In a culture where gender neutrality is the ideal, why is it significant that we were created differently as male and female? As the ethical consequences of the gender debate in the last generation manifest themselves, this book explores biblical teaching in order to work toward a Christian perspective. This discussion traces the theme of creation as male and female through the canon from the Pentateuch to the epistles and demonstrates how Pauline interpretation flows from Genesis 1-3. The grounding of the distinction between male and female in Genesis 1 as the climax of creation suggests the ethics associated with creation as male and female abide universally and for all time. This book intends to present a comprehensive, yet reasonably concise, presentation of biblical teaching on creation as male and female without bogging down in the detailed disputes between complementarian and egalitarian writers. This discussion considers each passage within its literary context, and patristic writers from the first few centuries of the church function as a control on interpretation.

The debate about men and women in the church and in marriage continues to cause division among Christians. Most books on this issue are written from a firmly partisan point of view - complementarian or egalitarian. This one is unique. Andrew Bartlett draws on his theological learning and his skills as a judge and arbitrator to offer an even-handed assessment of the debate. His analysis is thorough but accessible. He engages with advocates of each view and all the key biblical texts, weighing the available evidence and offering fresh insights. He invites the reader to move beyond complementarian and egalitarian labels and seeks progress towards healing the division.

A Guide to Navigate Evangelical Feminism In a society where gender roles are a hot-button topic, the church is not immune to the controversy. In fact, the church has wrestled with varying degrees of evangelical feminism for decades. As evangelical feminism has crept into the church, time-trusted resources like Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood help remind Christians of what the Bible has to say. In this edition of the award-winning best seller, more than 20 influential men and women such as John Piper, Wayne Grudem, D. A. Carson, and Elisabeth Elliot offer thought-provoking essays responding to the challenge egalitarianism poses to life in the church and in the home. Covering topics like role distinctions in the church, how biblical manhood and womanhood should work out in practice, and women in the history of the church, this helpful resource will help readers learn to orient their beliefs with God's unchanging word in an ever-changing culture.

Solid scriptural and archaeological evidence refutes the traditional interpretation used to bar women from leadership.

Evidence Unseen is the most accessible and careful though through response to most current attacks against the Christian worldview.

In the controversy over the role of women in the church, complementarians/hierarchists routinely claim to be upholding the "traditional" position. Like the little boy who declared that "the emperor has no clothes," J. G. Brown exposes the fallacies in this claim. The authentic traditional interpretation of passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-14 differs substantially from contemporary readings, whether egalitarian or hierarchist. Most prominent Protestant exegetes--from Luther and Calvin through those in the early nineteenth century--understood creation ordinances (male headship/female subordination) as foundational to the temporal world, not the church. An Historian Looks at 1 Timothy 2:11-14 brings history and theology together in a fresh way, with startling implications for the ongoing debate.

Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (general editors), with the aid of Gordon D. Fee (contributing editor), assemble a distinguished array of twenty-six evangelical scholars firmly committed to the authority of Scripture who offer a fresh, positive, up-to-date defense of biblical equality.