Customer Reviews

Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy

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Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and Ronald Pierce have done the church an extraordinary favor editing this much needed volume that vanquishes the pitiful stereotypes of "evangelical feminism." Far from being sold out to cultural mores, the authors examine biblical and historical sources carefully examining their hermeneutics and philosophy showing the position of universal gender hierarchy to be erroneous and detrimental to the church.

The book's chapter "Equal in Being; Unequal in Role" is worth the money alone in that it delivers a devastating blow to the nonsensical paradigm of "complementarianism." Richard Hess also delivers a fine chapter on "innocence and equality before the fall." William Webb introduces the important "redemptive movement" hermeneutic that is beautifully applied by I. Howard Marshall, and Gordon Fee graces us with his exegetical gifts in delineating the right meaning of Galatians 3:26-28. Not only so, but the ethical chapters on homosexuality, abortion, and abuse are outstanding.

To be sure, there are some weaknesses. Linda Belleville's chapter on 1 Timothy 2:11-15 is helpful at points, but doesn't fully deal with all the issues raised by Kostenberger et al. Giles' Trinitarian thinking is in the right direction, but is triumphalistic and ignores some important facts. However, the books is a winsome apology for the vision of "complementarity without hierarchy" that honors the humanity of both sexes sufficiently and harmoniously.

I found this book *incredibly* helpful as I sought to understand the Scriptures that referred to gender. Having grown up and then attended a Bible College in highly complementarian/patriarchal camps, when I began asking questions about whether or not the "males-rule-females-submit" theology was sound, I wasn't sure where to go for help. (All my life, I'd only been taught the Scriptures in one particular way. Yet as I studied the Scriptures on gender for myself, I began to see something quite different)...

I ended up ordering about 10-12 books explaining egalitarian views, and while some were good, I found *this* book to be wonderful. The chapters handled Bible passages and complementarian/patriarchal arguments with clarity and, always, with a deep scholarly bent. I think I appreciated the footnotes as much as the actual text, and many chapters ended up being "jumping off" points that introduced me to topics I would then study in more depth. In short, I can't recommend the book enough.

Even if a reader ends up disagreeing, he/she will at least gain an accurate understanding of Scriptural backing for why egalitarians don't see male hierarchy as God's ideal. I've heard comp's teach "what egal's believe" often, but rarely do they accurately portray egalitarian thought. Many of the things I'd been *told* egals believe were corrected as I read this book.

The book is not a "novel" but more like a textbook (ie, not for someone looking for a "light read," but rather for study), though I found the writing style to be engaging and highly interesting. If the study of gender and faith is one of interest, this is a book that is a "must-have" in your library.

This is probably one of the best and most comprehensive books on this subject from an Egalitarian perspective. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much response *of substance* from the other side of the fence (Grudem often seems like he's more interested in straw men and ad hominem attacks than anything else).

As for the book itself...

The first chapters on history are fantastic discussions that show that the Egalitarian Movement is *pre*-feminism and has roots going back much much farther into history.

The exegesis chapters are rich - the one on Genesis 1-3 thoroughly puts its corresponding chapter in _Rediscovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood_ in its place for the inadequate and at times contradictory exegesis that it was.

The chapter on 1 Tim 2 is also great, but Belville took an unusual approach - I'd say the most enlightening part of the chapter though is the *extremely* clear bias in how post-1940s translations deal with authentein. It puts the whole chapter into perspective. There's simply no lexical or semantic basis for the translation, "excercise authority" that data cannot support such a conclusion.

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis' philosophical chapter is a complex but quite accurate criticism of the problems of associating the Trinity to marriage. The responses I've read of her chapter have clearly not understood its point.

Finally the chapters practical significance are incredibly helpful and were a blessing to read both for myself and for my wife.

All in all, the book is an important and excellent read that I would recommend again and again.

As one of the editors of Discovering Biblical Equality, I find the sample citation and key phrases chosen by Amazon to be misleading (unintentionally, I'm sure). I suggest the following:

"This book is born of the conviction that both the world and the church urgently need to hear and take to heart the message of biblical equality, because it is at once true, logical, biblical and beneficial..." (taken from the Introduction).

Key Phrases: biblical egalitarians, mutuality, evangelical patriarchy, 1 Timothy 2, partnership, authority, submission (see "tags" below...)

This, I submit, is probably the best one-volume compilation of essays contending for gender equality and complementarity (what has come under the label of 'egalitarianism') currently available. It is a concerted scholarly response to the 'complementarian' counterpart 'Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood' that apparently does not, IMHO, quite enjoy the level of erudition that this book presents from a plethora of leading evangelical scholars such as Gordon Fee, Craig Keener, Howard Marshall and Stanley Grenz. I especially enjoy, though not necessarily endorsing its conclusion, the article by Rebecca Groothuis "Equal in Being; Unequal in Role", which of course challenges the notion that the genders can be essentially equal and yet functionally unequal. To me, this grasps exactly the nettle whereby egalitarianism and complementarianism part ways. She argues that the supposed paradox is a red herring since the so-called 'functional hierarchy' is maintained (permanently) on the basis of gender, that is the nature/essence of being a man or woman and hence cannot be compatible with equality in being.

I am also convinced that the popular label 'complementarianism' by which the opposing camp would like to be identified with is a facade for what is really gender hierarchichalism albeit in function, because at the heart of its position is a belief in male authority (over the woman), however one softens it with concepts like 'servant leadership', 'honor of headship', 'accountability', or 'shepherding', etc. On the other hand, the egalitarian contenders are really arguing for gender *complementarity*, the kind that does away with any notion of hierarchy or authority on the basis of one's gender; it is not simply advocating equality per se, which is often confused with identity/undifferentiation. Perhaps, the revision of the respective labels is an essential first step in clearing the confusion and maintaining the integrity of what each position is really pitching for. Both views in fact advocate complementarity; the difference is that one has the principle of male functional authority worked into it and the other does not.

This book is a pleasure to read for the gracious and intelligent way in which the egalitarian (ie. complementarity without hierarchy) view is laid out from a wide variety of angles. However, for all its erudition and scholarly work in exegesis, it still remains to be seen if it has produced a persuasive case against what seems to be derived from the 'plain sense of the texts', esp in Paul (1 Cor 11, 14, Eph 5, 1 Tim 2) which appear at face value to support male headship rooted in the intent of the Creator and perhaps even the nature of the economic Trinity(?), however 'incoherent' it may seem to our modern minds. Hence, the issue remains open for me and perhaps will remain so for a long time to come. In the mean time, the old adage is ever so relevant: 'unity in essentials, liberty in adiaphora and charity in all things!'

My friend sand I are reading through this book and it is very, very encouraging. It is a bit thick and intellectual but worth the work. It is biblically researched and proofed. It is balanced and speaks directly to the title.It is one I would recommend for any man or woman who wants to really know what the Bible says about women and how they can be used of God in this world to impact others and use the gifts God has given them with out fear of His or man's reproach.

As many other people who take the Bible seriously, after studying It for some time I soon realized that the famous verses that are normally used to prove men's authority over women clashed with other verses, where women clearly had leadership roles.
Since I believe in the inerrancy and ultimate authority of the Bible, how could this verses be reconciled?
Then, I read quite a few books, both complementarian and egalitarian, to help me make up my mind on this subject.
First, I read "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood", the major scholarly book which outlines the complementarian view; I found it unacceptable, refuted by biblical authority, and it didn't answer most of my questions anyway.
After that first delusion, I turned to this book.
Before starting to read it, I was very skeptical, as I feared this book would be influenced by dangerous feminist propaganda, such as promoting abortion.
Fortunately, there is no feminism within its pages: just great biblical truths clearly explained in the light of modern, evangelical egalitarian scholarship.
The first part of the book deals with the history of the egalitarian movement, that dates back to the roots of Christianity itself.
The second part is an exegesis of the most troublesome verses and it is probably the most significant part of the book.
The book ends with a section that deals with egalitarian opinions on various issues including an excellent chapter that explains why being egalitarian does not equate to considering homosexuality an acceptable practice.
Unfortunately, nowadays most mainstream churches have opened the ministry to women only because of their political agenda, but can't be bothered to give a biblical explanation.
On the contrary, this book is entirely based on sound biblical exegesis, and the authors are clearly not intentioned to accept compromise on any major Christian doctrine.

This volume is an amazing collection of articles that develop a cohesive vision of how the Bible leads us away from a gender-based imposition of authority in marriage and the church but instead points us toward a life of mutual submission that embodies the heart of the gospel. Positives: Scholarly, Thorough, Insightful. Negatives: Multiple voices make it less cohesive, some articles are so scholarly that they limit how many people will be able successful comprehend the depth of their message

This book has been invaluable to me to be able to soundly and theologically defend my egalitarian views. I got this book from the library and once I read it, I knew I had to buy it. I'm not going to go in depth with this review since I see that many reviewers have already adequately pointed out the strengths of this book. This will be a permanent addition to my library. I only wish I had someone like Ronald W. Pierce in the faculty at my college :)

This is an outstanding, eye-opening book. During my whole Christian life, I've been uneasy with the traditional evangelical view of male leadership. But I thought: "That's what the Bible teaches, so what do I do about it?" I've always been aware of the passages that teach gender equality, but was never able to reconcile them with the ones that seemed to teach inequality. Now I see that there's solid, evangelical scholarship supporting gender equality in the church and home. Not only that, there's even a long history of such scholarship and beliefs starting long before the feminism of recent decades that has turned off many evangelicals.

I love having chapters written by so many scholars and thinkers, male and female. The writing quality varies, of course. Scholars and thinkers aren't necessarily good writers. But they're all digestible, and some are quite tasty. Gordon Fee's chapters, for example, stand out as excellent scholarship combined with clear writing.

I do think the last section of the book, "Living It Out (Practical Applications)," is mostly weak. Most of the chapters in this "practical" section are far from practical, with way too many abstract ideas and too much psychological and academic jargon. I ended up skimming most of these final chapters.

But NOT the very last chapter! The final chapter, Alice Mathews' "Toward Reconciliation," positively glows. It's the most important chapter in the book, and one of the best written. It should be published separately as a must-read for Christians on all sides of this or any other potentially divisive issue. It absolutely nails the most important issue of all.