[Editor's note: Yesterday, Christopher Cowan offered part one of a summer reading list for those interested in reading more on biblical manhood and womanhood. Today, he offers part two.]

Other articles and essays that I consider essential reading include:

Richard Hove's "Does Galatians 3:28 Negate Gender-Specific Roles?" Galatians 3:28 has frequently been touted as the egalitarian "Magna Carta." However, Hove's article demonstrates that this magnificent text does not prove as much as egalitarians think. Hove's work can be read in the book Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood, edited by Wayne Grudem (available online here). This article is based on Hove's book, Equality in Christ? Galatians 3:28 and the Gender Dispute (available online here), which was itself based on his master's thesis under D. A. Carson.

Andreas Köstenberger's "Gender Passages in the New Testament: Hermeneutical Fallacies Critiqued." Köstenberger considers and critiques several common interpretive fallacies that occur in discussions of biblical passages dealing with gender roles. See also his "Women in the Pauline Mission" which offers a balanced assessment of the roles of various women mentioned by Paul in the New Testament.

Wayne Grudem's "The Myth of Mutual Submission as an Interpretation of Ephesians 5:21" is also available online in Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood. Grudem responds to the frequent egalitarian assertion of "mutual submission," demonstrating that this is not what Paul is teaching in Ephesians 5.

Bruce Ware's "Tampering with the Trinity: Does the Son Submit to the Father?" Disagreements over the biblical teaching on the roles of men and women have expanded to disagreements in other areas of doctrine, to include the Trinity. Ware argues that the submission of the Son to the Father in role is biblically justified and is consistent with the teaching of the church historically. This article is included in Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood.

The list could certainly grow longer. There are excellent books that teach manhood to men and womanhood to women. There are works that look at the application of these teachings to the life of the family and the church. But this will suffice for those wanting a solid grounding in interpreting the relevant biblical texts and understanding the contours of the gender debate. Take up and read!

 So you're interested in doing some summer reading on biblical manhood and womanhood? There are, of course, many good and faithful books and essays on the subject. But what complementarian works would be considered essential reading for someone wanting to learn more? Here are my own recommendations:

Pride of place must go to Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. It was voted Book of the Year in 1992 by Christianity Today readers, and it remains a solid exposition of biblical teaching on the subject. A host of evangelical authors contribute exegetical and theological studies; studies from other disciplines such as church history, biology, and law; and essays offering applications and implications of the complementarian view.  Readers can pick and choose chapters on topics that interest them most. RBMW is available in its entirety on the CBMW website.

Wayne Grudem is a faithful and godly evangelical scholar who has devoted much of his life to writing and teaching on biblical manhood and womanhood. Of his many writings on this subject, two deserve special consideration. Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More Than 100 Disputed Questions is Grudem's magnum opus on the biblical teaching on gender. As with RBMW, this book is a reference work. It is set up in a Q&A format, and allows one to look up specific questions of concern. This book is also available in its entirety online.

Another helpful book by Grudem is Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? Having examined the methods of interpretation followed by egalitarian authors, Grudem registers deep concerns that the authority of Scripture is being undermined. This debate is more serious than many Christians realize.

An essential book setting forth the complementarian understanding of a crucial biblical text is Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, edited by Andreas Köstenberger and Thomas Schreiner. The editors have gathered some of the finest evangelical New Testament scholars-S. M. Baugh, Henry Scott Baldwin, and Robert Yarbrough (in addition to Köstenberger and Schreiner)-to examine every aspect of this controversial passage: background issues, word study, sentence structure, and interpretive approach. Finally, Dorothy Kelley Patterson pens a concluding chapter asking, "What Should a Woman Do in the Church?" This book is not to be missed.

In my opinion, the best brief exposition of the biblical teaching on gender roles by a single author is the essay by Thomas Schreiner in Two Views on Women in Ministry, edited by James Beck. In fifty-seven pages, Schreiner masterfully defends the complementarian perspective from Scripture (primarily-but not solely-focusing on the question of women in ministry). In addition he offers responses to the volume's other contributors. If you want a solid exposition that covers a lot of ground in a relatively short space, this is it.

Tomorrow: More books and articles.

Some gender-distinct conclusions are so obvious that even feminist scholarship, much to its dismay, cannot avoid seeing them. Two recent social science studies have been summarized by Elaine McArdle on the Boston Globe's website.[i] In her article McArdle reports on research that looked at the reason for the vast gender gap in science and technology jobs in the US. Why is it, that though women make up nearly half of today's workforce, yet hold only 20 percent of the nation's engineering jobs, 25 percent of its professional math jobs and merely one-third of chemist positions?

Joshua Rosenbloom, an economist from the University of Kansas, in the name of gender equality, wondered why the National Science Foundation spent 19 million a year to encourage girls to choose career paths in science and engineering, yet the above mentioned outcomes were not what the government intends. Why? What causes such gender disparity in the scientific workplace? After surveying hundreds of professionals, both men and women, in these fields, taking into account family history, educational background and vocational interests, he published his findings.[ii]

The results were surprising to Rosenbloom and controversial to many in the feminist movement: it was neither ability, nor work-family pressures, nor societal pressures that keep women out of science jobs. The determining factor for women working in the fields of science and technology was their own desires. The final factor was personal preference. Fully two-thirds of the gender imbalance was owing to whether or not women enjoyed those kinds of jobs or not. Rosenbloom is aware that it sounds like "rank sexism" to our culture, but he speaks of "more basic differences" between the genders influencing how men and women choose their vocations, than societal norms.  In an interview he said, "It sounds like stereotypes, but these stereotypes have a germ of truth."

The concept of self-selection finds little currency among many feminists. They fear it means that women themselves are responsible for the gender gap. But self-selection is exactly what another study found according to McArdle. A 30-year study of math precocious youth concluded that, even though their skill set in math was the same, men and women chose divergent career paths. Men preferred to work with inorganic materials (thus physical sciences and engineering) and women preferred organic or living things (thus medicine, biological and social sciences).

Both studies suggest that in a world in which men and women both have equal freedom of choice, they tend to choose very differently. One feminist writer interpreting these findings said, "It's the opposite of what we'd expect. You'd think the more family-friendly policies, and the richer economy, the more women should behave like men, but it's the opposite.  I think with economic opportunity comes choices, comes freedom."[iii]  McArdle says, "If these researchers are right, then a certain amount of gender gap might be a natural artifact of a free society..."

Could it be that it is a gift from God to be created male and female (Gen. 1:26)? Further, could it be that it is a gift from God to enjoy one's vocation (Eccl. 5:19)?  Moreover, what we call ‘natural artifact' is none other than the handiwork of God to glorify himself in a diverse creation. What this article and the research behind have revealed is the wise design of God in two equal but distinct human genders complementing each other vocationally.

[i] http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/18/
the_freedom_to_say_no/ accessed 5/19/08 and 6/6/08.

[ii] In the November 2007 Journal of Economic Psychology.

[iii] Susan Pinker, psychologist and columnist for the Toronto Globe and Mail quoted in above article.

A cultural earthquake will likely begin to shake California tomorrow as the Golden State's ban on gay marriage expires and the first round of state-sanctioned "same-sex marriages" commences.

One month ago, the California Supreme Court last ruled 4-3 to strike down the state's ban on gay marriage, opening the floodgates for homosexual marriages.

The high court's action overturned Proposition 22, which California voters overwhelmingly approved in 2000 to protect the traditional definition of marriage. The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed by gay rights groups alleging that they were unlawful victims of discrimination.

Homosexuals celebrated the landmark ruling as a profound victory for "gay rights," with many hoping for a domino effect that would lead to the legalization of same-sex marriages in other states.

Many Christian and pro-family groups are asking judges to stay the ruling until November when voters will be able to consider a constitutional amendment that protects traditional marriage. The Associated Press reported recently that the attorneys general of 10 states have joined other parties in asking the California Supreme Court to stay the decision until after the election. The states say they have an interest in the case because they would have to determine if their respective state recognized the marriage licenses. The states are Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.

One of the major issues surrounding California's legalization of "same-sex marriage" is the state's lack of a residency requirement. Unlike other states that have legally recognized some form of same-sex union, "Same-sex couples" who get "married" in California will not have to reside in the state to receive legal recognition of their union.

Mathew D. Staver, an attorney with the pro-family group Liberty Counsel, said that the lack of a residency requirement could push other states to recognize officially the "same-sex marriages" that take place in California.

"So once this becomes effective -- if there's no stay in California -- that means that someone in New York can fly over to California, get a same-sex marriage license and then fly back to New York, and now [the license] all of a sudden is recognized," Staver said during a panel discussion May 29 at the National Press Club in Washington hosted by the Family Research Council. 

It already seems to be happening.

New York Gov. David A. Paterson has ordered state agencies to revise their policies and begin recognizing "gay marriages" from other jurisdictions, such as California, Massachusetts and Canada. Paterson issued this order in the face of a 2006 ruling by New York's highest court that refused to legalize "gay marriage." Last year, a pro "gay marriage" bill did not make it through the New York state legislature.

The coming days will tell what happens in California and across the nation. Let us pray that God grants us mercy and that clear biblical truth as it relates to marriage (Eph. 5, Heb. 13:4) will have an opportunity to shine forth as never before in America for the glory of God.

[Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and founder of 9Marks Ministries, recently presented a four-part series on the crucial nature of gender roles in the home and church. This week, Gender Blog will provide a synopsis of each of Mark's messages in four parts with a link to each sermon.]

In the fourth installment in Dr. Dever's series on the importance of gender roles, he examines gender roles in Bible-believing churches, calling it a "watershed issue in our churches," an issue that will "distinguish between those who will try to accommodate the church so it is fit for the culture that surrounds it, and those who will shape their lives and churches after Scripture."

A crucial text for unfolding gender roles in the church is 1 Tim. 2:12. In looking at this text, Dever unpacks the Bible's demands for male leadership in the church, a doctrine that was virtually assumed in the church until recent years.  

Dever makes four main points on gender roles in the church:

1. The context for gender roles.

In the church, everything is to be done for edification (1 Corinthians 14:26).  Roman feminism was popular at the time Paul wrote this letter; women in the church were to be distinct from their cultural counterparts.  Godly women were to abstain from the extravagant dress and self-centeredness accepted among mainstream Roman women.  As with all God's children, they were to demonstrate modesty in dress and modesty in spirit.  Paul wants nothing to distract from the gospel or the ministry of the church.  We are to use our whole lives for the good of others - even the way we dress.

The most widely overlooked teaching of this passage is the extraordinary fact that women were welcome in the church (v. 11).  This was not the case in Jewish synagogues and most centers of Roman worship.  In the first century, the shocking part of this passage would have been that women were to learn at all - especially under the same teaching as men."

2. Roles in the congregation.

Women are precluded from teaching at public gatherings or having authority over men.  Women in the congregation had been deceived into believing in the Roman feminism previously discussed and were convincing others of its value, contrary to the teaching and practice of the church.  We know from other epistles that older women were to teach younger women and be an active part of the church community, but church leadership was not a role intended for women.

3. Reasons for gender roles.

• Adam was created first (v. 13) and his authority was in place before the fall; God's creation of Adam prior to Eve is significant.  Reading the whole of Scripture we not only find what God has done, but why He has done it.  Paul is not talking about ability (the question is not whether or not women were capable of teaching), but rather God-given roles.

• When Adam abdicated his leadership role in the garden and Eve believed the lie of the animal she was supposed to rule over, all God-given roles involved had been turned on their heads.  Why is Eve the one deceived?  We don't know; Paul does not tell us (v. 14).  But it is significant.  God calls Adam to account in the garden.  Adam and Eve, who should have ruled over the animals, instead submitted to one.  The order we see in the world should remind us of our need to submit to God.

• Verse 15 is something of a summary, meant to balance out the harshness of the previous verses.  Paul is saying that God's plan for women is good; His design of womanhood is to be preserved and respected.  Women should reject the false teaching of feminism and hold fast to the roles established at creation.  Obedience does not save, but is evidence of God's salvific work in your life.

4. Implications of the roles.

• Does this prohibition on women being in authority include settings outside God's word?  No - the Bible recounts women in leadership, business, and government without insinuating that they were somehow out of line.

• What should women do in the church?  Largely, the same things men do - sing, serve, learn, etc.

• What if I disagree with other Christians on these issues?  Establish principles on which you agree and work from there - and be charitable in your discussions.

How good God is to give us marriage, gender roles, and the church as a picture of Himself.  There was a role reversal in the Garden of Eden; there was another role reversal in the Garden of Gethsemane.  God Himself submitted to death because Adam and Eve failed to submit to God.  He made a way for failures like us to enjoy a restored relationship with Him.

Listen to entire message here.

Part I    Part II    Part III    Part IV