The Bible appears to give mixed and even conflicting signals on the four case issues of slavery, Sabbath, war, and women. New Testament scholar Willard Swartley seeks to identify the difficulties surrounding these discussions and clarify basic learnings in biblical interperation in a spirit of unity and dialogue. As a predecessor to his 2003 publication, Homosexuality, this book rounds out a thorough spirit-filled discussion of some of the most contentious and sensitive issues facing the church today.
Willard M. Swartley effectively demonstrates how the Bible can be used for authoritative guidance on social issues. Includes introduction, appendices, and index.
This volume by William J. Webb explores the hermeneutical maze that accompanies any treatment of these three controversial topics and takes a new step toward breaking down walls within the evangelical community related to them.
Global Voices on Biblical Equality is a fresh look at the contextualizing of gender equality throughout the world. Biblical equality is a burgeoning, global reform movement led by scholars and leaders not only in North America but also on every continental landmass in the world. What inroads is biblical equality making around the globe? What is its appeal? What still needs reform? How is biblical equality transforming each culture? In this book, female and male writers who are ethnically part of every continent explore the contextual challenges, successes, and adaptations of engaging the biblical text on gender and ministry. The contributors write on Asia and Asian America (India, China, Korean America), Africa (Zimbabwe)and African America Indigenous America and Latin America (Native America, Hispanic America, Brazilian America), and Western Europe and Australia and North America. The editors and authors are Aida Besancon Spencer, William David Spencer, Ranked Adjunct, and Mimi Haddad. Other contributors are Ellen Alexander, Beulah Wood, Cecilia Yau, Matthew D. Kim, Constantine M. Murefu, Darin Vincent Poullard, Sandra Gatlin Whitley, Awilda Gonzalez-Tejera, John Runyon, and Eliana Marques Runyon, Elke Werner, Roland Werner, Kevin Giles, and Roberta Hestenes.
The role of women in positions of worship and church leadership is one of the most divisive and inconclusive biblical debates. Two Views on Women in Ministry furnishes you with a clear and thorough presentation of the two primary exegetical arguments so you can better understand each one's strengths, weaknesses, and complexities. Egalitarian - equal ministry opportunity for both genders (represented by Linda L. Belleville and Craig S. Keener) Complementarian - men and women fill distinctive ministry roles (represented by Craig L. Blomberg and Thomas R. Schreiner) This revised edition brings the exchange of ideas and perspectives into the traditional Counterpoints format. Each author states his or her case and is then critiqued by the other contributors. The fair-minded, interactive Counterpoints forum allows you to compare and contrast the two different positions and form your own opinion concerning the practical and often deeply personal subject of women in ministry. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.
A look at how warfare affected—and was affected by—women in ancient times. Although the conduct of war was generally monopolized by men in the Greco-Roman world, there were plenty of exceptions, with women directly involved in its direction and even as combatants—Artemisia, Olympias, Cleopatra, and Agrippina the Elder being famous examples. And both Greeks and Romans encountered women among their barbarian enemies, such as Tomyris, Boudicca, and Zenobia. More commonly, of course, women were directly affected as noncombatant victims of rape and enslavement as spoils of war, and this makes up an important strand of the author’s discussion. The portrayal of female warriors and goddesses in classical mythology and literature, and the use of war to justify gender roles and hierarchies, are also considered. Overall, this is a landmark survey of women’s role in, and experience of, war in the Classical world.
A stimulating dialogue among evangelicals that clarifies how major evangelical theologians currently conceive the practice of theology with regard to the Bible. Contributors: -Robert K. Johnston, editor -Donald Bloesch -Donald Dayton -William A. Dyrness -Gabriel Fackre -James I. Packer -Clark H. Pinnock -Russell P. Spittler -Robert Webber -David F. Wells -John Yoder A summary of the positions: I. Johnston (Free Church): Introduction: Unity and Diversity in Evangelical Theology - introduces the theme, defines evangelicalism and evangelical theology II. Pinnock (Baptist): How I Use the Bible in Doing Theology - hermeneutical theology; only what is revelation (only Scripture) can be made a matter of theological truth III. Packer (Anglican): In Quest of Canonical Interpretation - texts must be understood in their human context IV. Spittler (Pentecostal): Scripture and the Theological Enterprise: View from a Big Canoe - exegetical theology V. Bloesch (Reformed): A Christological Hermeneutic: Crisis and Conflict in Hermeneutics - goes beyond the literal sense of the text to its larger significance VI. Yoder (Mennonite): The Use of the Bible in Theology - theology as an activity meant to correct and renew the church VII. Dayton (Wesleyan): The Use of Scripture in the Wesleyan Tradition - theology rooted in a recovery of Wesleyan truth VIII. Webber (Anglican): An Evangelical and Catholic Methodology - theology is an activity from out of the church's tradition; must study the church father's dogmatic development IX. Dyrness (Reformed): How Does the Bible Function in the Christian Life? - Scripture as a two-directional contextual hermeneutic X. Wells (Congregational): The Nature and Function of Theology - decoding/encoding; the significance of the 'sola scriptura' principle XI. Fackre (Congregational): The Use of Scripture in My Work in Systematics - full-orbed approach; world, church, Scripture, and the Gospel core all have their function
Over 15 years after its original publication The Bible in History remains an essential examination of the symbiotic relationship between Scripture and the social and cultural contexts shaping its interpretation. David W. Kling traces the fascinating story of how specific biblicaltexts-sometimes a single verse, other times a selection of verses or chapters, even books-have at various times emerged to be the inspiration of movements that have changed the course of history. Episodes range from Anthony's call to the desert and a life of monasticism after hearing Jesus'sdirective to the "rich young rule" to give up his possessions, to the Anabaptists non-violent ethic in following Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, to the varied applications of the exodus motif in African American history.This revised and expanded second edition adds two new chapters. The first examines the text in Matthew 28:18-20 and considers the multitudinous interpretations before, during, and after the text emerged as the iconic "Great Commission" of missionary motivation in the modern period. The secondassesses those biblical texts that encompass the divisive and ongoing issue of male homosexuality. Both chapters engage the question of, "how the texts have shaped the times," but, as Kling argues, the "times" have also exerted an enormous impact on shaping the interpretation of the texts, andhence, on the continuing disputes over the meaning of those texts.
