Michael Potts's Blog: Bits and Pieces: Book Reviews and Articles on Writing, Horror Fiction, and Some Philosophy - Posts Tagged "women"

Women in the Church: Biblical and Historical Perspectives by Everett Ferguson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is primarily for an audience in the noninstrumental Churches of Christ, although it is a useful resource for other Evangelical churches. Ferguson defends the view that St. Paul did forbid women from taking a leadership role in the assembly of the church in the relevant passages in I Corinthians and I Timothy (assuming it was written by Paul--that should not matter since it has been received by the church as canonical and thus authoritative). Ferguson notes that there was ample precedent in Greco-Roman culture for women as priests, thus it was significant that St. Paul was actually being countercultural in opposing such roles for women. To ascribe St. Paul's opponents' views to Paul himself, as is the fashion in "modern" hermeneutics, twists Paul's language to the limit in trying to squeeze him into contemporary egalitarian ideology. Jesus' choice of male apostles was significant in light of the Hellenistic world's acceptance of females in high religious offices and suggests, as Ferguson says, that this was an intentional choice.

I highly recommend this book for its intended audience, and even traditional Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and continuing Anglican Christians can profit from reading it.



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