Thomas Schreiner, New Testament Theology, and a Biblical View of Gender, Part 1

Over the last thirty-four years, evangelical scholarship has produced a small handful of books offering to expound a "Theology of the New Testament." Writing a New Testament Theology is no small task. On the contrary, it is colossal. It requires a broad expertise of all twenty-seven NT books and the ability to highlight their diversity and unity. A NT Theology allows each NT author to have his own distinct voice, while also recognizing the one divine Author standing behind each human author who gives the whole NT (the whole Bible!) a unifying storyline. It is no wonder, then, that few evangelical scholars have been qualified—or willing—to step up to the challenge of authoring a NT Theology.

Since an author of a NT Theology attempts to treat the complex variety of issues that the NT addresses, one might ask, "How have the NT texts on manhood and womanhood in the home and in the church fared in these treatments?"

Two of the earliest works by two excellent scholars, George Eldon Ladd (A Theology of the New Testament, Eerdmans, 1974; rev. ed. 1993) and Leon Morris (New Testament Theology, Zondervan, 1986), are very good in many ways. But their discussion of the roles of men and women is minimal at best—with some NT gender-related texts not even receiving mention.

Two other scholars address the relevant biblical texts more directly. Donald Guthrie (New Testament Theology, InterVarsity, 1981) and I. Howard Marshall (New Testament Theology, InterVarsity, 2004) are prolific authors and have produced many fine commentaries on NT books. However, their understanding of passages dealing with manhood and womanhood is consistent with the egalitarian view. For example, both Guthrie and Marshall believe Paul's prohibition in 1 Tim 2:12 applied only to a local, first-century situation in Ephesus and is not meant for universal application. 

A fifth evangelical NT Theology is the exceptional work by Frank Thielman (Theology of the New Testament, Zondervan, 2005). Though his discussions on the relevant texts are brief, Thielman affirms that the NT teaches "a divinely appointed ordering of the sexes at creation." This order of creation "implies distinct roles in the church for each gender" (p. 419). However, Thielman argues that the verb authenteo in 1 Tim 2:12 probably means "that women should not exercise inappropriate authority over men [in the church], not simply that they should never exercise authority over men" (p. 418, n. 40, emphasis added). But in light of Andreas Köstenberger's study of the sentence structure in this verse in the book Women in the Church (2d ed.; Baker, 2005, pp. 53-84), this interpretation is very unlikely. Several evangelical egalitarian scholars—and even non-evangelical scholars—have commended Köstenberger's study for its sound exegesis (see also his article in the Spring 2005 issue of JBMW, esp. pp. 47-51).

To these works has now been added Thomas R. Schreiner's New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Baker, 2008). In addition to several books and commentaries on the NT, Schreiner has written many articles and essays on the NT gender passages, as well as co-edited Women in the Church (mentioned above) with Köstenberger. He is a rigorous scholar with a pastor's heart, and his New Testament Theology has been greatly anticipated.

Naturally, a NT Theology cannot address every possible topic in lengthy detail. However, when compared to the works mentioned above, Schreiner's book includes a fairly thorough and robust treatment of the texts dealing with manhood and womanhood. According to Schreiner, Scripture clearly teaches the equality of men and women, combined with a distinction in role for each. These two affirmations are not contradictory. Tomorrow's post will take a closer look.