3: 1 Timothy 3, Women Leaders and a Response to John MacArthur

Well, here it is! I must say Allison and I are getting pretty good at this!

In this episode, we tackle 1 Tim. 3:1-13 and show that it cannot be used in isolation, nor can it be used to exclude women from the office of 'elder' and 'deacon/minister.' We also respond to two main comments by Pastor John MacArthur, and refute his arguments for a male leadership interpretation of this passage. Since MacArthur agrees with us about women deacons (although we do not know how this works out in practice in his church), we did not respond to his comments on women deacons.

Rather than being an exclusion of women from either office, 1 Tim. 3:1-13 affirms women's desire to "aspire for these offices in conjunction with God's gifts and God's call in their lives.

For resources on this topic, particularly the issue of women deacons in Rom. 16:1-2, 1 Tim. 3:11 and church history, see the work of Jamin Hübner's A Case for Female Deacons (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2015).

For a modern and compact commentary that is concerned with the dominant masculine translations of 1 Tim. 3:1-13, see Aida Spencer's 1 Timothy (Eugene: Cascade, 2013).

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2: An Egalitarian Reading of 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Well, this is the big one.

In most debates in evangelicalism, this is the proof text where most of the fighting begins.

For further evidence in support of Nick's argument about the conjunction οὐδέ, see Philip B. Payne's article or just buy his book where he spends over 100 pages on 1 Timothy 2. It is worth your time. For a review, see J.W. Wartick (a former complementarian) and Paul D. Adams (who wrote a 34 page review!)--both of whom Nick counts as friends and fellow theology nerds.

This text is indeed complex, but God has given us his word to interpret. Because of this, we have concluded that Paul does not restrict women because of this text. Rather, they are prohibited from domineering or "assuming authority" over another person, and this means no one ought to do these things to another person in the body of Christ.

We hope you enjoy.

For further resources on 1 Tim. 2:12, see Jamin Hübner and Jamin Hübner, and pick up a copy of Cynthia Westfall's stellar work, and Payne's work as well.

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1: Introducing Gender Theology

Well, here we are.

In our inaugural episode, we talk about some of our journey into becoming egalitarians, as well as introducing "book corner" and Allison's research interest: theological interpretation of scripture! So we talk about hermeneutics, Paul and the Gift by John Barclay, our individual stories, and how some assumptions may play into one's exegesis of the Bible.

How's that for a hook?

This is the first time we've done a podcast together. If we are honest, we aren't the best at this. Nick toiled away for a while trying to fix some of the audio issues, and it sounds okay as of now. But, we have now figured out what to improve upon for next time.

We are totally beginners at this. Not at theology or anything like that, but at recording something together! Thanks for listening! Please share if you enjoy, or if you hate this and want to give us traffic, post it on your super conservative blog and give us what for.

Please don't ... but if you must ... that's fine.

Subscribe to us in iTunes and give us a (5 star?) review! Follow Nick and Allison on twitter!

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