Men, Women and Biblical Equality
The Bible teaches the full equality of men and women
in Creation and in Redemption (Gen 1:26-28, 2:23, 5:1-2; I Cor 11:11-12;
Gal 3:13, 28, 5:1).
The Bible teaches that God has revealed Himself in the totality
of Scripture, the authoritative Word of God (Matt 5:18; John 10:35;
2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). We believe that Scripture is to be
interpreted holistically and thematically. We also recognize the
necessity of making a distinction between inspiration and interpretation:
inspiration relates to the divine impulse and control whereby the
whole canonical Scripture is the Word of God; interpretation relates
to the human activity whereby we seek to apprehend revealed truth
in harmony with the totality of Scripture and under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. To be truly biblical, Christians must continually
examine their faith and practice under the searchlight of Scripture.
Biblical Truths
Creation
1. The Bible teaches that both man and woman were created in God's
image, had a direct relationship with God, and shared jointly the
responsibilities of bearing and rearing children and having dominion
over the created order (Gen 1:26-28).
2. The Bible teaches that woman and man were created for full
and equal partnership. The word "helper" (ezer) used to
designate woman in Genesis 2:18 refers to God in most instances
of Old Testament usage (e.g. I Sam 7:12; Ps 121:1-2). Consequently
the word conveys no implication whatsoever of female subordination
or inferiority.
3. The Bible teaches that the forming of woman from man demonstrates
the fundamental unity and equality of human beings (Gen 2:21-23).
In Genesis 2:18, 20 the word "suitable" (kenegdo) denotes
equality and adequacy.
4. The Bible teaches that man and woman were co-participants in
the Fall: Adam was no less culpable than Eve (Gen 3:6; Rom 5:12-21;
I Cor 15:21-22).
5. The Bible teaches that the rulership of Adam over Eve resulted
from the Fall and was therefore not a part of the original created
order. Genesis 3:16 is a prediction of the effects of the Fall rather
than a prescription of God's ideal order.
Redemption
6. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ came to redeem women as
well as men. Through faith in Christ we all become children of God,
one in Christ, and heirs to the blessings of salvation without reference
to racial, social, or gender distinctives (John 1:12-13; Rom 8:14-17;
2 Cor 5:17; Gal 3:26-28).
Community
7. The Bible teaches that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit came on
men and women alike. Without distinction, the Holy Spirit indwells
women and men, and sovereignly distributes gifts without preference
as to gender (Acts 2:1-21; 1 Cor 12:7, 11, 14:31).
8. The Bible teaches that both women and men are called to develop
their spiritual gifts and to use them as stewards of the grace of
God (1 Peter 4:10-11). Both men and women are divinely gifted and
empowered to minister to the whole Body of Christ, under His authority
(Acts 1:14, 18:26, 21:9; Rom 16:1-7, 12-13, 15; Phil 4:2-3; Col
4:15; see also Mark 15:40-41, 16:1-7; Luke 8:1-3; John 20:17-18;
compare also Old Testament examples: Judges 4:4-14, 5:7; 2 Chron
34:22-28; Prov 31:30-31; Micah 6:4).
9. The Bible teaches that, in the New Testament economy, women
as well as men exercise the prophetic, priestly and royal functions
(Acts 2:17-18, 21:9; 1 Cor 11:5; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Rev 1:6, 5:10).
Therefore, the few isolated texts that appear to restrict the full
redemptive freedom of women must not be interpreted simplistically
and in contradiction to the rest of Scripture, but their interpretation
must take into account their relation to the broader teaching of
Scripture and their total context (1 Cor 11:2-16, 14:33-36; 1 Tim
2:9-15).
10. The Bible defines the function of leadership as the empowerment
of others for service rather than as the exercise of power over
them (Matt 20:25-28, 23:8; Mark 10:42-45; John 13:13-17; Gal 5:13;
1 Peter 5:2-3).
Family
11. The Bible teaches that husbands and wives are heirs together
of the grace of life and that they are bound together in a relationship
of mutual submission and responsibility (1 Cor 7:3-5; Eph 5:21;
1 Peter 3:1-7; Gen 21:12). The husband's function as "head"
(kephale) is to be understood as self-giving love and service within
this relationship of mutual submission (Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:19; 1
Peter 3:7).
12. The Bible teaches that both mothers and fathers are to exercise
leadership in the nurture, training, discipline and teaching of
their children (Ex 20:12; Lev 19:3; Deut 6:6-9, 21:18-21, 27:16;
Prov 1:8, 6:20; Eph 6:1-4; Col 3:20; 2 Tim 1:5; see also Luke 2:51).
Application
Community
1. In the church, spiritual gifts of women and men are to be recognized,
developed and used in serving and teaching ministries at all levels
of involvement: as small group leaders, counselors, facilitators,
administrators, ushers, communion servers, and board members, and
in pastoral care, teaching, preaching, and worship. In so doing,
the church will honor God as the source of spiritual gifts. The
church will also fulfill God's mandate of stewardship without the
appalling loss to God's kingdom that results when half of the church's
members are excluded from positions of responsibility.
2. In the church, public recognition is to be given to both women
and men who exercise ministries of service and leadership. In so
doing, the church will model the unity and harmony that should characterize
the community of believers. In a world fractured by discrimination
and segregation, the church will dissociate itself from worldly
or pagan devices designed to make women feel inferior for being
female. It will help prevent their departure from the church or
their rejection of the Christian faith.
Family
3. In the Christian home, husband and wife are to defer to each
other in seeking to fulfill each other's preferences, desires and
aspirations. Neither spouse is to seek to dominate the other but
each is to act as servant of the other, in humility considering
the other as better than oneself. In case of decisional deadlock
they should seek resolution through biblical methods of conflict
resolution rather than by one spouse imposing a decision upon the
other. In so doing, husband and wife will help the Christian home
stand against improper use of power and authority by spouses and
will protect the home from wife and child abuse that sometimes tragically
follows a hierarchical interpretation of the husband's "headship."
4. In the Christian home, spouses are to learn to share the responsibilities
of leadership on the basis of gifts, expertise, and availability,
with due regard for the partner most affected by the decision under
consideration. In so doing, spouses will learn to respect their
competencies and their complementarity. This will prevent one spouse
from becoming the perennial loser, often forced to practice ingratiating
or deceitful manipulation to protect self-esteem. By establishing
their marriage on a partnership basis, the couple will protect it
from joining the tide of dead or broken marriages resulting from
marital inequities.
5. In the Christian home, couples who share a lifestyle characterized
by the freedom they find in Christ will do so without experiencing
feelings of guilt or resorting to hypocrisy. They are freed to emerge
from an unbiblical "traditionalism" and can rejoice in
their mutual accountability in Christ. In so doing, they will openly
express their obedience to Scripture, will model an example for
other couples in quest of freedom in Christ, and will stand against
patterns of domination and inequality sometimes imposed upon church
and family.
We believe that biblical equality as reflected in this document
is true to Scripture.
We stand united in our conviction that the Bible, in its totality,
is the liberating Word that provides the most effective way for
women and men to exercise the gifts distributed by the Holy Spirit
and thus to serve God
Gilbert Bilezikian
W. Ward Gasque
Stanley N. Gundry
Gretchen Gaebelein Hull
Catherine Clark Kroeger
Jo Anne Lyon
Roger Nicole
Endorsed by: Miriam Adeney, Astri T. Anfindsen, Timothy Paul Allen,
James Alsdurf, Phyllis Alsdurf, John E. Anderson, Patricia W. Anderson,
Carl E. Armerding, Myron S. Augsburger, Raymond Bakke, Sandra Bauer,
James Beck, Virginia L. Beck, Elizabeth Bell, Roy D. Bell, David
G. Benner, Gordon C. Bennett, Joyce R. Berggren, Char Binkley, Sandra
Bostian, Mark A. Brewer, Bettie Ann Brigham, D. Stuart Briscoe,
Kathleen K. Brogan, James A. Brooks, Beth E. Brown, H. Marie Brown,
F. F. Bruce, Cheever C. Buckbee, David H. Burr, Donald P. Buteyn,
Anthony Campolo, Linda Cannell, Daniel R. Chamberlain, Caroline
L. Cherry, Jack M. Chisholm, Gerald Christmas, Rosemary Christmas,
David K. Clark, Shirley Close, Bonnidell Clouse, Robert G. Clouse,
David W. Clowney, Naomi C. Cole, Mark O. Coleman, Jim Conway, Sally
Conway, Kaye V. Cook-Kollars, C. S. Cowles, R. Byron Crozier, Peter
H. Davids, Edward R. Dayton, Paul H. De Vries, Sidney De Waal, J.
Jey Deifell, Jr., John R. Dellenback, Mary Jane Dellenback, Gary
W. Demarest, Dolores Dunnett, Walter Dunnett, Charlotte Dyck, James
F. Engel, C. Stephen Evans, Colleen Townsend Evans, Louis Evans,
Gabriel Fackre, Gordon D. Fee, John Fischer, Patrice Fischer, David
B. Fletcher, Joan D. Flikkema, David A. Fraser, Nils C. Friberg,
Donn M. Gaebelein, Kevin Giles, Alfred A. Glenn, Barbara R. Glenn,
Arthur A. Goetze, Tita V. Gordovez, Lillian V. Grissen, H. James
Groen, Vernon Grounds, Darrell L. Guder, Lee M. Haines, Robin Haines,
Richard C. Halverson, Sandra Hart, Stephen A. Hayner, Jo Ellen Heil,
Betty C. Henderson, Robert T. Henderson, John J. Herzog, Bartlett
L. Hess, I. John Hesselink, Roberta Hestenes, Janet S. Hickman,
Marvin D. Hoff, Colleen Holby, Arthur F. Holmes, Beverly Holt, Carol
D. C. Howard, David Allan Hubbard, M. Gay Hubbard, Anne Huffman,
John Huffman, Philip G. Hull, Sanford D. Hull, Richard G. Hutcheson,
Jr., William J. Hybels, Vida S. Icenogle, Dorothy Irvin, Evelyn
Jensen, Alan F. Johnson, David W. Johnson, Robert K. Johnston, Rufus
Jones, Kenneth S. Kantzer, Robert D. Kettering, John F. Kilner,
Herbert V. Klem, Richard C. Kroeger, Harold E. Kurtz, Pauline H.
Kurtz, Bruce Larson, Michael R. Leming, William H. Leslie, Arthur
H. Lewis, Walter L. Liefeld, Zondra Lindblade, Helen W. Loeb, Richard
N. Longenecker, Richard F. Lovelace, Deborah Olsoe Lunde, Kenneth
H. Maahs, Faith M. Martin, James R. Mason, Alice P. Mathews, Dolores
E. McCabe, Terry McGonigal, David L. McKenna, Lois McKinney, William
A. Meyer, Hazel M. Michelson, A. Berkeley Mickelsen, Alvera Mickelsen,
Eileen F. Moffett, Samuel H. Moffett, C. Sue Moore, Edward Moore,
Graham Morbey, Mary Leigh Morbey, Elizabeth Morgan, Stephen C. Mott,
Richard J. Mouw, Jeana Nieporte, William M. Nieporte, Alvaro L.
Nieves, Arnold T. Olson, Daisy M. Washburn Osborn, LaDonna Osborn,
T. L. Osborn, Grant R. Osborne, Grace Paddon, John Paddon, Elizabeth
L. Patterson, Virginia Patterson, Richard Patterson, Jr., Philip
Barton Payne, Robert W. Pazmino, Janet M. Peifer, William J. Petersen,
Richard V. Pierard, Paul E. Pierson, Carolyn Goodman Plampin, Cornelius
Plantinga, Jr., Christiane Posselt, Quah Cheng Hock, Robert V. Rakestraw,
Sara Robertson, Lianne Roembke, Lydia M. Sarandan, Alvin J. Schmidt,
Richard C. Schoenert, David M. Scholer, Jeannette F. Scholer, Robert
A. Seiple, Ronald J. Sider, Lewis B. Smedes, James D. Smith III,
Paul R. Smith, P. Paul Snezek, Jr., Klyne Snodgrass, Howard A. Snyder,
Aida B. Spencer, William D. Spencer, Adele O. Sullivan, W. Nelson
Thomson, Ruth A. Tucker, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Joseph W. Viola,
Virginia G. Viola, Emily Walther, George H. Walther, Patricia A.
Ward, Timothy Weber, Van B. Weigel, Bruce Wilson, Earle L. Wilson,
H. C. Wilson, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Linda R. Wright, Walter C.
Wright, Jr., Louis H. Zbinden. (9/95)
(c) 1989, Christians for Biblical Equality. Permission to reproduce
the statement in its entirety can be obtained from the national
office of CBE.
CHRISTIANS FOR BIBLICAL EQUALITY
122 West Franklin Avenue,
Suite 218,
Mpls,
MN 55404-2451
Phone: (612) 872-6898 Fax: (612) 872-6891
E-mail: cbe@cbeinternational.org
www.cbeinternational.org
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