#complementarian

I recently heard the suggestion that the story of Ruth presents us with a sexist worldview because in the story, women are victims and men are either failed, potential or actual rescuers.  Ruth needs Boaz to step in and rescue her. Now, on one level, we might argue that these are simply the historical facts, assuming that we take this to be a historical retelling (and I do).   However, even…

I’ve decided that this is as good a place as any to conclude the debate/conversation I’ve been having with Andrew Bartlett.  It’s not a conversation that continue indefinitely and I am at a stage where I need to give my time to other matters that are more my priority here on Faithroots, specifically I’ve got some more work to do on Jesus and the Gospels/Luke and on the Doctrine of Humanity which…

A lot of the debate about complementarianism in marriage focuses on two questions. What do the Greek words kephale and hupotasso mean in their contexts. Or what does it mean to refer to the husband as “head” and to instruct a wife to submit in Ephesians 5:22-32. Does Ephesians 5:21 indicate mutual submission and does this apply to the marriage context as well. I have argued that yes, Ephesians…

Andrew Bartlett has kindly responded with some comments on my most recent article in our conversation series.  As I noted then, I sent him an advanced draft copy and I made a couple of amendments prompted by his comments.  I left his response as is because I thought it still helped to prompt a few key discussions. I expect to dig into some of these points in more detail later because I expect…

In my detailed engagement with Andrew Bartlett’s book, “Men and Women in Christ, we’ve got to the bit where he engages with Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3.  You will probably have picked up that I think he should have made this his starting point   Now, you might think that maybe this reflects my own bias, after all this is where I focused my MTH dissertation work and indeed I love the whole book…

I don’t know about you but I’m enjoying the opportunity for back and forth conversation with Andrew Bartlett about his book, perhaps even more than the book itself. It’s not an opportunity that you get often, few authors would be so  willing to give their time to something like this.  I appreciate that this isn’t about winning an argument but rather about seeking to know God’s Word better for the…

Under this title, Andrew Bartlett looks at Colossians 3 and Ephesian 5 in his book. He suggests that in relation to these passages, we should address three questions, disputed by commentators. 1.Does Paul teach in these letters that marriage is a hierarchical relationship in which the husband is in a position of unilateral authority over the wife? This involves deciding what Paul means when he…

In his response to my article on 12 Corinthians 7 which engages with his book, Andrew Bartlett suggests that I have engaged in strawmen arguments.  I was a little surprised at this suggestion Here’s an online definition of what a strawman is. “A straw man argument is a logical fallacy that involves misrepresenting an opponent’s position and then arguing against that misrepresentation. The term…