered by so many people directly because of the teachings of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) through complementarianism. Though I should have learned the skill by now, I continue to be surprised by the responses that I hear from different people.

(For more information, you can read my introductory post HERE, though the Associated Baptist Press also published a very well written overview earlier this week.)

The False Dichotomy of the Gender Agenda

     1.  Several egalitarian friends have said that they are reluctant or won't sign because they would prefer if the petition were expressly egalitarian. I take that to mean that the people who fall into this category wish that it were primarily a document that strongly defends women in ministry and governance roles.

     2.  Then, there are people who pass for soft complementarians who believe that the petition sounds just too egalitarian to promote. (I hope that many who said that they couldn't promote it went ahead and signed it, opting to keep their name and location from displaying on the Change.org website. Don't tell them that I said so.)

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Petition CBMW for an Apology Along with Me, for the Sake of Liberty and Love

[Technical note: If you're having trouble signing the petition, please try a different browser. The Change.org software has some apparent issues, particularly with Firefox.]

The Freedom for Christian Women Coaltion (FreeCWC) recently decided to advance a public petition to demand an apology from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) for the untold and inestimable harm that their teachings have caused so many. It was first penned by Shirley Taylor in 2010 when she was a young sixty-seven years of age, and little of it has been changed to adapt to the petition format. 

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CBMW's Problematic Doctrine of God

Though I actively struggle more with the harm done to women in the name of complementarianism as was and is defined by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), the doctrines that concern the Godhead are far worse to me. 

 I was recently asked about why I signed a petition demanding an apology from CBMW for harm suffered by so many in many different ways as a consequence of their teachings. This is the first installment in a series that will examine the most significant problems that I find with their belief system and worldview. 

And their view is important to the whole Body of Christ, particularly to those who are associated with any kind of Christian Fundamentalism or Evangelicalism.

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