Quote of the week

Husband: There's too much placenta in our freezer.

A Woman’s Place: An Introduction (Part Two)

So, I hear you ask, after all this whinging about your ‘God and women and the Bible’ questions, do you actually have a plan to try to find some answers?? I do, my friend, I do, and here it is: I have a pile of books for reading and/or reflecting, and I plan to use this blog to think “out loud” through this process.

My husband recently stumbled across the blog of Canadian professor John Stackhouse, who just so happened to have written an article for a book called How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership (edited by Alan Johnson), in which he referred to his own book, Finally Feminist. And so my reading began! After years of sitting uncomfortably on the complementarian side of the gender debate simply because I thought it was the only option for evangelical Christians, it has been unspeakably liberating to find that this is not in fact the case.

I say ‘unspeakably’ because I have no adequate words to describe how it’s felt to find so many other people – intelligent, godly, evangelical people - ask the same questions and raise the same concerns that I have. Hearing a (male) Biblical scholar say of 1 Timothy 2:11-15, “it struck me with paradigm-shaking force that no one could explain all the clauses in this passage with full plausibility” (Stackhouse in Finally Feminist, page 23), is as refreshing and comforting as a hot shower and your own bed after a week away on camp.

So far I’ve read the two books mentioned above, as well as Gilbert Bilezikian’s Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says About a Woman’s Place in Church and Family. I’ve also started on The Blue Parakeet by Scot McKnight, which (I was pleasantly surprised to discover!) has a section at the end on women in church ministries today. At the moment I’m concentrating on the egalitarian side of the argument for the reason given above: I have been taught complementarianism as if it was the only option since my new birth, and I’m still very much enjoying exploring this strange, exciting and surprisingly large new world of thought.

However, my husband, in an effort to balance my lopsided study, has ordered that I read an article by the feminist Phyllis Trible on ‘Feminist Biblical Interpretation’ and complementarian Wayne Grudem’s chapter on women in his Systematic Theology, and I, like a good, submissive wife, plan to obey him when I feel up for the challenge (I get nervous butterflies thinking about the Grudem chapter in particular).

I’ve admitted that complementarianism makes me uncomfortable, and should acknowledge now that I know it’s dangerous to approach any research with a pre-existing bias. I’d like to think that being aware of this will help me to be somewhat more open-minded as I read these books. If it’s any comfort I’m also sceptical by nature and I find it difficult to read pro-complementarian arguments by males and pro-egalitarian arguments by females; I tend to accuse the men of thinking their way because they like being in charge, and the women of finding loopholes in what the Bible says because they don’t like submitting (it’s silly, but it’s true). Having said that, I’ll confess now that it’s probable I’ll be more forgiving of any issues with egalitarian arguments (“Hmmm, not sure I completely agree with that...”) than with those of the complementarian party (“How dare you say that, Mr Grudem!! You have no idea what it’s like to be a woman!”).

Before I start reviewing and reflecting on any of these, I feel like I should also explain that these are not questions overflowing from an argumentative and rebellious spirit. As Ruth Haley Barton puts it in her article in How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership (page 40), they are “questions wrung from the heart of a daughter to her heavenly Father”, searching for her identity and looking for His validation in order to serve Him joyfully and effectively all the days of her life.

Hi ho, hi ho...

Christian College Advertising

I was flicking through the pages of the June 2011 edition of Eternity newspaper last night and couldn't help but notice a theme running through the photos in the ads for Christian colleges.

There was this one:

And this one:

And this one:

And - my favourite - this one:

It made me wonder: is the only difference between secular advertising and that of Christian colleges that the beautiful women in the latter are wearing more clothes? Are these colleges trying to say, "we're so progressive that even women study here!", or are they just low on male enrolments? Am I reading too much into this? :o)

I think the safest option for Christian college ads is to stick to group shots of girls and guys hanging out, looking excited about being in community and learning from the Bible together - less room for misinterpretation and probably a more accurate (but still enticing!) portrayal of college life.

Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander

I’ve just finished reading this book. It was a really interesting experience, and certainly nothing like I expected when I casually picked it up at the library last week! According to the blurb, this is a book that “investigates, explains and offers advice for finding social success with the Caucasian persuasion”, and it covers topics such as tea, music festivals, acoustic covers, vintage and t-shirts (you can read some of these and more on the website). It’s quite funny – I laughed out loud at this part of the ‘Whole Foods and Grocery Co-Ops’ chapter (page 62):

These stores are excellent places for taking children, as there is nothing that they actually want.

“Oh, Mommy, look, chocolate!”

“No, Joshua, that’s carob.”

“I want it.”

“OK.”

The child will then take a bite and realize that nothing in the store can be trusted.

It didn’t take too long, however, for the truth to begin to sink in: “This book seems to kinda be about me... and not only the current me, but also who I aspire to be. Should I be worrying right now?” And then, not too long after that, came the big realisation: “OH MY GOODNESS! This is me! I’m so predictable! I’m so pretentious!”

That was the point at which I stopped chuckling and started freaking out.

The fact that Lander’s descriptions of the stereotypical white person so closely fit so much of who I am or hope to be has to mean (for one thing) that I don’t want to one day renovate my own place because I enjoy creative challenges, I want to renovate my own place because “it is a well-known white fantasy to purchase a home or apartment that has disgusting carpet and then to pull it up to reveal a beautiful hardwood floor underneath” (page 193). I’m not unique, I’m a social construct!

I borrowed the book for some light entertainment, not an identity crisis. It’s taken up far more mulling time than I originally allocated to it, so I’ve had to reshuffle my whole thinking schedule.

The answer I’ve come up with? I don’t think it’s to smugly celebrate the points at which I veer slightly towards the darker end of the colour spectrum (I don’t drink caffeinated hot beverages! I own just one Apple product!). Nor do I think it’s to work out what the opposite type of person looks like and aim for that (keep the television in order to watch Two and a Half Men, buy cage eggs, or – horrors! - start voting Liberal).

I’m pretty sure the answer is this:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

I need to remind myself of this passage more times than I read the paper, more times than I watch the intelligent and hip and renovating people on the tv, more times than I am tempted by the world around me to believe that this life is all there is and that others’ opinions matter more than God’s, so I should therefore BUY STUFF and LOOK COOL and BE CLEVER while there’s still time.

I’m thankful for this unexpected lesson, though I’ll exercise far more caution when choosing my library books in future.