The Trinity and Gender Roles?

by Kyle Worley

Herman Bavinck, in his classic book The Doctrine of God, said, “In the confession of the Trinity throbs the heart of the Christian religion: every error results from, or upon deeper reflection may be traced to, a wrong view of this doctrine.” It is without question that the doctrine of the Trinity stands as one of the foundational doctrines of the entire Christian faith. If the doctrine of the Trinity is abandoned, with it goes the biblical picture of God and the substance of Christianity.

Why then is this top-tier issue being scrambled with the second-tier issue surrounding a Christian view of gender roles? Shouldn’t we avoid confusing a central tenet of the faith with “smaller” issues?

Denny Burk posted an article yesterday  answering these questions. His post, “Why the Trinity must Inform our Views on Gender Roles,” is an important contribution to a recent discussion that Fred Sanders had started regarding Larry Crabb’s new book on gender.

Burk emphasizes that there are two dangers when using the Trinity to discuss gender roles:

1. “Such theologizing can quickly become speculative and disconnected from Scripture (as in Crabb’s book).”
2. “There is the danger of forcing the Trinity onto the procrustean bed of one’s views on the gender debate.”

After considering these two dangers, Burk persists in arguing that our Trinitarian doctrine must shape the way we view gender roles because the “apostle Paul himself invokes the analogy, and our challenge is to understand it and receive it.”

Burk points to 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Using this scriptural foundation he argues “Yes, the Trinity must inform our views on gender roles.”

Read the whole article here: “Why the Trinity must Inform our Views on Gender Roles.”

–

Kyle Worley is a Student Pastor at First Baptist Church of Groves, TX. He is the author of Pitfalls: Along the Path to Young and Reformed and blogs regularly at The Strife. He holds a double B.A. in Biblical Studies and Philosophy from Dallas Baptist University. He is currently completing a M.A. in Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is pursuing a M.A. in Religion at Redeemer Seminary. You can find Kyle on Twitter @kyleworley.