Wayne Grudem on the State of the Gender Debate and the Way Forward

At the 59th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Wayne Grudem addressed a gathering of evangelical scholars, publishers, pastors, seminary administrators, and web bloggers.  He traced the history of the gender debate over the past 20 years intermingled with his personal reflections of how God has been working through the activities of CBMW.  His view of the future and exhortation to complementarians has been included below.

Grudem asserted that manhood and womanhood is now becoming one of the main focal points of a much larger controversy over whether the Bible will reign supreme over cultural pressures in the church, the home and the academy.  He expects that this controversy will increasingly will be the focal point in a larger realignment of the entire evangelical world between those for whom the Bible is still the ultimate authority and those for whom it is not. 

"I am surprised that this controversy has gone on so long.  In the late 80's and early 90's  I expected that this would probably be over in 10 years by the force of argument, by the use of the facts, by careful exegesis, by the power of the clear Word of God, by the truth.  I expected the entire church would be persuaded and that the battle for the purity of the church would be won.  I still believe that will happen because Jesus Christ is building his church and purifying it so that he might present it to himself without spot or wrinkle. But, it is taking much longer than I expected."

What has God primarily allowed CBMW to accomplish?  One significant contribution is the definition of a standard - The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood -- that is faithful to the Bible.  With this statement, there is one responsible view that has guided the church and been widely used around the world.  Over the years, the Danvers statement has been successfully defended with hundreds of articles, books, and Internet publications at the highest academic levels as well as the popular level.

What still needs to be done?  Grudem encouraged scholars "to answer the arguments of William Webb, Kevin Giles, Sarah Sumner and others.  Publish on this -- there is no lack of evangelical feminist material in need of a response.  Continue to engage this issue and win these arguments at the highest academic levels."

He also warned complementarians to beware the opposite error of male supremacy and dominance.  "Whenever you fight against one error, those who hold the opposite error will cheer you on and seek to become your allies.  But beware of them," he said.

Grudem's final exhortation and encouragement were straightforward, "Be courageous in teaching the truth and trust God to give victory."

"My testimony after 20 years is that faithfulness to the Lord always carries a price but it is always worth the price.  Whatever you spend God will richly repay with his presence, his favor, his blessing on you, your life, your family -- however he chooses -- and at the end say, ‘Well done good and faithful servant.'"