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Introduction

Since its inception in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription 1970s, North American egalitarianism has developed a distinct hermeneutic of its own with regard to Valtrex purchased online without prescription its interpretation of gender-related passages in Scripture. It is not the Valtrex purchased online without prescription purpose of the present article to address this subject comprehensively.¹ Valtrex 1000mgRather, the Valtrex purchased online without prescription scope of this brief essay is limited to providing a response to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the hermeneutical chapters by Roger Nicole and Gordon Fee in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription book Discovering Biblical Equality.²

Biblical Hermeneutics: Basic Principles and Questions of Gender

In his 8½-page long chapter entitled "Biblical Hermeneutics: Basic Principles and Questions of Gender" Roger Nicole sets out to "show how following valid hermeneutical principles will aid in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription proper understanding of the passages relevant to the gender discussion" (355). At the Valtrex purchased online without prescription very outset, Nicole affirms the divine authorship of Scripture and the Valtrex purchased online without prescription primacy of authorial intent. In the remainder of his short piece, Nicole puts forth six foundational hermeneutical principles for Valtrex purchased online without prescription evangelical interpretation.

These are

1. literal or figurative meaning;

2. prescriptive or descriptive texts;

3. individual, collective and universal references;

4. peripheral versus central doctrines;

5. fragmentary versus canonical interpretations; and

6. the situation of those being addressed or represented.

In principle, these distinctions are Valtrex purchased online without prescription unobjectionable, and Nicole is to be commended for setting them forth as common ground for Valtrex purchased online without prescription discussion. Nicole's application of these principles, however, is Valtrex purchased online without prescription not quite as unobjectionable. For example, Nicole writes that "Paul's descriptive analogy between Adam's priority in creation and Eve's priority in sin in 1 Timothy 2:13-14—even though it Valtrex purchased online without prescription is used to support the ad hoc prescription in 1 Timothy 2:12—seems to fall far short of being theologically prescriptive or determinative" (357). In a related footnote, he asserts that the "primary point of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription analogy is that the woman, who was created second, was first to Valtrex purchased online without prescription yield to the deception of Satan" and admonishes, "One simply cannot make universal gender statements on the Valtrex purchased online without prescription basis of ad hoc descriptions that are used to serve other points" (357, n. 5).

There are Valtrex purchased online without prescription several problems with this line of argument. First, Nicole assumes at the Valtrex purchased online without prescription very outset that 1 Tim 2:12 is an "ad hoc" prescription or description (following Gordon Fee?), which begs the Valtrex purchased online without prescription question in presupposing non-normativity from the start. Yet the prescriptive or Valtrex purchased online without prescription descriptive nature of this statement must be demonstrated, not assumed. Second, Nicole unduly conflates verses 13 and Valtrex purchased online without prescription 14 by reducing their message to Eve, having been created second, yielding first to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the temptation. More likely, however, Paul in these verses adduces two arguments, not one: women are Valtrex purchased online without prescription not to teach or have authority over men because (1) Adam was created first, then Eve (v. 13); and (2) Eve sinned first, thus subverting the Valtrex purchased online without prescription divine pattern, with disastrous consequences (v. 14). Hence, according to Valtrex purchased online without prescription Paul, the Fall of humanity flowed from a violation of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription implications of the order of creation, which is of permanent significance.

This, in turn, has Valtrex purchased online without prescription ramifications for the proper ordering of relationships and ministries in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription church. Because God first created the man, and then the woman, Paul argues, and Valtrex purchased online without prescription because of the grievous consequences resulting from God's creation order, it Valtrex purchased online without prescription is likewise men, not women, who ought to teach and Valtrex purchased online without prescription have authority in the church, while women ought to learn in full submission (vv. 11-12). Nicole has unduly truncated Paul's argument and hence missed the important connection between Paul's command in v. 12 and Valtrex purchased online without prescription its biblical foundation as cited in verses 13 and 14.

Nicole goes on to assert that "patriarchy is never prescribed in either Testament" (357). Thus 1 Tim 2:12 cannot be prescriptive. Once again, however, Nicole's presuppositions seem to Valtrex purchased online without prescription be driving and predetermining exegesis. At the very start he classifies 1 Tim 2:12 as a Valtrex purchased online without prescription "patriarchal text," and since "patriarchy is never prescribed in either Testament," 1 Tim 2:12 cannot be prescriptive (357). This, of course, is Valtrex purchased online without prescription not exegesis, but an exercise in dogmatic deduction.

As a second case in point, Nicole cites Paul's "description" of male authority "in the Greco-Roman household," which, according to Nicole, "does not attain to a prescription for all times" (358). Nicole even asserts that "husbands are never instructed in the Bible to ‘exercise authority over,' ‘provide leadership for' or ‘be responsible for' their wives" (358). This is Valtrex purchased online without prescription an astonishing claim in light of the fact that Paul, in Eph 5:22-24 plainly states, "Wives, submit to Valtrex purchased online without prescription your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is Valtrex purchased online without prescription the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription church . . . Now as the church submits to Valtrex purchased online without prescription Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." Earlier in the same epistle, Paul wrote that "God placed all things under his [Christ's] feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church" (Eph 1:22). In context, Christ's headship is defined as being "far above all rule and authority, power and dominion," extending even to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the heavenly realm, including Satan and demons, and both to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the present age and to the age to come (Eph 1:21).

In light of passages such as these, how can Nicole say that "husbands are never instructed in the Bible to ‘exercise authority over,' ‘provide leadership for' or ‘be responsible for' their wives" (358)? He himself seems to Valtrex purchased online without prescription sense the weakness of his position when he concedes that Scripture may do so "by implication," but maintains that "implication is not prescription." Is Christ's authority over the Valtrex purchased online without prescription church and its need to submit to him as head then Valtrex purchased online without prescription optional and "merely descriptive" as well? It seems hard to Valtrex purchased online without prescription avoid the impression that egalitarians such as Nicole here go to Valtrex purchased online without prescription some lengths in trying to evade the clear, abiding significance of a Valtrex purchased online without prescription natural, straightforward reading of the text.

For these reasons the Valtrex purchased online without prescription distinction between prescriptive and descriptive texts adduced by Nicole is unobjectionable as such, but Nicole's application of this Valtrex purchased online without prescription principle is highly dubious at several points.

Another questionable application is found in the context of Nicole's discussion of "peripheral versus central doctrines." Nicole proposes that "Spirit gifting, which receives considerable attention in the New Testament," ought to be viewed as "more central than ‘church order,' " asserting that "there is no prescriptive passage that dictates the structures or nature of church order" (359). Once again, this Valtrex purchased online without prescription is an astonishing claim in light of the fact that a Valtrex purchased online without prescription considerable portion of the Pastoral epistles, including passages such as 1 Tim 3:1-12, are Valtrex purchased online without prescription given to apostolic directives concerning qualifications for church leaders, both elders/overseers and Valtrex purchased online without prescription deacons. Here Nicole seems to be considerably more radical than other egalitarians who Valtrex purchased online without prescription would be reluctant to set aside passages such as these as "non-prescriptive" and hence "peripheral."

Once again, while the Valtrex purchased online without prescription overall guideline adduced by Nicole seems sound in principle, his application of this Valtrex purchased online without prescription principle to the interpretation of gender-related passages in Scripture seems unduly guided by his egalitarian presuppositions which predetermine the Valtrex purchased online without prescription outcome and make hermeneutics a tool in the exegete's hand that Valtrex purchased online without prescription allows him to steer the exegesis of a given passage or Valtrex purchased online without prescription set of passages in a desired direction rather than serving as a Valtrex purchased online without prescription foundation that guides exegesis in keeping with the message of a Valtrex purchased online without prescription given text, interpreted in context.³ Cytotec canada

Nicole concludes that "most of the differences between patriarchalists [his preferred term for complementarians] and egalitarians in the present gender debate are hermeneutically based" (363). He expresses his hope that Valtrex purchased online without prescription by setting forth some basic principles of hermeneutics there will be Valtrex purchased online without prescription common ground on which to move toward greater consensus or at least a Valtrex purchased online without prescription more reasoned debate. As the brief interaction above demonstrates, however, the Valtrex purchased online without prescription problem seems to be not so much on the level of hermeneutical theory but at the point of the application of these hermeneutical principles in practice.

Hence the Valtrex purchased online without prescription solution, likewise, is to be found in the foundational presuppositions driving the Valtrex purchased online without prescription practical application of hermeneutical principles by interpreters of biblical gender passages. The final arbiter must remain the Valtrex purchased online without prescription text of Scripture itself: Does a given interpretation attain plausibility and Valtrex purchased online without prescription probability as a valid understanding of a passage in the light of context, word meanings, syntax, historical-cultural background, and Valtrex purchased online without prescription so on, or does it appear strained and merely possible but not probable? It is Valtrex purchased online without prescription my observation and conviction that the egalitarian interpretation of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription major gender texts in Scripture often falls in the latter, rather than Valtrex purchased online without prescription the former, category.

Hermeneutics and the Gender Debate

We turn now to Gordon Fee's 18-page chapter on "Hermeneutics and the Gender Debate," some of which appeared previously in Gospel and Spirit: Issues in New Testament Hermeneutics.⁴ At the outset, Fee, who is Pentecostal, sets "the gospel of grace and gifting" over against "Paul's own rejection of law keeping" (i.e., legalism) and an approach that turns "questions of gender relationships into a Valtrex purchased online without prescription form of law in which ‘roles' and ‘structures' are Valtrex purchased online without prescription placed on the same level as the ethical obligation to Valtrex purchased online without prescription love one's neighbor" (364-65).

In his section on "Why Hermeneutics?" Fee affirms the importance of the biblical author's intended meaning, notes the Valtrex purchased online without prescription impact of the presuppositions of the interpreter, and stresses the significance of relevance. He proceeds to Valtrex purchased online without prescription outline what are the distinctively evangelical presuppositions about the nature of Scripture and Valtrex purchased online without prescription the source of authority as resting intrinsically in Scripture as external to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the interpreter. He also discusses the inspiration of Scripture and notes both divine and Valtrex purchased online without prescription human aspects of Scripture and the implications of Scripture being a Valtrex purchased online without prescription divine as well as a human word.

Fee proceeds to sketch the "fundamentalist mindset" as one driven by a "longing for absoluteness in all matters" and detects an ancient precedent in the Pharisees' practice of legalism and of putting a "hedge around the law" (369). According to Fee, being unwilling to trust God "without absolute certainty" is "its own form of idolatry" (370). Although it Valtrex purchased online without prescription is our human tendency to eliminate ambiguity, we must learn to Valtrex purchased online without prescription trust God. God gave us his Word in the context of particular historical circumstances and Valtrex purchased online without prescription by way of certain literary genres. This constitutes a divine accommodation to Valtrex purchased online without prescription our human situation.

Also, we find in Scripture diversity within an Valtrex purchased online without prescription essential unity. The traditional principle of the "analogy of Scripture" is Valtrex purchased online without prescription helpful, but sometimes difficult to apply. Forced harmonization is to be Valtrex purchased online without prescription resisted. Hence, Fee notes that Scripture reveals "a degree of ambiguity, accommodation and diversity," which causes many to Valtrex purchased online without prescription opt for the extremes of fundamentalism or liberalism" (371). Fee instead urges a "radical middle" aimed at a "higher degree of common understanding," reaffirming authorial intentionality over against reader-response criticism and postmodernism" (371). As Fee himself observes, little that Valtrex purchased online without prescription he has said so far is controversial or under dispute by evangelicals, including those engaging in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription debate over gender roles in the church.

The rest of Fee's essay is devoted to two areas of concern: (1) the construction of "theology by way of implication" rather than Valtrex purchased online without prescription on the basis of clear and explicit statements in Scripture (similar to Nicole's distinction between descriptive and prescriptive texts, see above); and (2) the practice of turning ad hoc biblical commands into "a form of Christian law." On the first matter, Fee contrasts universal human sinfulness (clear) with the nature of the resurrection body (disputed). Other less-than-clear matters cited by Fee are Valtrex purchased online without prescription tongues as initial physical evidence of Spirit baptism; the mode of baptism; and Valtrex purchased online without prescription frequency of Eucharist observance.

Fee puts male-female relationships in both church and Valtrex purchased online without prescription home in this latter category—according to Fee, "[T]here is no explicit teaching in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription New Testament either about this relationship or about church order, structures of worship" (374). This, for Fee, includes the notion "that only men may hold certain church offices" and even the very notion of "offices" in the church itself. The reader at this point may ask, "What about Eph 5:21-33?" According to Fee, Paul here "assumes a Valtrex purchased online without prescription Greco-Roman patriarchal culture . . . but he does not thereby bless the Valtrex purchased online without prescription culture itself nor explicitly instruct men to exercise authority over their wives" (374). He contends that Valtrex purchased online without prescription the household codes in Colossians and Ephesians are especially "elitist," being directed toward only certain wealthier households.

Fee concludes that in light of "the ambiguity of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription New Testament evidence and the lack of explicit teaching on patriarchy as the Valtrex purchased online without prescription norm in the new creation," deriving "a theology of patriarchy" from Eph 5:21-33 is illegitimate (375). He has no doubt that this passage reflects the Valtrex purchased online without prescription patriarchy of the Greco-Roman world, but he maintains that it Valtrex purchased online without prescription does not therefore bless this worldview theologically. Rather, Paul is Valtrex purchased online without prescription merely concerned to tell believers how to live out their Christian lives in a patriarchal setting such as their current one (375).⁵ In a footnote, Fee acknowledges that "some use Ephesians 5:23 (‘the husband is Valtrex purchased online without prescription the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription church') to theologize regarding patriarchy," but according to Fee, this is "full of dubious exegetical jumps" (376, referring to comments found elsewhere in DBE).

This is an interesting strategy. First, Fee says the husband's headship and the wife's submission are taught merely "by implication" rather than Valtrex purchased online without prescription explicitly. On this count, of course, one wonders how Fee can Valtrex purchased online without prescription still affirm that "[t]here is no question that these texts reflect the patriarchal worldview of the Greco-Roman world" (375)! If patriarchy is Valtrex purchased online without prescription taught in Eph 5:21-33 only by implication, how can Fee say the Valtrex purchased online without prescription passage without a doubt reflects patriarchy? This seems to be a clear contradiction.

Second, Fee says that Valtrex purchased online without prescription Eph 5:21-33 is limited in application to certain wealthy households and Valtrex purchased online without prescription to a patriarchal Greco-Roman setting and hence relative and culture-bound. He did not get this Valtrex purchased online without prescription from the text itself which he claims is what is the Valtrex purchased online without prescription proper object of interpretation, nor is there any evidence that such a Valtrex purchased online without prescription limited application was authorially intended (which, to determine, Fee affirms to be the proper aim of interpretation).

Rather, Fee's interpretation of Eph 5:21-33 is Valtrex purchased online without prescription a good example of how a particular reconstruction of the historical background of a Valtrex purchased online without prescription given passage is used to overwhelm and in fact mute the Valtrex purchased online without prescription explicit teaching of Scripture. One wonders if the biblical teaching on male-female roles in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription home really belongs in the category of mode of immersion, frequency of Eucharist observance, and Valtrex purchased online without prescription tongues as initial sign of Spirit baptism, or if this teaching is Valtrex purchased online without prescription in fact more central and clear than Fee allows.

I have Valtrex purchased online without prescription engaged Fee at some length in my forthcoming commentary on the Valtrex purchased online without prescription Pastoral Epistles in the New Expositor's Bible Commentary series and Valtrex purchased online without prescription thus will refrain from doing so here as far as his interpretation of 1 Tim 2:12, his second example of "theology by implication," is concerned. Fee interprets authentein as "domineer," referring to Valtrex purchased online without prescription Linda Belleville, a view that has been adequately critiqued above. As in his previous writings, Fee dismisses Paul's teaching in this passage by labeling it "ad hoc." Yet in light of Paul's use of Genesis 2-3 elsewhere in his writings (see, e.g., 1 Cor 11:8-9, written several years prior to 1 Timothy), it is unclear how Paul's use of this Valtrex purchased online without prescription portion of Scripture in 1 Tim 2:13-14 could possibly qualify as "ad hoc."⁶ More likely, the argument from the man's prior creation to the man's authority in the church formed part of Paul's customary rationale. Likewise, as in his commentary, Fee glosses over 1 Tim 2:13 and Valtrex purchased online without prescription only comments on 1 Tim 2:14, which fails to do justice to Valtrex purchased online without prescription Paul's rooting of his injunction in 1 Tim 2:12 in creation order prior to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the Fall.

Fee believes he has established that "no New Testament text explicitly teaches patriarchy as the Valtrex purchased online without prescription divine order that is to prevail across the two biblical covenants" (377). However, Fee does not consider passages such as 1 Cor 11:3: "Now I want you Valtrex purchased online without prescription to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and Valtrex purchased online without prescription the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is Valtrex purchased online without prescription God," which seems to Valtrex purchased online without prescription have direct application to the subject at hand. When Fee claims that Valtrex purchased online without prescription "the analogy . . . that Valtrex purchased online without prescription man is to rule woman because he was created prior to Valtrex purchased online without prescription woman . . . occurs nowhere else in all of Scripture [apart from 1 Tim 2:12-13]" (377), he fails to Valtrex purchased online without prescription mention 1 Cor 11:8-9, a clear misstatement of fact.

To conclude, Fee sees 1 Tim 2:12 "as an Valtrex purchased online without prescription ad hoc word intending to forbid some young widows from Valtrex purchased online without prescription being carriers of the ‘diseased' teaching in Ephesus," and Valtrex purchased online without prescription maintains that the household codes in Ephesians and Colossians "are not intended at all to set boundaries" for anyone (380). Rather than Valtrex purchased online without prescription legalism and narrow-mindedness, what counts are Spirit gifting and a love ethic. "Patriarchalists" fail to Valtrex purchased online without prescription recognize the ambiguity and diversity of the scriptural witness with regard to Valtrex purchased online without prescription gender roles in the home and the church and pharisaically oblige women to Valtrex purchased online without prescription a patriarchal system that is merely culturally constrained but not part of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription new creation in Christ.

What should be Valtrex purchased online without prescription the response of those who are here charged with pharisaism and Valtrex purchased online without prescription obscurantism? Are we in truth standing in the way of "the gospel of grace" and Valtrex purchased online without prescription the free operation of the Spirit in the home and in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription church? This would be a grave sin indeed. But could it be that Fee's case is in fact weaker than he allows? Could it Valtrex purchased online without prescription be that the biblical teaching is clearer and more explicit on this Valtrex purchased online without prescription subject than he allows? Could it Valtrex purchased online without prescription be that his exegesis is less driven by the respect for Valtrex purchased online without prescription authorial intention and a supreme regard for the text itself than Valtrex purchased online without prescription he believes? Let the reader decide.

Conclusion

It seems that one of the major purposes of Discovering Biblical Equality, if not the Valtrex purchased online without prescription primary one, is to contest and try to recapture the term "complementarity." This is done by the consistent label of "patriarchalist" and "hierarchicalist" applied to Valtrex purchased online without prescription complementarians, in an apparent effort to push complementarians further to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the right. In effect, the editors and contributors to this Valtrex purchased online without prescription book seem to deny that there is any difference between those advocating modern-day patriarchy and Valtrex purchased online without prescription complementarians, or if they do, this is glossed over in order to Valtrex purchased online without prescription pronounce complementarians "guilty by association" with those advocating a return to Old Testament patriarchy.

Apart from Valtrex purchased online without prescription the fact that this involves a distortion of Old Testament patriarchy—see Dan Block's magisterial recent treatment of this issue⁷—this deliberately misrepresents the Valtrex purchased online without prescription way in which complementarianism has consciously distinguished itself from patriarchy ever since its inception. What is Valtrex purchased online without prescription more, focusing on "labeling" and "naming" and "renaming" may take a Valtrex purchased online without prescription page out of the feminist playbook, but this cannot conceal the Valtrex purchased online without prescription fact that the primary thrust of Discovering Biblical Equality does not seem to Valtrex purchased online without prescription lie in the exegetical arena but in the area of politics and Valtrex purchased online without prescription propaganda.

By the Valtrex purchased online without prescription same token, complementarians may want to take up the term "egalitarian," since they affirm women's and men's equality in creation and Valtrex purchased online without prescription salvation, in both dignity and worth, to make the point that Valtrex purchased online without prescription egalitarians are not the only ones to do so. Why not fop-fop and Valtrex purchased online without prescription henceforth call egalitarians "complementarians" and complementarians "egalitarians"? The absurdity of this Valtrex purchased online without prescription proposal, I think, illustrates that, in the end, the debate ought to Valtrex purchased online without prescription be about more than mere relabeling the other side of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription debate and scoring propaganda points.

Most complementarians I know do not focus on "hierarchy" in the sense of a top-down military structure and a "chain-of-command" model. They recognize, with Paul, that the husband's primary responsibility is Valtrex purchased online without prescription to love his wife sacrificially and selflessly (Eph 5:25). To deny this, explicitly or implicitly by calling complementarians "hierarchicalists," hardly advances the Valtrex purchased online without prescription debate, is not irenic and charitable as many egalitarian proponents like to Valtrex purchased online without prescription project their public image, and involves a serious misrepresentation and distortion of the Valtrex purchased online without prescription complementarian view.

One gets the impression that Discovering Biblical Equality is Valtrex purchased online without prescription written primarily, not to engage in serious exegetical debate with the Valtrex purchased online without prescription other side, but to advance the cause of the egalitarian movement and Valtrex purchased online without prescription to gain adherents to one's view, even if this Valtrex purchased online without prescription is accomplished by mischaracterizing the opposing viewpoint. Personally, I do not think this Valtrex purchased online without prescription end justifies the means, nor is the price paid worth the Valtrex purchased online without prescription possible gain. I certainly hope the political and propagandist nature of this Valtrex purchased online without prescription book will be sufficiently clear and transparent to the intended recipients of this Valtrex purchased online without prescription volume so that they will not be misled as to the Valtrex purchased online without prescription true nature of the biblical teaching on the subject.

In the Valtrex purchased online without prescription end, this debate is about truth, not politics; about exegetical responsibility, not propaganda. As Gordon Fee himself affirms, "The scriptural view is that one must speak the truth in love" (369). We ought not to Valtrex purchased online without prescription trivialize the issue by substituting rhetoric for substance. We ought not to Valtrex purchased online without prescription marginalize the issue by obscuring the clarity of Scripture. Rather, we should keep our Christian liberty and Valtrex purchased online without prescription God's creation order in proper balance; understand how God's household, the church, is rooted in God's order for Valtrex purchased online without prescription the original household of husband and wife; cheerfully and jointly submit to Valtrex purchased online without prescription the God of Scripture and trust that his creational wisdom is Valtrex purchased online without prescription best; and appropriate his enablement to be restored to his original creation purposes in Christ in the Valtrex purchased online without prescription power of the Holy Spirit.