It may seem hackneyed to state that on a given matter we find more questions than answers, but in the case of Complementarianism v. Egalitarianism, the proliferation of questions over answers is truly the case. But here we may have hope, for Dr. John Piper, co-editor of the mammoth Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, claims to have to refer back to the contents of chapter 2 of RBMW constantly: “This is the booklet I return to most often in dealing with the knotty issues of manhood and womanhood in ministry.” If the learned and renowned co-author of the book admits to using it regularly as a refresher on this crucial topic, then I am in good company.
This chapter is characterized by solid, if brief, biblical exegesis. Piper and Grudem graciously but persuasively dispense with egalitarian objections in each one of their answers to this chapter’s 51 questions. Time and energy would fail me to enumerate all of their answers, and for the life of me I cannot choose the best bits to highlight here. Your best bet is to read the chapter itself. But don’t stop there, because many, if not most, of these questions are addressed at more length in later chapters. And if you don’t want to take Piper’s or Grudem’s word for it, the successive chapters were written by a wide variety of men and women who vary in their understanding and expression of complementarianism, yet remain within its biblical bounds.
Even the list of 51 questions is not exhaustive, as the authors admit, because “every effort to answer one question...begets new questions.” The ten questions reproduced below are the ones I hear most frequently asked:
• Don’t you think that stressing headship and submission gives impetus to the epidemic of wife abuse?
• Don’t you think that these texts are examples of temporary compromise with the patriarchal status quo, while the main thrust of Scripture is toward the leveling of gender-based role differences?
• But what about the liberating way Jesus treated women? Doesn’t He explode our hierarchical traditions and open the way for women to be given access to all ministry roles?
• Are you saying that it is all right for women to teach men under some circumstances? Since it says in 1 Corinthians 14:34 that “women should remain silent in the churches,” it doesn’t seem like your position is really Biblical because of how much speaking you really do allow to women. How do you account for this straightforward prohibition of women speaking?
• Doesn’t Paul’s statement that “There is . . . neither male nor female . . . for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) take away gender as a basis for distinction of roles in the church?
• How do you explain God’s apparent endorsement of women in the Old Testament who had prophetic or leadership roles?
• Aren’t you guilty of a selective literalism when you say some commands in a text are permanently valid and others, like, “Don’t wear braided hair” or “Do wear a head covering,” are culturally conditioned and not absolute?
• If a church embraces a congregational form of governance in which the congregation, and not the elders, is the highest authority under Christ and Scripture, should the women be allowed to vote?
• Isn’t giving women access to all offices and roles a simple matter of justice that even our society recognizes?
• Since there is significant disagreement in the church over the issues of men’s and women’s roles, should we not view this issue as having a very low level of importance in defining denominational, institutional and congregational standards of belief and practice?
Please watch Dwayne’s blog for his thoughts on this unique chapter. If you prefer to read it as a printed booklet, Desiring God has copies for sale.
