New Paradigms or Old Fissures?: A Review of Mark Husbands and Timothy Larsen, eds., Women, Ministry and the Gospel

This collection of essays on women in public ministry originated from papers read at the 2005 Wheaton Theology Conference and includes contributions from such notable evangelical scholars as Henri Blocher, Timothy George, and I. Howard Marshall. Together the essays seek to offer new ways of thinking about women and ministry and to do so with humility, nuance, and biblical fidelity. The collection is admittedly modest in scope. One will not find here a thorough expression of either of the traditional positions. There is, e.g., no essay on 1 Timothy 2 from a complementarian perspective (though see p. 10) or Gal 3:28 (to say nothing of Genesis 3) from either a complementarian or egalitarian perspective. Still, while not quite thorough or, for that matter, equally-representative, the collection is nevertheless far-ranging, including contributions from fields as diverse as sociology and pastoral theology. Moreover, the essays are nicely divided into five categories (see below), providing a helpful aid in navigating the various contours of this complex debate.

The book's first section, "New Perspectives on the Biblical Evidence," comprises three essays. The first, "Deborah: A Role Model for Christian Public Ministry," written by Rebecca G. S. Idestrom, looks at Deborah from the book of Judges, a female prophet, judge (see esp. 22-23), and singer-songwriter, who stands out perhaps less for her gender than for her unambiguously positive leadership during a dark period in Israel's history. Granted Idestrom's point that "nothing within the biblical record indicates [Deborah's qua female leadership] was a problem," something more sophisticated than an argument from silence would be needed to extract an unqualified divine commendation of female leadership.

The second essay in this section, "What Women Can Do in Ministry: Full Participation within Biblical Boundaries," written by James M. Hamilton, Jr., argues that God equips or gifts the body (irrespective of gender, 35) and that he instructs the body's members in the use of their gifts. Thus, each member fully participates in ministry by using his or her God-given gift(s) in ways God determines, whether, e.g., according to the divine will expressed for those speaking in tongues (cf. 1 Cor 14:27-28) or that will directing gifted men (Titus 1:7, 9) and women (1 Tim 2:12, 1 Cor 11:2-16 and 1 Cor 14:29-35). Among other salutary points, Hamilton wrestles with the tension between 1 Cor 11:5, 14:34-35, and 1 Tim 2:12. He concludes that prophecy's spontaneous nature distinguishes it from teaching and that what Paul prohibits in 1 Cor 14:34-35 is the evaluation of prophecy, which, Hamilton claims, was implicitly authoritative. What remains slightly unclear, however, is how the authority inherent in prophecy (38) differs from that exercised in evaluating prophecies and that prohibited in 1 Cor 14:34-35 (or 1 Tim 2:12).

The third essay, "Women in Ministry: A Further Look at 1 Timothy 2," is written by I. Howard Marshall and seeks to demonstrate that Paul's prohibition in 1 Tim 2:12 is not an "unchangeable principle" (76) but rather is addressed to a specific exigency that arose in first-century Ephesus. Women in the church were accomplices in the church's failure in prayer and, Marshall avers, largely responsible for its undoubtedly sullied testimony (61, n. 26; cf. Titus 2:5), both due to their distracting dress and participation in gathered worship. Moreover, their distracting participation stemmed from their transgression of first-century social mores regarding husbands and wives and public roles for women and from their acceptance and (acrimonious or "domineering") propagation of false teaching. Thus, since first-century social mores no longer apply and since only wrong-spirited, false teaching is prohibited, Marshall concludes that women should not be categorically barred from teaching and exercising authority over men in the church. Were it not for 1 Tim 2:13-14, Marshall's point might prove more amenable; however, as it stands the appeal to creation gives the prohibition in verse 12 prima facie transcultural significance, notwithstanding the additional questions this appeal raises (see 68-69) or the different social mores of the twenty-first century (though cf. 74, n. 63).

The book's second section, "New Perspectives on the Body of Christ," comprises two essays. The first, "Prophecy, Women in Leadership and the Body of Christ," written by Lynn H. Cohick, argues that 1 Cor 11:2-16 permits women to engage in authoritative, public ministry. While Paul's instructions did accommodate first-century gender mores (e.g., head coverings), they nevertheless also challenged these mores by emphasizing the honor due to the weak (a category presumably including women), the role of the mind (not just spirit) in prophesying, and the interdependence of women and men (cf. 1 Cor 11:11). Paul's reference to the creation account in 1 Cor 11:8 introduced a further challenge, suggesting, Cohick argues, that men and women were cut from the same biological cloth.

The second essay in this section, "Christ's Gifted Bride: Gendered Members in Ministry in Acts and Paul," is written by Fredrick J. Long and argues that ministerial gifting in the new covenant is given irrespective of gender in fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32. Long further argues that prophetic gifting involves authority and leadership, something seen in both Testaments (103-4). And he likewise insists that New Testament prophecy is active, possessing more than merely derivative authority (104-5).

The book's third section, "New Theological Perspectives on Identity and Ministry," comprises two essays. The first, "Reconciliation as the Dogmatic Location of Humanity: ‘Your Life is Hidden with Christ in God,'" is written by Mark Husbands and argues that Christian reconciliation grounds women's full participation in ministry, for in Christ all manner of humanity comes to share a common identity. Husbands argues that creation itself points to this common identity, using the categories of "relational ontology" and "being-in-encounter" to suggest that men and women in relationship define what it means to be truly human. In other words, to prohibit the full participation of women in ministry based on essential or ontological (not simply anatomical) differences is a misreading of the creation narrative and has the potential "to deafen our hearing of the divine command made known in Jesus Christ" (141). Here it is at least instructive to mention that not all complementarians make this argument (see, e.g., 73-74; also 36-37). Moreover, why a common identity in Christ would obliterate functional differences in, for example, the church is not at all clear. Perhaps Husbands would insist, as one or two others in this volume imply, that functional differences cannot coexist, at least permanently, with ontological equality (cf. 172, n.1; 93).

The second essay in this section, entitled "Identity and Ministry in Light of the Gospel: A View from the Kitchen," is written by Margaret Kim Peterson and nicely explores the meaning of ministry and the distinction drawn between its public and private exercise. Ministry, Peterson insists, is less about office than activity; it is "meeting the everyday needs of others" (160). Ordained ministry, therefore, simply sets someone apart "to do publicly and officially what any one of us could theoretically do and ought already to be doing privately and unofficially" (158). Moreover, the very distinction between public and private spheres owes less to transparently delineated (much less biblical) boundaries than to industrialization.

The book's fourth section, "New Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences," comprises three essays. The first, "Opposite Sexes or Neighboring Sexes? What Do the Social Sciences Really Tell Us?," written by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, concludes that social science research does not unambiguously support essential differences between the genders, something running counter to claims made by both sides in the debate. It is simply too difficult, Van Leeuwen insists, for a study to isolate gender while bracketing out all other influences, whether genetic, environmental, or otherwise (177; cf. 186-87). Added to this, the deviation evident within gender is often greater than between genders, further making "essentialist pronouncements" "naïve at best, and deceptive at worst" (180). What, then, is gender? Van Leeuwen answers this question by appealing to what she calls "a relational approach to gender" (188), an approach similar to Husbands's and characterized by elements such as "covenant, grace, mutual empowerment and intimacy" (189). In other words, gender is something that allows for human flourishing, particularly of couples and families, though (apparently) including singles as well (191).

The second essay in this section, "Holy Boldness, Holy Women: Agents of the Gospel," is written by Cheryl J. Sanders and highlights the significant role women have played in the "Sanctified Church" (201; a label which includes the Holiness and Pentecostal traditions). Sanders profiles three exemplary women leaders (Amanda Berry Smith, Rosa A. Horn, and Ida B. Robinson) before turning to critique the sexism and racism, she claims, that persist in her tradition.

The third essay in this section, "Women in Public Ministry: A Historical Evangelical Distinctive," is written by Timothy Larsen and, like Sanders's piece, highlights the role of women leaders, though in this case expanding its purview to comprise all of evangelicalism. Larsen demonstrates that it was not the liberals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who advocated, against social norms, for women in public ministry; rather, it was "Bible-believing, gospel-spreading evangelicals" (235). Larsen avers that it was only in the second half of the twentieth century that this support began to wane, due largely to cultural pressure in the 1950s, the rise of the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and the elevated weight given to certain biblical passages, namely 1 Tim 2:11-14 and 1 Cor 14:34-36. What is more, Larsen suggests that the advent of Pentecostalism in the twentieth century led many noncharismatic evangelicals to reevaluate their understanding of prophesy, which many had formerly related to preaching, and to relegate its viability to the first-century.

The fifth and final section, "Beyond the Impasse: Toward New Paradigms," includes three essays. The first, "Women, Ministry and the Gospel: Hints for a New Paradigm?," is written by Henri Blocher and argues for a via media between complementarianism and egalitarianism. Blocher, for example, argues for something like Husbands and Van Leeuwen's non-essentialist ontology, even while affirming, contra Van Leeuwen, "obstinate" "psychological and mental" differences (243) and cautiously suggesting 1 Pet 3:7 in support of such differences. Blocher also suggests that these differences may correspond to the different roles assigned to men and women in Scripture, though he adds, "the decisive element . . . is the order decided by" God (243; cf. 245). Further, Blocher asserts that New Testament (non-canonical) prophecy is, in most cases, roughly similar to preaching, involving "the exposit[ion] and appli[cation of] the Scriptures to the needs of the congregation" (246). What makes the authority inherent in such ministry appropriate for a woman to wield is that it is derivative; it is not "attached to their persons" (247). This, Blocher insists, is what distinguishes it from teaching, which is, due to the teacher's own "thoughtful digestion of what God has said," much less self-effacing (247, emphasis original). (Here one is surely justified to wonder how what the preacher does all week in his study leads to something other than a "thoughtful digestion" on Sunday.) Finally, Blocher insists that gender roles in ministry follow a general order (male leadership) while remaining fundamentally flexible. This, he insists, is the case even though Paul's argument in 1 Timothy 2 may appear to indicate otherwise. In fact, it is only an appearance of rigidity, as the prohibition contained owes less to inflexible, creation-mandated roles and more to "the harsher tone of [Paul's] voice," a tone caused "by the special problems in the Ephesus churches" (247). Thus, God remains flexible to supervene the normal order by extraordinarily gifting some women for teaching and leadership roles. In the end, however, it is hard to understand just what it means when Blocher insists that Paul's teaching in 1 Tim 2:11-15 was "independent of the situation" and given in a tone caused by the situation. How, for example, does Paul's tone make female leadership in the church any more or less justifiable, even if only in extraordinary circumstances? Moreover, is Blocher implying that Paul did not mean what he appears to have said? That is, has Paul simply put things badly? If so, how does Blocher know this, and is this a hermeneutical tool we want all Christians to use?

The second essay in this section, "Forging a Middle Way Between Complementarians and Egalitarians," is written by Sarah Sumner and attempts to reframe the spirit of the debate. Sumner insists that both sides must exercise interpretive humility, do better at listening to one another, and clearly identify common ground. Sumner concludes by suggesting that we do all this together in community.

The final essay in this section, "Egalitarians and Complementarians Together? A Modest Proposal," is written by Timothy George and, like Sumner's piece, attempts to put the debate in pastoral perspective. George acknowledges that there are extremes to avoid on either side and admits that both sides legitimately fear the other side's extremes. Healthy dialogue, he insists, will include open conversation about these fears. George then takes up Roger Nicole's three-fold advice on engaging in theological polemics and applies it to the current debate, insisting that we must all work hard to understand, be open to learn from, and love those who differ from us. He concludes with nine projects egalitarians and complementarians can engage in to create greater understanding and unity.

Despite the handful of critical remarks and the fact that this volume is decidedly egalitarian in perspective (Hamilton's piece is clearly a minority report), these essays succeed in identifying key issues in the current debate and in raising some lingering questions. As such, they deserve a hearing by all those interested in this debate.