A Welcome Dialogue on the "Sarah Palin Predicament"

The staff of CBMW would like to welcome Dr. David Gushee to the dialogue on women's roles that has been invigorated recently by the nomination of Sarah Palin as a Vice Presidential candidate.  Dr. Gushee is the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University and challenges complementarians with many questions in the September 15, 2008 issue of USA Today.

While we are honored that Dr. Gushee considers CBMW "an influential advocacy group" on gender issues, we don't claim to represent the "evangelical voting base," or even all complementarians.  In fact, we would not consider ourselves "staunch advocates" of any political party, but we have thought deeply for decades about gender issues and the church. Our goal is to faithfully present the goodness of God's design of manhood and womanhood from a biblical perspective. Providentially, timeless truths from the Word of God provide clear answers to all of Dr. Gushee's questions.
 
From our perspective, neither these questions nor the recent political development has led to any change in the complementarian position, any shift in our understanding of the Bible, or any accommodation to the culture.  Nevertheless, for the benefit of those who are not regular Gender Blog readers, we have provided bold summaries of Dr. Gushee's questions and links to previous posts with biblical answers.

Is it your view that God can call a woman to serve as president of the United States?
On September 3, 2008 , Gender Blog affirmed:
The Bible calls women to specific roles in the church and home, but does not prohibit them from exercising leadership in secular political fields.  Therefore we must be careful to not go beyond the teaching of the Bible.  A president is not held to the same moral standards as an elder of a church.  While it is a blessing from God to have ethical or even Christian political leaders, the Bible places no such requirements on secular governments.  Even though the Bible reserves final authority in the church for men, this does not apply in the kingdom of this world.

Could a woman serve as president though she would be in authority over every male in the nation? 
On September 8, 2008 , Gender Blog distinguished between civil authority and spiritual authority with the following quote:
God's design for male headship in the home and the church does not require the exclusion of women from leadership in public life, where spiritual headship is not involved. Such extrapolation carries the biblical teaching about the role of women beyond the Bible's own application.

Do you believe that a woman (even if she serves as Vice President) is under the authority of her husband as head of the family?  Would this authority spill over into her public role?
This helpful question raises a complex issue requiring specific application of the principles expressed above.  Gender Blog is pleased to be part of this dialogue and plans to address this question in the near future.

Does this affect your view of women leadership in the church?
On September 5, 2008 , Gender Blog explained:
Even though a man is elected president of the most powerful country in the free world, he is not necessarily qualified to lead a small local church, according to the moral criteria for overseers in 1 Timothy 3.  We hold a high view of women and assert that women are capable of serving as president of the United States (and inevitably will).  It is not a question of ability, but a recognition that the Bible reserves for men the final teaching and ruling authority in the church.

Ultimately, Dr. Gushee's main point seems to be that "the nomination of Palin offers conservative Christian leaders the chance to rethink an archaic theological vision that wounds millions of devout Christian women and restricts the full exercise of their gifts."  In contrast, we would humbly assert that it is the abandonment of the ancient truths that has lead to the wounding of women and men, homes and churches, and God's very reputation as the good Creator of two sexes.