The Word According To Eve

The Word According To Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own by Cullen Murphy

Put this book on your "must read" list. If you need convincing, read the editorial and reader reviews at Amazon.com via the above link. Every good thing they say about this book is absolutely true.

A Quiz For Complementarians

Where "the rubber meets the road" when it comes to "Egalitarianism" and "Complementarianism" (aka "Male Hierarchism") is what females (versus males) are able or permitted to do or not do in the church as members of the Body of Christ.

Following is a list (primarily taken from Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, and Romans 12) of roles or offices or operations or Spirit-given gifts that function in the church structure or meetings:

1. Overseer/Bishop (ἐπίσκοπος)
2. Elder (πρεσβύτερος)
3. Deacon (διάκονος)
4. Apostle (ἀπόστολος)
5. Prophet (προφήτης)
6. Evangelist (εὐαγγελιστής)
7. Pastor (ποιμήν)
8. Teacher (διδάσκαλος)
9. Giver of Word of Wisdom (λόγος σοφίας)
10. Giver of Word of Knowledge (λόγος γνώσεως)
11. Exerciser of Faith (πίστις)
12. Gifted Healer (χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων)
13. Worker of Miracles (ἐνεργήματα δυνάμεων)
14. Prophesier (προφητεία)
15. Discerner of Spirits (διακρίσεις πνευμάτων)
16. Glossolalist (ἑτέρῳ γένη γλωσσῶν)
17. Interpreter of Glossolalia (ἑρμηνεία γλωσσῶν)
18. Helper (ἀντίλημψις)
19. Administrator (κυβέρνησις)
20. Exhorter (παρακαλέω)
21. Giver (μεταδίδωμι)
22. Leader (προΐστημι)
23. Mercy-showing (ἐλεάω)

I. Which of the above can be filled/held/done by either sex:

• For any that can be filled/held/done by either sex, also list any required or necessary restriction(s) for females in those roles/operations (versus no such restriction(s) for males in that same role/operation), and the reasons for those restrictions.
  
• For any that can be filled/held/done by either sex, also list any required or necessary restriction(s) for males in those roles/operations (versus no such restriction(s) for females in that same role/operation), and the reasons for those restrictions.

II. Which of the above can be filled/held/done only by males? Explain why they can only be done by males.

III. Which of the above can be filled/held/done only by females? Explain why they can only be done by females.

Again: Please be sure to give the "why" for any answer!

Complementarian Genetics

I’ve heard or read complementarians argue based on 1 Timothy 2:9-15 that the reason (or "a" reason) that women cannot teach men or have or exercise authority over them is because "the woman" (Eve), and not Adam, was (completely) deceived, which shows that women are more deceivable than men.* (Plus, they've come to be "in transgression" as well.)

So, would this be Complementarian Genetics 101:

The "x chromosome" carries the "deception gene."

The "y chromosome," however, carries the "anti-deception gene."

So if a person has two x chromosomes, and is therefore a female, they are by nature "completely deceivable" - which is one way you can translate the compound εξαπαταω (exapataô) in 1 Timothy 2:14 in contrast to the plain απαταω (apataô) in the same verse.

However, if a person has one x and one y chromosome, and is therefore a male, they have a genetic defense against being completely deceived. It is for this reason that only those with both an x and a y chromosome are to be entrusted with positions of authority in the church, and only they can teach both men and women.

If this is not Complementarian Genetics, why isn’t it?

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* Or sometimes, perhaps because they realize how ridiculous it would sound, they just skip explaining that part of this passage. See, e.g., Silent in the Church: Why Can’t Women Preach? 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Corinthians 14 by J. Ligon Duncan III where he writes:

...That is what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy 2:11.

And then in verses 12-15, he reiterates it. "I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet." And then he gives his rationale for it. I won't go into the specifics of that rationale, except to say this. Isn't it interesting that when Paul gives his rationale for this, he doesn't say, "Because this is something that I thought up." He doesn't even say, "Because this is what Jesus says." He goes all the way back to the first book of the Bible, all the way back to the Torah written by Moses, and he goes all the way back to the beginning and to the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall. And he says, the reason that this is to be this way in Ephesus is not because of some ad hoc problem that you have, but because this is the way that God made men and women to relate. When that way is not followed, let me tell you a little story from Genesis 3. In other words, Paul says that the reversal of roles that is contemplated when the all male qualified teaching office is violated in the church is precisely the same circumstance that we see played out in the Fall of man where Adam abdicated his responsibility as the covenant keeper and Eve started a chain that led to the fall of man. So, this is his rationale for women not teaching or exercising authority in the public assembly.

How Soon Is "Soon"?

Revelation 1:1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must happen very soon (εν ταχει - from τάχος¹). He made it clear by sending his angel to his servant John,

Revelation 2:16
Therefore, repent! If not, I will come against you quickly (ταχυ - from ταχύς²) and make war against those people with the sword of my mouth.

Revelation 3:11
I am coming soon (ταχυ). Hold on to what you have so that no one can take away your crown.

Revelation 11:14
The second woe has come and gone; the third is coming quickly (ταχυ).

Revelation 22:6
Then the angel said to me, “These words are reliable and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon (εν ταχει).”

Revelation 22:7
(Look! I am coming soon (ταχυ)! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy expressed in this book.)

Revelation 22:12
(Look! I am coming soon (ταχυ), and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done!)

Revelation 22:20
The one who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon (ταχυ)!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

1 τάχος, ους, τό
2 pert. to a relatively brief time subsequent to another point of time, εν ταχει as adverbial unit soon, in a short time...Rv 1:1; 22:6....

2 ταχύς, εια, ύ
1 ⓑ β. without delay, quickly, at once (though it is not always poss. to make a clear distinction betw. this mng. and the one in 2).... This is prob. the place for the ερχεσθαι ταχύ of Rv: 2:5 v.l. (many cursives and printed texts), 16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:7, 12, 20 (P-ÉLangevin, Jésus Seigneur, ’67, 209–35).
2 pert. to a relatively brief time subsequent to another point of time, neut. sg. as adv. in a short time, soon (cp. 1bβ above and τάχος 2).

- Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.
- Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.). (992-993) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Survey: 72% of Millennials 'more spiritual than religious'

Survey: 72% of Millennials 'more spiritual than religious'

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY



Most young adults today don't pray, don't worship and don't read the Bible, a major survey by a Christian research firm shows.

If the trends continue, "the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships," says Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In the group's survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they're "really more spiritual than religious."

Among the 65% who call themselves Christian, "many are either mushy Christians or Christians in name only," Rainer says. "Most are just indifferent. The more precisely you try to measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the faith."

Key findings in the phone survey, conducted in August and released today:

• 65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either.

• 65% rarely or never attend worship services.

• 67% don't read the Bible or sacred texts.

Many are unsure Jesus is the only path to heaven: Half say yes, half no.

"We have dumbed down what it means to be part of the church so much that it means almost nothing, even to people who already say they are part of the church," Rainer says.

The findings, which document a steady drift away from church life, dovetail with a LifeWay survey of teenagers in 2007 who drop out of church and a study in February by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, which compared the beliefs of Millennials with those of earlier generations of young people.

The new survey has a margin of error of +/-2.8 percentage points.

Even among those in the survey who "believe they will go to heaven because they have accepted Jesus Christ as savior":

• 68% did not mention faith, religion or spirituality when asked what was "really important in life."

• 50% do not attend church at least weekly.

• 36% rarely or never read the Bible.

Neither are these young Christians evangelical in the original meaning of the term — eager to share the Gospel. Just 40% say this is their responsibility.

Even so, Rainer is encouraged by the roughly 15% who, he says, appear to be "deeply committed" Christians in study, prayer, worship and action.

Collin Hansen, 29, author of Young, Restless, Reformed, about a thriving minority of traditionalist Christians, agrees. "I'm not going to say these numbers aren't true and aren't grim, but they also drive people like me to build new, passionately Christian dynamic churches," says Hansen, who is studying for the ministry. He sees many in his generation veering to "moralistic therapeutic deism — 'God wants you to be happy and do good things.' ... I would not call that Christianity, however."

The 2007 LifeWay study found seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30, both evangelical and mainline, who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23. And 34% of those had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30.

The Pew survey found young people today were significantly more likely than those in earlier generations to say they didn't identify with any religious group. Neither are Millennials any more likely than earlier generations to turn toward a faith affiliation as they grow older.

How Islam Allows Its Men To Treat Its Women

This will sicken and appall you, as well as anyone you share it with.

Why don’t women’s groups and our government and leaders raise holy hell about Islam and how it allows the men to regard and treat the women?

Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times op-ed columnist who traveled to Pakistan last year to write about acid attacks, put it this way in an essay at the time:

"I’ve been investigating such acid attacks, which are commonly used to terrorize and subjugate women and girls in a swath of Asia from Afghanistan through Cambodia (men are almost never attacked with acid). Because women usually don’t matter in this part of the world, their attackers are rarely prosecuted and acid sales are usually not controlled. It’s a kind of terrorism that becomes accepted as part of the background noise in the region....

"Bangladesh has imposed controls on acid sales to curb such attacks, but otherwise it is fairly easy in Asia to walk into a shop and buy sulfuric or hydrochloric acid suitable for destroying a human face. Acid attacks and wife burnings are common in parts of Asia because the victims are the most voiceless in these societies: They are poor and female. The first step is simply for the world to take note, to give voice to these women."

Since 1994, a Pakistani activist who founded the Progressive Women’s Association to help such women "has documented 7,800 cases of women who were deliberately burned, scalded or subjected to acid attacks, just in the Islamabad area. In only 2 percent of those cases was anyone convicted."

Warning – horrific graphic images:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/photo/2009/11/terrorism-thats-personal.html