As always, the heart of the debate between complementarianism and egalitarianism is hermeneutics. For millenia Christian’s have held that the task of interpreting Scripture is not separated from the task of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Regretfully, church history shows us that sometimes the Bible has been (mis)used to keep unjust cultural norms in place....

William Loader.  Making Sense of Sex:  Attitudes towards Sexuality in Early Jewish and Christian Literature.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013.  168 pp.  $24.00. By Godwin Sathianathan Has there ever been a society in history where sex isn’t a hot topic? I’m not qualified to give a definitive answer, but my gut tells me “no.” Today, as...

Benjamin Reaoch. Women, Slaves, and the Gender Debate: A Complementarian Response to the Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic. Phillipsburg: P&R, 2012. 220 pp. $24.99 By Benjamin Merkle Benjamin Reaoch, pastor of Three Rivers Grace Church (SBC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has offered a thorough and compelling response to the redemptive-movement (or trajectory) hermeneutic endorsed by egalitarian scholars such as...

Sometimes its not what you say that matters but how you say it. Complementarians are sometimes accused of employing logic that is similar to the type of logic that has been used to justify slavery. Is this the case? Is the exegetical reasoning used to justify slavery similar to the type of reasoning used to...

Joel B. Green, ed. Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012. 912 pp. $59.99. By Ray Van Neste A comprehensive reference work on Christian ethics and the role of Scripture in ethics is a great idea. Regrettably, however, Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics is problematic at certain critical points. While granting...

Deborah was a judge. Huldah was a prophetess. In fact many women in the Old Testament seem to exercise (spiritual) leadership of some sort. Biblical evidence for Egalitarianism? Not quite. The issue of gender roles isn’t solved that easily. What we need is a whole-bible theology. Narrative Old Testament texts which describe women in leadership...