Editor's Column

Clearly the work of CBMW is vital. No one could rightly say that the question of the nature of manhood and womanhood is of marginal importance to our culture or to the Church. And within this question, such deeply troubling proposals are being offered. What is needed now, more than ever before in the history of the Church, is clear, biblical, faithful, relevant guidance in regard to a set of gender issues over which much is at stake.

To the end, then, of offering greater clarity and biblical fidelity on some matters that are important to a correct understanding of gender, we are very pleased to be able to present in this issue of JBMW what we believe to be a rich offering of fine contributions. Daniel Wallace and Michael Burer offer a scholarly and insightful reexamination of Romans 16:7. Some egalitarians have suggested that this verse contributes weighty evidence for their view that women, with men, may hold any ecclesial position, since in most translations Junia is referred to as an apostle. Wallace and Burer give substantive reason to think this is not what the apostle Paul intended. Their argumentation is compelling, and we invite readers to think deeply and afresh about this text. CBMW's executive director, Randy Stinson, offers a very fine interaction with and refutation of another common egalitarian view, that the Son's submission to the Father was limited only to his incarnational mission. JBMW's previous issue (6.1) dealt at length with a correct understanding of the Trinity and its relation to male headship, and here Stinson interacts particularly with Royce Gruenler's proposal, showing that Jesus' submission to the Father exhibits an enduring Father-Son relationship. Authority and submission are rooted in the God-head, and this pattern finds its expression in male-female relationships.

A highlight of this issue is our focus on a new book, Two Views on Women in Ministry, published by Zondervan Press. Todd Miles offers a very careful, yet brief, overview of this volume, endeavoring to represent as faithfully as possible the positions of its various contributors. Following Miles' summary, Thomas Schreiner (one of the contributor's to the Zondervan book) presents a point-by-point review of the argumentation, particularly, of the book's egalitarian contributors. Readers will find Schreiner's article a virtual summary of solid complementarian responses to the most common egalitarian arguments.

We are pleased to offer a fine sermonic defense of the complementarian commitment to male-female equality of person with differentiation of position. James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, navigates through 1 Cor. 11:2-16 and shows well how to balance these two crucial truths.

Literature on gender matters, and specifically on the nature of manhood and womanhood, continues to grow. As readers of JBMW will know, in the previous issue (Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2001) we began a major new feature in which we provide for our readers a substantial annotated bibliography of the past year's journal articles (listed and annotated in the spring issue each year), and of the past year's books (listed and annotated in the fall issue each year), that deal with issues of gender. In this fall 2001 issue, then, we include a lengthy listing and annotation of books published within the broad Christian faith (i.e., Catholic and mainline Protestant, as well as evangelical, writers) in the year 2000 on matters of manhood and womanhood, manifesting both the depth of interest on this web of issues as well as the range of opinion among those of us who would use the name "Christian" to describe our own commitment.

Our constant hope and prayer is that this journal would be used by the Lord to inspire his people to greater and stronger fidelity to Him and to the clear guidelines and commandments of His word. May our lives as men and women reflect God's good design, and may JBMW be used, by God's grace, toward this end.