Women in the Church Collection (6 vols.)

Does Christ submit to the church? Should Christians submit to each other? What about husbands and wives? In this volume, theologian Alan Padgett offers a fresh look at the ethics of submission, gender roles, and servant leadership in the New Testament. Through his careful interpretation of Paul’s letters and broader New Testament teaching, the author shows how Christ’s submission to the church models an appropriate understanding of gender roles and servant leadership. As Christ submits to the church, so all Christians must submit to, serve, and care for one another. Padgett articulates a creative approach to mutual submission and explores its practical outworking in the church today, providing biblical and ethical affirmation for equality in leadership.

This biblical and theological study offers an accessible examination of the key texts of Scripture pertinent to understanding female roles, affirming full equality of the sexes in family and church. The book advocates an interpretive method that sees God’s revelation of himself and his will as progressive. Using a creation-fall-redemption hermeneutical model, Beyond Sex Roles leads readers in developing a coherent method of interpretation for understanding the roles of women in church and family.

Gilbert Bilezikian deliberately avoids using scholarly jargon and complex argumentation in the main text of the book to encourage readers to interact with the biblical research. The aim is for nonspecialized readers to be able to follow his discussion step-by-step, evaluate arguments, consider alternative views, and arrive at independent conclusions. This classic work on the egalitarian viewpoint will be a useful guide in undergraduate courses on gender and church life.

In Finally Feminist, John Stackhouse proposes a way forward by affirming both the patriarchal and the feminist (or complementarian and egalitarian) reading of Scripture. He argues that these emphases exist side by side in the Bible. He then provides biblical, theological, and practical arguments for his own understanding: Equality is the biblical ideal, but patriarchy is allowed and regulated by a God who has larger kingdom purposes in mind. Stackhouse then tests his understanding by exposing it to the objections of other theories and concludes with two appendixes that tease out some practical implications.

“I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

—1 Timothy 2:12 KJV

This passage troubles those who desire greater leadership roles for women in ministry but who also want to remain loyal to Scripture. Did Paul forbid a woman to exercise her leadership and teaching gifts, or was he dealing with a particular error in the church? According to I Suffer Not a Woman, Paul was reacting to a specific problem that was sweeping churches: a myth, taught mostly by women, which later became a foundation for Gnosticism. This book offers an in-depth look at the Greek text of 1 Timothy 2:11–15 in the context of the Pastoral Epistles and in its historical context. By illuminating the first-century culture of Ephesus, the authors shed light on the ancient-world thought patterns Paul faced and offer a responsible alternative understanding of this much debated passage.

In this work, Kristina LaCelle-Peterson seeks both to affirm the central place of Scripture in the Christian life and to highlight the liberating nature of the Gospel for both men and women. To do this, she first considers the biblical ideal for human beings and then offers a biblical foundation for each of the topics under discussion—from identity and body image to language for God. She also examines the cultural nature of gender roles and the ways in which these roles have become entangled with ecclesial expectations.

Liberating Tradition provides readers with a clear Christian perspective on the issues that women face in the twenty-first century. The book does not provide a Christian gloss on the field of gender studies as it exists, but rather provides Christian women with a gender-informed Christian platform from which to enter into dialogue in that field.

In Women Leaders and the Church, author Linda L. Belleville addresses the issues that have polarized Christians for generations. She discusses the three major questions surrounding the controversy: In which ministries can women be involved? What roles should women play in society? Can women hold positions of authority in the church?

Belleville looks to the past for answers to these contemporary questions. She examines Greek, Roman, and Jewish societies and compares women’s roles in those cultures to their roles in the early church. With careful scholarship and logical argumentation, she concludes that God gifts women and men equally. Both men and women will benefit from the historical analysis and modern implications of Women Leaders and the Church.