With this article, I am introducing what will be a recurring series of reviews looking at notable commentaries on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. I have been blessed to teach from Ephesians and hope these reviews will help readers to consider some of the many resources out there.
complementarianism
Making Baptist Great Again: The Path to a Conservative Resurgence in the SBC
This blog post is reworked from a sermon preached on June 13, 2021, at Perryville Second Baptist Church. You can listen to that message here. An Exposition Ephesians 2:19b-20 says, “you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ […]
The Second Eve Undoes the Curse? — Addressing that Rachel Jankovic blog post, part 2
In part ‘0’ of this series, I went through a fairly dry history of how “second Eve” has been used from the time of the early church until now. In part 1, I dug into the Jankovic article on the question of second Eve and how her use of the term creates too much confusion […]
Everything Egalitarianism and Then Some
Do you miss the days not too long ago when the hot social media topics were egalitarianism and social justice instead of virtual church? No? Regardless, here’s everything we’ve written on complementarianism and egalitarianism (so far) in one convenient list. Commentaries Beth Moore the Broken Clock I suppose I should be thankful for God’s use […]
Is Male Headship a Gospel Issue?
Men, mean, and misogyny all start with the same letter. Obviously, guys are jerks and need to calm down. And women need to be filling the pulpit because the resurrection of Jesus was first announced to women. Believe it or not, that’s the sort of argumentation you get in the Twitterverse when you say anything […]
You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal with It — Rachel Jankovic (book review)
Note (May 20th, 2020): My previous endorsement of You Who is under reconsideration after my having done much more study into Federal Vision theology. I have left the below review just as it was before for the time being. —GPO In You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal with It, author Rachel Jankovic writes against the […]
No More Holding Back — Kat Armstrong (book review, part 4)
In part 1 of this review, we saw Armstrong’s argument that Mary Magdalene is the “second Eve,” thereby meaning that the curse of women being easily deceived ceased at the resurrection. In part 2, we examined Armstrong’s treatment of Ephesians 5:22 and the Hebrew term ezer (“helper” or “companion”) from Genesis 2:16. In part 3, we examined Armstrong’s treatment of Lydia as the ideal […]
No More Holding Back — Kat Armstrong (book review, part 3)
Kat Armstrong’s No More Holding Back: Emboldening Women to Move Past Barriers, See Their Worth, and Serve God Everywhere conveys a certain feminist, idealistic image of a Christian woman who seeks to live out all four aspects of the second greatest commandment. In part 1 of this review, we saw Armstrong’s argument that Mary Magdalene is […]
No More Holding Back — Kat Armstrong (book review, part 2)
In part 1 of this review, we introduced Kat Armstrong’s No More Holding Back: Emboldening Women to Move Past Barriers, See Their Worth, and Serve God Everywhere. We primarily found that Armstrong advocates an over-realized soteriology of women which interprets Mary Magdalene to be the “second Eve,” thereby meaning that the curse of women being easily […]
No More Holding Back — Kat Armstrong (book review, part 1)
As Kat Armstrong opens No More Holding Back: Emboldening Women to Move Past Barriers, See Their Worth, and Serve God Everywhere (Thomas Nelson, July 2019), she tells a story of an incident. In the middle of a class at Dallas Seminary, she lamented to her professor, “I’m scared to learn too much about Jesus because I […]
The Necessity (or Lack Thereof) of Seminary
Some no-longer-recent Twitter discussion on at least two different threads centered around the necessity or usefulness of seminary. As one who has gone through an entire Th.M. program without a call to ministry, let alone ever being employed by a ministry, I thought I might add my two cents in long form. Is Seminary Essential […]
Women Professors and the Seminary’s Place in the Church
John Piper controversially opined back in January that women should not teach in seminaries. The essential reason he gave is that seminary professors should be models of the pastoral office that seminary students can emulate. I made some thoughts on the topic known on Twitter, but let’s explore this a bit more. Must All Seminary […]
How to Use a “For” Clause: 1 Timothy 2:12 and Egalitarianism
Did Paul mean in 1 Timothy 2:12 that he is really prohibiting women from teaching or exercising authority over men on a permanent basis? Let’s do some grammar work. 12 I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was […]