Answering Scot McKnight's Question: "What Made Josh Butler's TGC Article Different?"

This week, I listened to two podcasts about the controversy that ensued concerning Josh Butler's book excerpt that appeared on The Gospel Coalition (TGC) website on March 1.  A friend gave me a link to the Preventing Grace Podcast, claiming that they expressed some of the same ideas that I did, asking that people would extend mercy to the author.  While I did not find Butler's material to be that difficult in light of other teachings, I became quite triggered by the hosts' straw man mischaracterizations of Butler's critics, along with their claims that his writing was beautiful.  (Apparently, we prudish, small-minded people who cry "misogyny" at every turn only look for material to use to destroy those with a different view.)  The following day, I listened to a podcast that posed questions I'd already been thinking about because of my thoughts from the previous day.

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Sex is not a Hermeneutic & A Prayer for Truth and Unity: (Reflecting on The Gospel Coalition This Week)

I thought I'd mention some positive follow-up after my bombastically titled blog post a few days ago that spoke to problematic statements in a blog post at The Gospel Coalition (TGC) website. 

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The Spermeneutics of Spread Your Legs Theology

11Mar23 EDIT:

At this late date, I'd rather that people read my personal reaction to the article which took me nearly a week to process.

~~~~~

Well, the Gender Agenda folks just continue to get weirder.  We already know about Tim Keller's sex orgy with God, and yesterday, The Gospel Coalition published an excerpt from a new book by the Fellow at the Tim Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics.  Read more HERE.  I didn't even include the stuff in my meme about how a woman's readiness for sex is a show of “hospitality.”

Someone asked me why these people like the Theobros make everything so weird. Well, let's break it down. We've used good hermeneutics to study good theology. Now, you'll hear some spermeneutics to learn about Spread Your Legs Theology. (Shirley Taylor gets credit for naming this theology. It's like a sanitized version of the Kinder, Küche, and Kirche, but it's remade to be Biblical for Christians.)

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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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How “Marriage Minutes” Helped Me Let Go of the Hunger Artist

Allegedly a book review of Gerald Ford's Marriage Minutes

,

it ended up becoming a celebration of my egalitarian marriage with my husband and about the unexpected the effect that the book has had on my life.

The first time that I ever heard anyone use the term “egalitarian” in a conversation was my husband, just after we'd first started to date. I seemed to prefer the patriarchal approach, even though I grew up in a church that ordained women. My church had more female elders than male ones, but as a daughter of sock hop era parents, I was quite comfortable with patriarchy. 

As a child, I also watched some of those women elders inappropriately reject and strongly criticize pastors in conversations to which I never should have been privy. When the spiritually abusive church that my husband and I would one day join preached that women were meant to be reigned in and ruled over, I was willing to play along. I thought of the errors in judgement made by two women – events that were filtered through my poor understanding as a child. Patriarchy provided a very simple answer to a terribly complex situation.

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Eric Pazdziora Outdoes Himself (and Piper does in not such a good way...)

1. Look closely for the "Click to Play" option below the Tweets to hear Eric's new tune (lyrics by John Piper).  The print is tiny, but it will play if you wait a few seconds for it to load.  Or visit his Tumblr site directly.  He (Eric) should win some kind of award.  I may have to create one.  Read more about and by the exceptionally talented Eric HERE.

2.  For more discussion, visit Spiritual Sounding Board.

3.  More Tweets HERE.  (Emily's is the best!)

 

John Piper / Eric Pazdziora - Down By The River
Shared from ericpaz using Embeddlr
download/iPhone

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“Masturbation Lawsuit…” I Couldn’t Even Make This Stuff Up if I Tried!

The other day I tweeted about the laughing I do over some of the titles of articles and publications that have quoted me over the years concerning the Quiverfull/Patriarchy Movement (QF/P).  Journalist Grace Wyler sought me out to answer questions for her article for Vice Magazine, a media company in which Rupert Murdock’s $70 Million has given him a 5% interest.  Wyler recently wrote a very good article about the sexual abuse problem that is ignored on many Christian Fundamentalist college campuses, and she sought me out for additional information while investigating the lawsuit filed against Doug Phillips and Vision Forum.

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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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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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Commonalities Between Shirley Taylor's New Book and the Bill Nye/Ken Ham Debate? A Review of “Women Equal – No Buts”

I've just read Shirley Taylor's newest book, Women Equal – No Buts: Powered By the Same Source. I spoke to Jocelyn Andersen a few days ago who said the book would be ready in about a week. I was thrilled to find it several days early! We talked about Shirley, and we spoke about how God has put fire in her belly for the cause of equality for women within the church. I'm humbled by her witness and her perseverance for this cause, and No Equal Buts is yet another passionate effort to advance true, functional equality for women within Christianity. Unlike Dethroning Male Headship (her previous book published by One Way Press), this new work demonstrates how some of the male headship doctrines “flesh out” in real life. (I don't use the term “flesh” as a pun, for that is exactly what much of complementarianism really is.)

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Kathryn Stegall's Book Addressing the Gender Debate

A few months ago, Kathryn E. Stegall shared her new book with me. I keep sitting down to write a review of her book, but I have such a plethora of thoughts, memories, and passionate emotions that I had trouble sorting through them to figure out how to start.

I will finally start here!

Her book presents the power of the Gospel more than anything else, simply by focusing on Scripture, and the doctrines shine through in the process. Though the declared subject of the book concerns this modern gender debate that has come to the forefront in the Evangelical world, I think that it's really more of a book about soteriology: what salvation is, how it is obtained, and what it does for those who put their faith in Jesus. I imagine that as a Christian writer, one couldn't ask for more. Through a focus on Scripture, the book dispels competing and idolatrous doctrines that rob God of His glory, power, authority, and ongoing works that belong to Him alone.

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