Annotated Bibliography for Gender-Related Articles in 2001
Rob Lister and Todd L. Miles
By now, our readers have grown familiar with our effort to compile an annotated bibliography of relevant sources from the previous year in each issue of the journal. In the spring edition we profile articles, and in the fall we profile books. We make no pretense of being comprehensive in our coverage of the gender-related literarture. But we do aim to represent and interact with some of the key scholarship as it broadly impacts key gender related issues from a variety of perspectives.
As a quick reminder then, here are the categories we use along with our specific intent in using them. Our readers will find the Complementarian heading self-evident. By Egalitarian, we intend to classify evangelicals who do not see male headship in the church or home taught in Scripture. Under the Non-Evangelical heading, we have classified important secular works as well as articles that broach the subject of biblical gender issues from a non-evangelical point (e.g. some Catholic complementarians writing for Touchstone magazine). This category also serves as our classification for Liberal scholars. Though they too deny complementarity, we felt it would be a misrepresentation to classify them alongside evangelical feminists. Finally, under the Undeclared heading, we have listed those articles that do not give sufficient indication of their fundamental stance for us to classify them more specifically.
Complementarian Authors/Articles
Costella, Matt. "The Role of Women in the Local Church: Does God's Word Allow a Woman to Serve as a Pastor in the Church? A Study in the Pastoral Epistles." Foundation 22 (2001) 4-16.
Costella begins by briefly tracing the proliferation of women ordained into the clergy. He then writes a short analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 within the broader context of the pastoral epistles. His conclusions are as follows: Women are to teach other women. Women are to adorn themselves with good works. Women are to be active learners, and women are prohibited from exercising authoritative leadership or teaching of the Word of God over men in the local assembly.
Grudem, Wayne. "The Meaning of kefalh, ("Head"): An Evaluation of New Evidence, Real and Alleged." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44 (2001) 25-65.
Grudem is concerned to interact with new proposals of evidence for the meaning of kephale. Catherine Kroeger's article in the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters thus comes up for sustainted consideration. Grudem's work demonstrates masterful command of the literature, and sustains the thesis for which he has labored over 15 years, and provides a devastating critique of Kroeger's scholarship on this matter.
James, Sharon. "Are There Essential Differences Between the Sexes?" Themelios 26 (2001) 51-63.
James' article is given to a review of Elaine Storkey's Created or Constructed? - The Great Gender Debate. The first portion of the article is a chapter by chapter review of Storkey's book, which itself champions the notion that while biological sex is a created endowment, gender is socially constructed. James then provides a perceptive critique of Storkey's volume, noting how she is held captive by her feminist presuppositions in her reading of the Bible.
Köstenberger, Andreas J. "Women in the Church: A Response to Kevin Giles." The Evangelical Quarterly 73 (2001) 205-224.
In this article, Kostenberger responds to Kevin Giles' 38 page review of "Women in the Church" published in Evangelical Quarterly (2000). In particular, Kostenberger argues that Giles' egalitarian interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9-15 is out of line with previous interpretations, whereas Kostenberger's interpretation stands solidly in the interpretive tradition. He also defends the historical analysis and exegesis presented in the book against Giles' charge that it is deductive, assuming what it sets out to prove. Kostenberger takes Giles to task for failing to understand the difference between normative principles and particular commands in Scripture. He then critiques Giles' evangelical feminist hermeneutic and his use of content criticism. Finally, Kostenberger argues that Giles' suggested backgrounds to 1 Timothy 2 are reductionistic and without basis in the text.
MacArthur, John. "Reexamining the Eternal Sonship of Christ." Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6:1 (2001) 21-23.
MacArthur amends an earlier published position by affirming the eternal Sonship of Christ.
Schemm, Peter R. "Trinitarian Perspectives on Gender Roles." Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6:1 (2001) 13-20.
Schemm suggests that there are theological foundations for gender roles by exploring the inter-relationality within the Godhead. In the course of the article, he offers a critique of the Trinitarian models of Stanley Grenz and Gilbert Bilezikian. Schemm believes that in Grenz's drive to affirm reciprocating loving relationships within the human and divine frameworks, he has overemphasized the relationality in the doctrine of God, redefined the doctrine of eternal generation, and falsely assumed that loving relationships must of necessity be absent of all rank and order. Schemm critiques Bilezikian for oversimplifying and misprepresenting church history, particularly the Church Fathers' commitment to an eternal order in the Godhead. Schemm argues that there is an eternal order to the Godhead within which the divine members share and reciprocate love, and yet still maintain eternally distinct roles.
Schreiner, Thomas R. "Review of Two Views of Women in Ministry." Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6:2 (2001) 24-30.
Schreiner responds to his fellow contributors in Two Views of Women in Ministry: Egalitarians Linda Belleville and Craig Keener, and Complementarians Ann Bowman and Craig Blomberg. His essay consists of a thorough review of each author's argumentation and provides a very helpful summary of careful complementarian responses to the most common egalitarian arguments.
Stinson, Randy. "Does the Father Submit to the Son? A Critique of Royce Gruenler." Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6:2 (2001) 12-17.
Stinson responds to evangelical feminist Royce Gruenler's appeal to the Trinity in order to teach mutual submission between males and females in the home and church. Stinson rejects Gruenler's claim that within the Trinity the Father submits to and is dependent upon the Son. Stinson claims that Gruenler failed to make a biblical case for his claim, has misunderstood the broader context of the gospel of John, has mishandled the text, and has misrepresented the concept of delegated authority. Stinson argues that John 5 illustrates the full equality of the Son to the Father while affirming his uniform desire to submit to the will, word, and ways of his Father.
Troxel, A.C. "‘Amour Adulterine:' The Myriad Flirtations of the Soul." Modern Reformation 10 (2001) 28-31.
Troxel makes the important case that physical adultery is not the only thing at stake in the biblical prohibitions against sex outside of marriage. With Jesus, he notes that thought life can also condemn one of the lustful adultery of the heart, which if indulged may eventually yield sexual infidelity in a physical fashion. Accordingly, Troxel issues timely reminders to men and women about the urgency of guarding their speech, dress, and emotional contacts. He calls for all persons in the church-whether married or unmarried themselves-to honor the boundaries inherent in marriage. Peppered with practical suggestions along the way, he finally concludes the article with a reminder of the depth and profundity and freeing grace found in Christ Jesus for the one who has fallen into sexual sin.
Wallace, Daniel B. and Michael H. Burer. "Was Junia Really an Apostle? A Reexamination of Romans 16:7." Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6:2 (2001) 4-11.
Wallace and Burer provide a thorough examination of the issues surrounding Junia and apostleship in Romans 16:7. They argue that the most natural reading of the controversial expression, often translated inclusively as "well known among the apostles" should in fact be translated exclusively as "well known to the apostles." The authors provide a brief history of the translation controversy surrounding Junia's supposed apostleship and then argue lexically from extant Patristic Greek literature and exegetically from Scripture that although the inclusive view is used in impersonal constructions, in personal constructions the Greek phrase is always to be rendered exclusively. They conclude Junia was indeed a woman, but the most accurate translation is almost certainly that she was "well known to the apostles."
Ware, Bruce A. "Tampering with the Trinity: Does the Son Submit to the Father?" Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 6:1 (2001) 4-12.
Ware focuses on two dimensions of the current feminist Trinitarian reconstruction. First, he critiques the current mainline feminist rejection of masculine language for God. Second, he critiques evangelical feminism's rejection of eternal functional subordination within the Godhead. Ware bases his argument on the biblical testimony, the position of the early church, and the difficulty egalitarians face in explaining why it was the Son who was sent and not the Father or Spirit in a non-subordinationist understanding of the Trinity. Ware concludes with helpful points of practical application to an understanding of functional subordination within the Triune God.
Egalitarian Authors/Articles
Birkey, Del. "Gender Authority: Authority and Complementarians' Role Theology Part I." Priscilla Papers 15/1 (2001) 16-19.
Birkey brings a very harsh tone to his assessment of complementarian thought, particularly that of John Piper and Wayne Grudem. He suggests that their position does not deserve to be labeled complementarian because they do not equate equality of person with equality of function. He suggests that Piper and Grudem "employ a simple ruse" to establish their position, and furthermore accuses them of "hermenuetical gerrymandering," and fundamentalism. Not the friendliest reading, to be sure. He crassly skews their argument to say that by "authority" they merely intend "the male's right to rule in the home and church." Birkey further suggests that complementarians have inherited their views from culture and manifestly do not read them off the pages of Scripture. He also appears to buy into the farce that physical sexuality is uniquely the product of biology whereas gender is predominantly a social construct. He denies that the word "head" ever means "authority over." The list goes on and on. Sadly, Birkey's article is an instance of irresponsible scholarship and the building of straw men.
Birkey, Del. "The Intolerable Goal of Role Theology: Authority and Complementarians' Role Theology Part II." Priscilla Papers 15/2 (2001) 3-8.
Birkey offers up a second serving of his rant against complementarians, once again crying that there is no biblical support for role distinctions. He accuses Grudem of dangerously manipulating the Trinity toward subordinationism. It is clear once again that Birkey cannot abide the possibility that there might be differences between essence and function. Yet he himself admits that the Son was at least subordinate to the will of the Father for the sake of his redemptive work. So, in principle, he has already acknowledged the distinction that he elsewhere denies. In short, Birkey suggests that the NT authors never employ gender as a qualifier of spiritual giftedness.
Birkey, Del. "New Testament Limits of Authority and Hierarchical Power: Authority and Complementarians' Role Theology Part III." Priscilla Papers 15/3 (2001) 14-19.
In this, the third part of Birkey's series, he claims that the NT in no way allows for the sort of authority that would set some in any authority over others. He also maintains that all of Paul's epistles are ad hoc in nature and thus no one today is entitled to appeal to the Pastoral Epistles and "claim Pauline authority." Birkey further suggests that Paul's practice of "appointing elders in every town" included female elders, though there are no biblical examples of a female elder or a references to them. He concludes by accusing complementarians of peddling a "gospel of male power" drawn strictly from the "world's systems." Birkey's gross lack of charity and massive caricatures are quite evident throughout his series, and finally merit more of a rebuke than any need for serious interaction.
Giles, Kevin. "Women in the Church: A Rejoinder to Andreas Kostenberger." The Evangelical Quarterly 73 (2001) 225-245.
In this article, Giles responds to Köstenberger's response to his review of "Women in the Church." He begins by defending his view of Scripture and his hermeneutic. Giles' primary concern in doing theology is not a matter of correct exegesis, but the adequacy of the hermeneutic. He questions the desire to find a normative principle as subjective and open to creative manipulation and he defends his prior point that making a sharp distinction between prophesy and teaching is not possible. Finally, he defends his view that the "orders of creation theology" is a modern theological construct without biblical support, and argues that the complementarian interpretation of 1 Tim. 2:11-14 is prooftexting.
Hancock, Maxine. "As if Joy Did Make Them Speak: The Godly Discourse of Women in Bunyan's Conversion Narrative." Crux 37 (2001) 17-25.
This article represents Hancock's address on the occasion of her installation as a full professor at Regent College. As the jumping off point for her address, Hancock interacts with a passage taken from John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners depicting an occasion where he encountered "a group of poor women" speaking with untold joy about their experience of the new birth. Then, after summarizing a few points with regard to Bunyan's observations of the women's discourse, Hancock turns her attention to a few points of application that she believes are relevant for the current situation at Regent College. In essence, her thrust is that the community at Regent has lagged behind its "secular counterparts in making room for the full voicing of women's discourse in the academic context." In order to overcome this situation, Hancock concludes with the admonition: "Our discourses here at Regent College ... need to come to embrace the feminine more wholly, so that we might be reborn as a community, speaking the truth in love..."
Hjort, Birgette Graakjaer. "Gender Hierarchy or Religious Androgyny? Male-Female Interaction in the Corinthian Community - A Reading of 1 Cor. 11:2-16." Studia Theologica 55 (2001) 58-80.
Taking a cue from C. Kroeger, Hjort argues that the likely backdrop to the Corinthian correspondence was a syncretism of the gospel with the idol worship of the cult of Dionysus whence a sort of androgyny arose. Hjort maintains therefore that Paul was calling the Corinthians back to an acknowledgement of the created differences between the sexes as a correction to their androgynous leanings. But according to Hjort, Paul did not mean by this to affirm a hierarchy of function. Rather, "in 11:2-16 what is ordained by creation is not hierarchy or patriarchy but the polarity of the sexes and their consequent mutual inter-dependence."
Hurshman, Laurie C. and Christopher R. Smith. "Headcoverings and Women's Roles in the Church: A New Reading of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16." Christian Ethics Today 7 (2001) 18-22.
Hurshman and Smith argue that the traditional interpretation of 1 Cor. 11:2-16 is a mistaken reading. Their starting point-as is customary with most egalitarians-is to suggest that the biblical teaching on gender and ministry is clearly egalitarian as suggested throughout by numerous examples where the Scriptures esteem the value service of women. In contradistinction from this overarching theme which they suggest is the complementarian interpretation that, in their view, can only be substantiated by appeal to three convoluted and difficult Pauline passages: 1 Cor. 11, 1 Cor. 14, and 1 Tim. 2. The thrust of the article focuses on the translation of the word exousia in 1 Cor. 1:10. The authors suggest that though the immediate context might lead us to expect the traditional translation of a "symbol of authority," the verse is better translated as follows: "Therefore a woman ought to have freedom over her head." Hurshman and Smith argue that this reading better reflects Paul's use of exousia throughout the epistle, and that it, moreover, coincides with what we expect from Paul's routine insistence on freedom.
Kent, Dan Gentry. "Can You Believe in Inerrancy and Equality?" Priscilla Papers 15/1 (2001) 3-7.
Kent argues that the notion of inerrancy is a recent construct designed by certain conservatives to insure that everyone interprets the Scriptures just as they do. Nevertheless, he maintains that one can simultaneously affirm inerrancy and the ordination of women. Even so, he levels some fairly petty objections against inerrancy, and even evidences dissatisfaction with the thorough treatment found in the "Chicago Statement." In the end, his article has very little to say about the gender debate.
Latini, Theresa. "Ordination, the Bible, and Pastoral Care." The Princeton Theological Review 8 (2001) 14-17.
Clearly an egalitarian, Latini speaks as a member of the PC (USA) to other members of the PC (USA) in the wake of the 2001 General Assembly and the issue of the ordination of homosexuals. She raises and responds to three objections from the pro-homosexual community. Interestingly, in her first two responses, she offers some insightful remarks in defense of the view that God's design includes limiting sexual relationships to married heterosexuality. In her third response, she tries to hold the line between the issues of slavery and women's ordination on the one hand and the issue of homosexuality on the other. It is, of course, admirable that some in the PC (USA) want to resist the normalization of homosexuality. Given this line of argument, however, one also wonders how long it will stand.
McNally, Jane. "Another Look at Eve: Mother Eve Gets a Bad Rap But is it Justified?" Priscilla Papers 15/1 (2001) 8-11.
McNally's reading of the early chapters of Genesis is strained. She suggests for instance that the serpent possibly approached the woman because she "was seen as the stronger of the two, and if she fell, Adam would fall too." She also suggests that there was no ordering of relationships before the Fall because Eve evidently "felt free to reply to the tempter without consulting her husband." In her exegesis of Rom. 5:12-19, she uses this framework to conclude that Eve was the one "who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam" (v. 14). She suggests that God did not pronounce a curse on the woman, and she adds that there is no reason to believe that Eve was cast out of the Garden, only that she voluntarily followed her husband in an effort to salvage their relationship. It should be fairly obvious that there are some major misreadings involved in McNally's exegesis. First, the fact that God had originally given the directive to Adam and that he directly sought Adam after the couples' sin demonstrates Adam's headship in the Garden prior to the entrance of sin. The fact that the serpent approached Eve shows that he sought to subvert the Creator's good design from the outset. That Adam did not intervene reveals a failed headship. Her comments about Eve not being cursed or officially cast from the Garden are simply instances of special pleading. Perhaps most troubling of all, however, is what she does with Rom. 5:12-19. In the first place the fact that a parallel is clearly drawn between Adam and Christ denotes Adam's headship (albeit failed) in the Garden. But McNally maintains that while it is true that Eve sinned, hers was not in the likeness of her husband, i.e. she was deceived whereas he sinned willfully. The whole construction of her argument (recall the points of not being cursed or cast out) seems to suggest that McNally thinks Eve sufficiently innocent that God was willing to let her slide on this one. However, the fact that Eve heard the directive from her husband (another instance of Adam's created headship) and not from God directly does not somehow mean that Eve was unaware of God's commandment. The serpent may have deceived her, but she nevertheless knowingly contravened a command of the Lord. As Adam's responsibility as head was greater, certainly his guilt in this matter was greater as well. All of this precisely demonstrates God's created design of male headship, however, and is nowhere intended to suggest that Eve got a free pass.
Pursiful, Darrell. "Ordained Women of the Patristic Era." Priscilla Papers 15/3 (2001) 7-13.
Pursiful assesses historical evidence to ascertain possible patristic practice regarding various ministerial functions of women. He suggests that there is good evidence that women functioned as deaconesses in the patristic era. He suggests that it is possible to conclude that some women (though the evidence is less substantial and later) may have even filled the offices of elder and bishop. It is his conclusion that whatever offices women in the early church may have held were stamped out beginning in the 14th century as the result of a "pervasive prejudice against women."
Scorgie, Glen. "Are We on the Same Page? An Evangelical Response to Germaine Greer's The Whole Woman." Priscilla Papers 15/4 (2001) 3-7.
Scorgie jumps off from a brief recap of Greer's book into a synopsis of his egalitarian vision. He tells us that this design may be simply summarized in the following sentence: "Equality plus difference equals interdependence." At the outset it should be noted that Scorgie's article merits some appreciation. He actually acknowledges that there are differences between male and female that extend beyond our sexual organs, thereby deploring the "unisex dream." Clearly, he is not bound by the fallacy that gender is a social construct. He also recognizes that gender will continue to mark us even in our resurrection bodies. Unfortunately, in spite of his correct recognition of both equality and difference, he cannot seem to bring himself to conclude that authority is also part of God's good design. In his exposition of "interdependence," he suggests rather that we cannot know what it is to be fully human apart from one another. This, of course, is troubling because it would seem to lead to the conclusion either that men and women are each only partial image-bearers or that persons such as Jesus and Paul were somehow less than fully human.
Talbert, Charles H. "Are There Biblical Norms for Christian Marriage?" Family Ministry 15 (2001) 16-27.
In his essay, Talbert writes that there is very little in Scripture that applies directly as a norm for Christian marriage. Arguing for an egalitarian view of marriage, Talbert believes that the teachings in Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, and 1 Peter 2 represents "household codes" from Hellenistic Judaism that the biblical authors used to establish a hierarchy for family businesses to ensure profitability. Talbert suggests that to transfer these business rules into the family is to violate the spirit of Galatians 3:28. Such a transfer, he maintains, is evidence of a fallen world and is not biblical.
Tillman Jr., William. "The Church's Response to Homosexuality: Biblical Models for the 21st Century." Review and Expositor 98 (2001) 243-260.
Tillman's attention in this article is not primarily given to a discussion of the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality. Rather, his focus is taken up with describing various reactions to homosexuality, followed by the introduction of a number of considerations that he deems important in approaching the issue. It does not appear that he points the reader to where he would come down on the issue. He merely reiterates the difficulties of Scripture interpretation and ethical engagement such that the most important thing is that all our thinking be circumscribed by a humility that does not claim to have the final word.
Vogt, Peter. "Biblical Equality in the Moravian Church." Priscilla Papers 15/3 (2001) 3-6.
Vogt holds up the Moravian practice and exegesis of 1 Cor. 14:34 as being, in some senses, an early egalitarian model community. Vogt wonders what the Moravian community would have looked like had Zinzendorf lived long enough to implement some of his more radical comments, concerning women's ministry, that appeared late in his life.
Non-Evangelical Authors/Articles
Anderson, Pamela Sue. "Gender and the Infinite: On the Aspiration to be All There Is." International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 50 (2001) 191-212.
Anderson explores the notion that philosophy of religion has been held captive by gender, resulting in masculine notions of God and eternity. She argues that masculinist philosophers run the danger of striving to be infinite, while feminist philosophers run the danger of seeking to become all there is in nature. She offers a challenge to both masculinist and feminist philosphers to investigate a mediating position of expressing an incorrupt form of craving infinitude, while resisting a corrupt aspiration to be infinite.
Bearman, Peter and Hannah Bruckner. "Promising the Future: Virginity Pledges and First Intercourse." American Journal of Sociology 106 (2001) 859-912.
Bearman and Bruckner bring forth a study of the effects of public teen "virginity pledges," largely the fruit of a movement birthed in the Southern Baptist Convention. The authors found that the likelihood of teens engaging in pre-marital sex drops precipitously for those who have so pledged. They also concluded that the act of pledging is more likely to be effective in the context of a moderately sized group, as the large group mentality loses something of the counter-cultural flair.
Beckman, Ninna Edgardh. "Mrs. Murphy's Arising from the Pew." The Ecumenical Review 53 (2001) 5-13.
Beckman's goal is to examine the "problems inherent in the feminist Christian liturgical project" with an eye toward seeking aid and contribution from feminst ecclesiology. In particular, she suggests that feminist ecclesiology can act as a "cohesive agent between issues of Christian, and feminist, identity." Using her experience and study in Sweden, Beckman highlights changes in liturgical practices that "mirror a dogmatic feminist critique." These include the replacement of justification by faith as the central place in the liturgies with justice within the community, women portrayed as collaborators with God rather than sinners in need of forgiveness, and the renaming of God to evoke images of the motherhood of God. She recognizes that this presents a major challenge to liturgical practices, but in her view, the needs of feminism challenge "traditional Lutheran understandings of Bible and tradition, God and the human being." Finally, she makes a call for the ordination of woman as priests to ensure the progress of the feminist liturgical project.
Berthoud, Jean-Marc. "The Model Family: The Role and Character of the Family in Christianity." Touchstone 14 (2001) 23-29.
Berthoud makes a strong appeal for a return to Christian families that live in distinctively Christian ways. One key mark of this, he notes, is the loving headship of the husband and father. From there, he goes on to expound the ways in which the family constitutes (or should constitute) the "fundamental social unit."
Blankenhorn, David. "Fatherhood Uprooted: A Sociologist Looks at Fatherlessness and its Causes." Touchstone 14 (2001) 20-25.
Blankenhorn looks at fatherhood through a sociological and psychological lens and reports some fascinating findings. At the outset, he claims that absentee fathers constitute our greatest social problem. As cases in point, Blankenhorn calls attention to the fact that the absence of the father is the "single most important predictor" of young men getting in trouble with the law and young girls engaging in early sexual activity and having a child out of wedlock. Then, he goes to call attention to the fact that one of the most surprising discoveries of clinical research is that "fatherless children deeply love and want their fathers." This he interprets as a sign of transcendent heavenly fatherhood. He concludes by warning of the folly-which contemporary society has largely bought-of reducing fatherhood to biological categories.
Campbell-Reed. "Should Wives ‘Submit Graciously'? A Feminist Approach to Interpreting Ephesians 5:21-33." Review and Expositor 98 (2001) 263-276.
Campbell-Reed proclaims that we need a new perspective for the interpretation of Eph. 5:21-33, and in particular that we need a feminist perspective on the passage that will not only consider the passage in its context but will also appropriate "one's experience (religious and otherwise) as a part of the hermeneutical approach to interpretation." She avows that the primary thrust of the Scriptures is human freedom. Thus any contrary texts must be read in that light. Given that background, her conclusions about the Eph. 5 passage are not that surprising. She seems to doubt that Paul authored Ephesians. She suggests that the "household code" might have been an early Christian accommodation to the surrounding culture, much like the slavery that was tolerated for a time. Then she finally appeals to "mutual submission" as the solution to the texts' difficulties, noting that "if we are all indeed equal, then distinctions between who submits, and who loves would be immaterial."
Clark, Elizabeth. "Women, Gender, and the Study of Christian History." Church History 70 (2001) 395-426.
Clark studies the way in which the history of the church has been recorded with regard to women. Writing within the broader context of the history of religions, but with particular attention being given to Christianity, Clark examines the current status of religious studies in light of feminist expectations. She then analyzes the different connotations between historical studies under the different titles of "women's studies" and "gender studies." She pays particular attention to the way in which she feels "woman" or "the female" are rhetorical codes in historical analysis for other, often negative, concerns.
Crawford, Janet. "Women and Ecclesiology: Two Ecumenical Streams?" The Ecumenical Review 53 (2001) 14-24.
Crawford surveys the 50 years that have passed since the World Council of Churches raised the question of the ordination of women. She interacts with four major international studies that have been dedicated to the issue. Special emphasis is placed on the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, which concluded in 1998. She laments that the concerns voiced by women during the Decade "have, seemingly, had no impact." Crawford suggests that the current state of the institutional church, dominated by male power structures, has resulted in violence and oppression against women. She claims that as long as the existing power structures remain, true fellowship will remain a dream.
Cunningham, Agnes. "Women in the Life of the Church: 1961 and 2001." Chicago Studies 40 (2001) 128-138.
Cunningham's article is a celebration of the feminist movement of the 20th century. More particularly, it is a presentation of how the journal Chicago Studies has influenced and fed that movement from the time of its inception in 1961.
Forbes, Catherine. "Searching for a Priest ... Or a Man? Using Gender as a Cultural Resource in an Episcopal Campus Chapel" Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40 (2001) 87-98.
Forbes argues that gender is a "fluid cultural resource" that pastoral search committees often use in contradictory ways. The source of data for her research is an Episcopal campus chapel's search committee. She concludes that a patriarchal agenda has so permeated the culture that search committees often use gender as a criterion even when they believe that they are not. Forbes does not argue for the ordination of women; she assumes its legitimacy from the beginning and constructs her research and study from that point.
Frost, Ruth. "Graced, Gifted & Gay: One Woman's Story." Dialog: A Journal of Theology 40 (2001) 33-39.
In this narrative of her life and her struggle with homosexuality, Frost condemns the ELCA for its misuse of grace in its dealings with gay and lesbian people. Arguing entirely from experience and emotional appeal, she urges the ELCA to allow equal access for gay and lesbian persons to service in the church.
Haas, John. "The Christian Heart of Fatherhood: The Place of Marriage, Authority, and Service in the Recovery of Fatherhood." Touchstone 14 (2001) 47-52.
Evidently a Catholic complementarian, Haas provides a nice little exposition of the importance of the loving headship of the father in the home as the key to restoring God's plan for the family.
Hinkle, Christopher. "A Delicate Knowledge: Epistemology, Homosexuality, and St. John of the Cross." Modern Theology 17 (2001) 427-440.
Hinkle proposes a pro-homosexual stance via an epistemological argument that (conveniently enough!) does not have to contend with Scripture as he does not hold Scripture to have binding authority. Interestingly, he tries to appropriate the Reformed Epistemology of Alvin Plantinga and others (he clearly misappropriates it) to suggest that the "religious awareness of gay and lesbian Christians" is the epistemic authority by which their sexual behavior is vindicated. Hinkle does recognize, however, that there are difficulties in pushing Plantinga's epistemology to this sort of conclusion. At that point, he jumps off the Plantinga bandwagon and esteems St. John of the Cross in his place.
Johnson, Elizabeth. "Naming God She: Theological Implications." The Princeton Seminary Bulletin 22 (2001) 134-149.
Johnson's outcome based agenda is clear from the outset of her article. She wants to name God "she," with a view to improving the lives of women and abating patriarchalism in the broader contemporary culture. On her view, a deity given predominantly masculine referents legitimizes patriarchalism in society, and so we must work to recast our language about God. After establishing her agenda, she then goes about the task of seeking support for it. This she finds in her "three ground rules that govern all speech about God" 1) God is incomprehensible, 2) anything predicated of God is necessarily symbolic or metaphorical but in no sense literal, and 3) there must therefore be many names for God. She even states that while she "holds the trinitarian formula dear," the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do not constitute "a literal formula, nor was it ever intended to be the only way that Christians name God." In himself, it is of course true that God is neither male nor female but spirit. And it is also true that there are occasional feminine metaphors for God in the Bible. But Johnson fails to appreciate that God is nowhere named in Scripture a woman. As such, she has denied the right of God to name himself in revelation to his creatures. Moreover, she has made little of the fact that when the second person of the Trinity became incarnate, he did so as a man (and will continue throughout eternity as the God-Man).
Jones, Gareth Lloyd. "Mary Magdalene: Prostitute or Preacher?" Scripture Bulletin 31 (2001) 86-100.
Jones argues that it is a misinterpretation of the biblical data to construe Mary Magdalene as a repentant prostitute. Rather, he suggests that Mary was an apostle, and in fact, the greatest of apostles. But in a power grab, the misogynistic apostles and early church fathers buried this tradition and even excluded some books from the canon that testified to Mary's supremacy among the apostles. This portrayal, however, is sadly lacking in honesty in its assessment of the Scriptural texts, and appears at root to be motivated by an ideological agenda. One of Jones' main arguments, for instance, is to conclude from the fact that since Mary Magdalene was an eye-witness of the resurrected Christ, she was necessarily an apostle, and moreover must have held the priority seat because she was the first witness of the resurrected Christ. Jones, however, seems to stop at this point and suggest that the only qualification for apostleship was an eyewitness encounter. This is simply fallacious, however, as we know that there were numerous persons who witnessed the resurrected Christ but were not therefore commissioned as apostles. In fact the qualifications for apostleship were two-fold: eyewitness on the one hand, coupled with a commission from the Lord Jesus on the other.
Kienzle, Beverly and Nancy Nienhuis. "Battered Women and the Construction of Sanctity." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 17 (2001) 33-61.
Kienzle and Nienhuis explore the history of the association of battering, suffering and sanctification. They specifically look at the theology of the church that teaches a woman to endure an abusive relationship with her husband for the purpose of spiritual reward. Investigating historical attitues toward violence against women in the lives of the church leaders of the Middle Ages, the authors examine the lives of four medieval women: Monica, the mother of Augustine; Godelieve of Gistel; Dorothy of Montau; and Catherine of Genoa. Adopting a critical feminist interpretation, Kienzle and Nienhuis are sharply critical of any theology of suffering related to a "theology of obedience and ownership." Their dissatisfaction with a theology of suffering is not limited to explicit spousal abuse, but is founded on a rejection of the biblical texts that encourage the believer to suffer as Christ suffered.
Loftus, Jeni. "America's Liberalization in Attitudes Toward Homosexuality, 1973 to 1998." American Sociological Review 66 (2001) 762-782.
Not surprisingly, Loftus shows from her study of surveys from 1973-1998 that Americans generally are now more liberal in their attitude towards homosexuality. She notes that Americans held an increasingly negative view until about 1990 when the liberalization trend began and has since increased. Over the same span of time, Loftus also noted that the surveys reflected a dichotomy between American assessment regarding the morality of homosexual behavior on the one hand and a declining interest in restricting homosexuals' civil liberties on the other hand.
Mankowski, Paul. "Jesus, Son of Humankind? The Necessary Failure of Inclusive-Language Translations." Touchstone 14 (2001) 33-42.
Mankowski makes a compelling case for the rejection of inclusive language translations. He demonstrates the failure of such efforts not only for those who would rename God, but for those as well who would attempt to hold a line between advocating inclusive language on a "horizontal" plane (i.e. in reference to man) while resisting it on the "vertical" plane (i.e. in reference to God).
Olofsson, Folke. "God and the Genesis of Gender: The Trustworthy Biblical Design of Man and Woman." Touchstone 14 (2001) 36-41.
Olofsson commendably makes the case for a complementarian view of marriage and ministry on the basis of God's created intention as reflected in Genesis 1 and 2. He suggests that how we address these issues today boils down fundamentally to whether or not we are willing to trust God's good intent in creation. He also helpfully notes how an understanding of the Trinity demonstrates the viability of a position that maintains full personal equality while simultaneously holding to a subordination of functions. There is an unusual moment (for a Protestant reader) when Olofsson's Mariology raises its head in the midst of the article. Everything is going along just swimmingly, and then all of a sudden Olofsson transposes the Adam - Christ (i.e. first Adam, last Adam) paradigm of redemptive history onto an Eve - Mary paradigm wherein Mary is now supposedly "the representative of humankind, as is also Eve, and in a human sense Mary reverses the disobedience of the Fall."
Peng, Wang. "On Paul's Prohibitions on Women in 1 Corinthians." Chinese Theological Review 15 (2001) 88-101.
Peng sets out to demonstrate that the complementarian readings of 1 Cor. 11 and 14 are wrong. She is content to do so by the employment of any number of arguments (it's hard to tell which ones she actually holds) so long as the feminist reading is allowed finally to stand. In the course of her article, it is as if she throws out a number of critiques, any one of which, if true, would defeat the complementarian reading, thinking all the while that at least one of them must be true. So, she appeals to the historical-critical method. She pits Paul against Paul. She suggests that while Paul quite possibly intended the complementarian reading, he was bound up in a patriarchal society, and while we should move past him, we cannot really hold it against Paul that he was not an enlightened feminist. It seems clear that Peng's design is to force the Scriptures to fit the feminist reading.
Podles, Leon. "Missing Fathers of the Church: The Feminization of the Church and the Need for Christian Fatherhood." Touchstone 14 (2001) 26-32.
Podles is here elaborating on his thesis in The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity. He begins by noting afresh that the church is largely feminized, a fact which in turn leads young men to conclude that they must distance themselves from this entity in order to establish their masculinity. Podles appeals that "men can be taught to be men only by other men, and all too many pastors are not real men." Consequently, they need fathers and pastors that will give time and attention to the challenges that are particular to the bringing up of young men. Podles concludes with a few helpful practical suggestions for doing just this.
Reardon, Patrick Henry. "Thou Art the Everlasting Son of the Father: The Christian Meaning of the Fatherhood of God." Touchstone 14 (2001) 53-57.
Reardon makes the case that our understanding of the ontological Trinity must include room for the eternal Sonship of Christ and the eternal Fatherhood of God. He would appear to support the view of the "eternal generation" of the Son. Following from this, Reardon notes, the Fatherhood of God is not primarily a metaphor whereby "our relationship to him somehow resembles our relationship to our earthly fathers." Rather, it works the other way around. Hence, Reardon points out that it is not an optional metaphorical way of referring to God. "It is not a title given him by man. It is the proper name by which he is addressed by his Son from all eternity."
Robbins, Mandy. "Clergywomen in the Church of England and the Gender Inclusive Language Debate." Review of Religious Research 42 (2001) 405-414.
Robbins undertook this study with a desire to ascertain the attitudes of Anglican clergywomen towards gender inclusive language, particularly as it pertained to the variables of age and education. She found that while most (nearly 3/4) felt "alienated by the use of exclusive language," a much smaller percentage (10.4%) actually wanted to see the use of inclusive language in Bible translation. She further discovered that younger, paid clergywomen were more likely to favor inclusive language than older women or those not financially compensated.
Rogness, Peter, Mary E. Lowe, Meg Madson, Gilbert Meilaender, Karen Lebacqz, Barbara Lundblad, and David Fredrickson. "Dialogue in Dialog: Are Same Sex Unions Marriage." Dialog: A Journal of Theology 40 (2001) 21-32.
Seven theologians in the ELCA argue the question of whether North American Lutheran clergy should bless committed relationships between gay and lesbian persons; and if so, should these relationships be recognized as marriages. Each participant argues his case in essay form with five theologians affirming the question and two theologians offering dissenting opinions.
Russell, Letty. "Hot-House Ecclesiology: A Feminist Interpretation." The Ecumenical Review 53 (2001) 48-56.
Russell shares her feminist vision for the church as a safe place for women and all those whom society has marginalized. She argues that for the church to become such a place, the Spirit will have to be poured out on women, good news must be preached by women, hospitality must be offered to women, and justice must be shared by women. Russell interacts with Scripture to build her ecclesiology, though she uses Gal. 3:28 as a hermeneutical lens by which to read the Bible.
Sawyer, Deborah F. "Disputed Questions in Biblical Studies: 3. A Male Bible?" The Expository Times 112:11 (2001) 366-369.
Sawyer questions the feminist assertion that the Bible is a male book that celebrates a patriarchal God. Utilizing a deconstructionist hermeneutic focusing primarily on the narrative of Abraham, she argues that the Bible is neither male nor female. She suggests that the Bible actually parodies the patriarchal concept of masculinity, uncovering a vulnerable maleness in the biblical tradition. She believes that the maleness affirmed in the biblical texts is complex, rather than purely hegemonic.
Stacey, Judith and Timothy Biblarz. "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?" American Sociological Review 66 (2001) 159-183.
Stacey and Biblarz report on the findings of 21 studies concerning the impact of parental sexual orientation on the well-being of children. The authors claim that these studies have demonstrated that the effects of sexual orientation on child outcomes are largely negligible, or are the product of homophobia and discrimination.
Stiebert, J. and J.T. Walsh. "Does the Hebrew Bible Have Anything to Say About Homosexuality?" Old Testament Essays 14 (2001) 119-152.
The short answer from Stiebert and Walsh as to whether or not the Hebrew Bible has anything to say about homosexualtiy is "no." They examine Genesis 19, Judges 19, Leviticus 18:22, and 20:13 and conclude from them that there is no prohibition of homosexuality in these texts, only the social conventions of masculinity attached to the ancient Hebrew world. Stiebert and Walsh suggest that what is particularly under consideration-more as a result of culture than anything else-is a particular sexual act between men and not homosexual orientation as such. The authors maintain that cultural milieu was concerned with patterns of strong masculinity, such that the assuming of a passive role in homosexual intercourse by a free male Israelite is all that is explicitly condemned in the OT.
Stoyle, Jacci. "Did a Woman Tell this Story? Using Revisioning as a Method of Theological Reflection." Contact 135 (2001) 22-28.
Stoyle suggests that despite the patriarchal nature of Scripture, women can still draw inspiration and theological insight from Scripture through the use of feminist revisioning. By removing the biblical characters from their historical and cultural context and revisioning them into a personal setting more sensitive to feminist concerns, Stoyle believes that women, who have been rendered invisible by the Bible, can be "written back in." She demonstrates this by a personalized modern reading of the woman with the perpetual hemorage in Mark 5. Though she acknowledges that such an imaginative hermeneutic could "make a mockery of Scripture," she believes that the risk is worth taking.
Stuckenbruck, Loren. "Why Should Women Cover Their Heads Because of the Angels? (1 Corinthians 11:10)." Stone-Campbell Journal 4 (2001) 205-234.
Stuckenbruck surveys the traditional arguments for interpreting Paul's remark about the angels in 1 Cor. 11:10. In wrestling towards her conclusion, she appears to posit a dramatic inconsistency on the part of Paul as the background to this exegetical difficulty. Stuckenbruck claims that for Paul the irreducible gender reality is found in the flat equality understanding of Gal. 3:28, whereas in texts like 1 Cor. 11, Paul is really struggling with "socially-conditioned views and assumptions." According to Stuckenbruck, it appears on the face of it that Paul in 1 Cor. 11:2-16 intends to teach the social inferiority of women, thus leaving us with "an irresolvable tension in Paul." Against that backdrop, she understands Paul to have "prophylactic" intentions in mind when requiring the female head covering. That is, on the one hand, the head covering serves to protect "the woman against inadmissible invasions from the outside and, on the other hand, protects those on the outside (so, from the male point of view!) against the vulnerability to evil that the woman represents."
Townsend, Leslie Kendrick. "Embodiment versus Dualism: A Theology of Sexuality from a Holistic Perspective." Review and Expositor 98 (2001) 157-172.
Townsend's aricle is both distasteful and inappropriate. Much of it must be considered too lewd to represent here. The thrust of her article, however, is that as humans our genitalia and sexual functions are sources of revelation about God, and that the suppression of this claim stems from a patriarchal mentality. In one of her milder comments for instance, Townsend states, "The physiological crises of menstruation, pregnancy, lactation, and menopause serve as instruments of revelation in female experience." She has yet more distasteful remarks concerning how the male experiences of erection, impotence, and ejaculation are reflective of the divine reality.
Ullestad, Steven L., George P. Mocko, Anita C. Hill, James Martin-Schramm, and Marc Kolden."Dialogue in Dialog: Can Pastors be Openly Gay or Lesbian." Dialog: A Journal of Theology 40:1 (2001) 9-20.
Four theologians in the ELCA argue the question of whether North American Lutherans should ordain gay and lesbian persons to the ministry of Word and Sacrament; and if so, should gay and lesbian pastors be required to be celibate. Each participant argues his case in essay form with two theologians affirming the question and two theologians offering dissenting opinions.
Vitz, Paul. "The Father Almighty, Maker of Male and Female." Touchstone 14 (2001) 33-39.
Vitz provides a fascinating account of how a right understanding of the Fatherhood of God helps men and women towards healthy psychological integration.
Walton, Heather. "The Wisdom of Sheba: Contructing Feminist Practical Theology." Contact 135 (2001) 3-12.
Walton utilizes midrash, the Jewish technique of using narrative as a starting point for discusison, to explore the power relationships inherent in male-dominated theological thinking. Walton argues that the use of midrash allows women who respect their theological heritage to argue with and reenvision the biblical text. She demonstrates the technique with an aberrant reading of 1 Kings 3:16-28 told from the perspective of the Queen of Sheba. Walton believes that such a hermeneutic will allow women to actively participate in feminist practical theology.
Undeclared Authors/Articles
Capps, Donald. "Curing Anxious Adolescents Through Fatherlike Performance." Interpretation 55 (2001) 135-147.
Capps examines two of the healings of Jesus - the exorcism of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9 and the raising of Jairus' daughter in Mark 5. Through a series of extra-biblical speculations (he believes that the boy suffered from anxiety related to aggressive emotions toward his father while the girl suffered from anxieties related to her emerging sexuality), Capps argues that the role that the father played in each demonstrates the importance of fathers in the adolescent period of a child's life. Jesus' interaction with the two children shows that he offered the adolescents a "non-anxious presence together with the empowerment of fatherlike performance through the physical action of an extended hand." Capps suggests that this model of fatherhood transcends time and bridges the gap between the centuries.
Foster, Rachel Ann and Renee L. Babcock. "God as a Man Versus God as a Woman: Perceiving God as a Function of the Gender of God and the Gender of the Participant." International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 11 (2001) 93-104.
Foster and Babcock report the findings of their study in which 435 students at an American university wrote stories about an encounter with either a female god or a male god. The stories were analyzed on the basis of their content for differences and continuity depending on the gender of the god. They generally found that women seem to view God as more supportive than do men, and describe a god who is more oriented toward intimacy than do men. Most of the students had no trouble accepting a male God, while both men and women expressed surprise when God was female. The stories about a female god were stories of skepticism and surprise, while the stories of a male god were stories of mission and purpose. The authors suggest, though the results are not definitive, that their study shows there are significant gender differences in the concept of God.
Ganzevoort, R. Ruard. "Religion in Rewriting the Story: Case Study of a Sexually Abused Man." International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 11 (2001) 45-62.
Ganzevoort presents part of his research on religious dynamics in sexually abused men. He describes its purpose as offering insight into the interaction of abused men and their religious beliefs and experiences. His report is based on the narratives of three case studies. He concludes that religion can provide "structures and images for a meaningful narrative." Religion has a serious place and function in coping with sexual abuse that is immersed in the narrative process. He claims that his research highlights ways to access this narrative process.
Harrison, Nonna. "Women, Human Identity, and the Image of God: Antiochene Interpretations." Journal of Early Christian Studies 9 (2001) 205-249.
Harrison explicates the interpretations of Genesis 1:26 by Diodore of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Most early Christian authors regarded the divine image as being shared equally by man and woman. But the three Antiochene authors, who are the subject of the essay, had a different understanding. Diodore and Theodore identify the image of God with a kind of authority and interpret Gen. 1:26 in light of 1 Cor. 11:7 to show that women do not have the image of God. Theodoret shared the same understanding of the Gen. 1:26 / 1 Cor. 11:7 relationship, but believed that if women did possess the image of God, it was only an image of the image.
Hutchinson, John C. "Women, Gentiles, and the Messianic Mission in Matthew's Genealogy." Bibliotheca Sacra 158 (2001)152-164.
Hutchinson's article is given to a discussion of why four OT women are mentioned in Matthew's presentation of Christ's genealogy in Matthew 1. In the course of the article he identifies and evaluates the four most common views before elaborating on his conclusion. Hutchinson sees the emphasis in terms of salvation history. He draws attention to the fact that the four women selected are representative of four major eras in Israelite history wherein the faith of a Gentile plays a crucial role in contrast to the faltering faith of Israel. The point of all this suggests Hutchinson, was to remind the Jews of Matthew's day "of God's faithfulness to His ... covenant promises," and to demonstrate Jesus' messiahship was for all peoples.
Huttar, David. "AUQENTEIN in the Aeschylus Scholium." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44 (2001) 615-625.
Huttar rightly notes that understanding Paul's use of the word AUQENTEIN in 1 Tim. 2:12 is an important component in the gender debate. Insofar as it pertains to this debate, Huttar is concerned to work with one extra-biblical reference in particular-a passage in Aeschylus' Eumenides-where it has been routinely claimed that "the meaning is unambiguously ‘to commit murder.'" In the course of his article he shows, however, that this reading is based on an emendation and that the meaning "to commit murder" is likely not a viable option for this verb. This reading makes the egalitarian interpretation of 1 Tim. 2 yet more difficult to sustain.
Koukoura, Dimitra. "What Does It Mean to Live in the World and for the World?" The Ecumenical Review 53 (2001) 36-43.
Koukoura argues that because the role of women in patriarchal society since the industrial revolution has changed, it is only natural that their role in the church should also change. She then approvingly summarizes the recent history of the Greek Orthodox church with regard to the role and theological education of women in the church.
Laaser, Mark. "Sexual Misconduct Among Clergy: Update and Treatment Options." Review and Expositor 98 (2001) 207-224.
Laaser offers an assessment of clergy sexual misconduct followed by a number of suggestions of counseling and treatment options for those who are guilty of such misconduct. He suggests that most offenders were themselves the victims of some sort of emotional traumas in their own development. From a legal standpoint, Laaser advises that the person in question either be removed from the position or take a leave of absence depending upon the circumstances. Nevertheless, he is quite open to the possiblity that such a one can be restored to pastoral office.
Lawther, Betty Coble and Jenny Potzler. "The Church's Role in the Healing Process of Abused Women." Review and Expositor 98 (2001) 225-241.
Lawther and Potzler discuss the painful experiences of abused women, and follow this with several diagnoses and strategies for the church to understand and employ in the attempt to minister to these women.
Laythe, Brian, Deborah Finkel, and Lee A. Kirkpatrick. "Predicting Prejudice from Religious Fundamentalism and Right-Wing Authoritarianism: A Multiple-Regression Approach." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40 (2001) 1-10.
The authors use statistical analysis to conclude that "religious fundamentalism" is a negative predictor of prejudice against racial minorities, while it is a positive predictor of homosexual prejudice. They conclude that Christian fundamentalism is more than authoritarianism. The Christian belief content causes it to be inversely related to some forms of prejudice, but positively related to others. The study does not define its criteria for establishing prejudice.
Looy, Heather. "Sex Differences: Evolved, Constructed, and Designed." Journal of Psychology & Theology 29 (2001) 301-313.
Looy reviews three theoretical frameworks to explain and predict psychological and behavioral differences between men and women. Evolutionary psychology, which often assumes scientific naturalism, claims that "universal differences between females and males reflect the fact that each sex plays different reproductive roles, and therefore has faced different adaptive ‘problems' during evolutionary history." Social Constructionism suggests that perceptions, knowledge, worldviews, expectations, and behaviors are "powerfully shaped by our historical and cultural contexts." Looy argues that both Evolutionary Psychology and Social Construction have serious limitations. She therefore suggests that Intelligent Design should be considered as a powerful complement to Evolutionary Psychology and Social Construction. Although she does believe that Intelligent Design is too limited to account for the rich diversity between the sexes, it does provide a lens for interpreting and understanding human sexuality that is far more rich and complete than naturalism.
Mathewes-Green, Frederica. "What Women Need: Three Bad Ideas for Women and What to Do About Them." Touchstone 14 (2001) 20-25.
Mathewes-Green makes a compelling argument that abortion, careerism, and promiscuity are three bad but vitally intertwined ideas comprising much of the nexus for feminist thought. The latter two ideas, she argues, have come together in definition of an abortion culture as they have dramatically changed a woman's expectation that pregnancy would be a blessing into an expectation that a pregnancy is an inconvenience at best. Over against this mess, Mathewes-Green suggests that we replace these three bad ideas with three good ones: "support the pregnant woman," "offer grief-counseling for post-abortion women," and "reach young people before they have become sexually active and give the resources and incentive to remain chaste." Following from these points, she also draws attention to the fact that society has long allowed young men to live down to a low level of expectation, when in fact, they too need to be challenged with a "vision of the nobility of fatherhood."
McClymond, Michael. "Two Become One, Two Become Three: Pleasure and Procreation in Christian Understandings of Sex." Modern Reformation 10 (2001)16-21.
McClymond provides a brief history of key Christian understandings of sexual intimacy in the history of the church. He compares Protestant and Catholic views, and notes that insofar as Augustine has influenced both traditions, the gulf might not be quite so far apart as is frequently thought. McClymond decries the Catholic rejection of pleasure as a "legitimate sexual aim," but he also rightly notes that much more is at stake in the marriage relationship than the mere pursuit of sexual gratification.
Murre-van den Berg, Heleen. "‘Dear Mother of My Soul'. Fidelia Fiske and the Role of Women Missionaries in the Mid-nineteenth Century Iran." Exchange 30 (2001) 33-48.
Murre-van den Berg chronicles the efforts of Fidelia Fiske and a group of woman missionaries to reform the Nestorian Christians in northwestern Iran and establish women's education among the Nestorians. The first part of her article examines the letters written to Fiske by the converts following her return to the United States after fifteen years on the field. The last half of the essay interacts with the themes of those letters in the broader context of women missionaries in the nineteenth century.
Pitre, Brant. "Blessing the Barren and Warning the Fecund: Jesus' Message for Women Concerning Pregnancy and Childbirth." Journal for the Study of the New Testament 81 (2001) 59-80.
Pitre paints a picture of Jesus as an eschatological prophet who preached a message of apocalyptic asceticism. He bases this analysis on the beatitudes for the childless that Jesus spoke, believing that Jesus taught that procreation should be abandoned in light of the coming tribulation. From this analysis, Pitre argues for a motif of eschatological childlessness in the teachings of Jesus.
Yarhouse, Mark A., Lori A. Budett, and Elizabeth M. Kreeft. "Competing Models for Shepherding Those in the Church Who Contend with Same-Sex Attraction." Journal of Psychology & Christianity 20 (2001) 53-65.
The authors analyze six competing models of shepherding persons in the church who contend with same-sex attraction. The first is the "Reject/Rejection" model which involves active rejection of homosexuality and the gay person. The second is the "Refer" model which assumes that the church does not have the resources to deal with homosexuality and redirects the person to those who can provide such services. The third is the "Repair" model which focuses on changing one's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The fourth is the "Resolve" model which emphasizes a change in intention, focusing on chastity. The fifth is the "Recognize" model which helps a person come to terms with his same-sex orientation, causing an accurate self-perception. The final model is the "Embrace" model which encourages the integration of the same-sex orientation into a gay identity. The authors suggest that the Repair, Resolve, and Recognize models best comprise shepherding. The authors then offer several helpful guidelines for traditionalists to consider as they provide services to individuals struggling with a same-sex orientation.
