June 17th, 2013
Ever heard of Sera, Aksah or Sheerah? I hadn’t . . . not until I decided to read through the Old Testament, slowly, keeping an eye out for every women mentioned. Here’s a little something about these three influential Bible women. [600 words]
Tags: Bible women, every OT woman, Sheerah
Posted in Equality and Gender Issues | No Comments »
June 13th, 2013
I read this candid comment today from a single Christian woman and I want to share it. She says a lot here in very few words.
Tags: Biblical equality, equality
Posted in Equality and Gender Issues | 2 Comments »
June 11th, 2013
The only time the Bible mentions that women should be homemakers is in two instructions regarding young women. In this article I look especially at Paul’s basic, but important, instructions to young wives in Titus 2:4-5 and see what principle we can take from these verses.
Tags: Biblical womanhood, Christian marriage, motherhood, Paul and Women, submission in marriage
Posted in Equality and Gender Issues, Equality in Marriage, Equality in Ministry | 3 Comments »
June 3rd, 2013
There is something exciting about the New Testament phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven”. I love the fact that I am currently a citizen and an agent of God’s Kingdom of Heaven, and that I have a thrilling future to look forward to. In this post I share some quick thoughts about God’s Kingdom in the here and now, and in the future.
Tags: Day of Christ, Kingdom of Heaven
Posted in Christian Theology, Christology, Salvation and Eternal Life | 3 Comments »
May 25th, 2013
I’m holding a ‘Coffee, Cake and Questions’ night on Friday night the 31st of May, where I’ll be sharing my story about how I came to believe that equality in marriage and ministry, rather than a fixed gender hierarchy, is the New Testament ideal. The venue is in Narara, on the Central Coast of NSW. [More information on the page.]
Posted in Equality and Gender Issues, Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 25th, 2013
The Hebrew Scriptures of the Jews were translated into Koine Greek sometime around 200 BCE. Who translated them into Greek – and when and where they were translated – is not known with certainty, but there are some interesting speculative answers to these questions. This article looks at the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and possible answers as to when, where and why it was produced, and by whom.
Tags: Greco-Roman Diaspora, Philo, Septuagint
Posted in Church History | 3 Comments »
May 15th, 2013
Martha and Mary of Bethany are well-known figures of the New Testament. The two sisters seem to have had different temperaments, and their characters are often polarized in the retelling of their story. These polarized characterisations are caricatures which obscure the real picture of the women, their faith and their situation. This article looks at some of the information we have on Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus. This information gives us a more accurate picture of these friends of Jesus.
Were Martha, Mary and Lazarus ascetics or Essenes?
Tags: Bethany, Bible women, Essenes, Josephus, Martha, Mary of Bethany, New Testament Women
Posted in Christian Living, Equality and Gender Issues | 3 Comments »
May 8th, 2013
This semester I’ve been studying a subject called Judaism in the Greco-Roman Diaspora, and , since I have a website I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learnt here. I realise this has limited appeal to most of my regular readers, but other visitors may be interested.
Here is the first part of a three-part series of topics related to Judaism in the Greco-Roman Diaspora. [1800 words]
Tags: destruction of the Temple, Greco-Roman Diaspora, Jerusalem Temple, Josephus, Judaism, Philo
Posted in Church History | 1 Comment »
April 19th, 2013
“The scriptures … offer an impressive number of examples of women exercising social or political authority without raising any questions as to the propriety of that authority.”
~ Gordon Hugenberger
In this post I list approximately forty Bible women who were queens, leaders, teachers, and prophets, as well as ministry associates of the Apostle Paul. Who were these influential women? And how was their authority and ministry received by men?
Tags: Abigail, Bible women, can women teach men, Chloe, Deborah, Esther, Euodia and Syntyche, Junia, King Lemuel's Mother, Lois and Eunice, Lydia, Paul and Women, Phoebe, Priscilla, Sheerah, The Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah, The Wise Woman of Tekoa, women in ministry debate
Posted in Equality and Gender Issues, Women in Ministry | 9 Comments »
April 17th, 2013
I first wrote this series on 1 Timothy 2:12 in 2009 (with a few revisions along the way.) I’ve reposted it because, for many, this single verse is what it comes down to when deciding whether women can be leaders and teachers in the Church.
This five part series takes a close look at 1 Timothy 2:12 – what it does and doesn’t say, as well as providing some cultural background information. I hope you’ll read all the way to Part 5.
Part (1): 1 Timothy 2:12 has been used by many people to argue that women cannot be church leaders. This article will look at some of the pitfalls of using 1 Timothy 2:12 as the proof text on this issue.
Tags: 1 Timothy 2:12, 1 Timothy 2:12 in context, Biblical equality, Paul and Women, proof text, the difficult passages, women in ministry debate, Women in the early church
Posted in Equality and Gender Issues, Equality in Ministry | 4 Comments »
