The context of the post is the dismissal of Dr. Sheri Klouda, assistant professor of Old Testament languages, from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on the grounds of being female.
According to Internet Monk, the President of Southwestern Seminary, Paige Patterson, not only believes in male headship (AKA complimentarianism) but a rather extreme form of it. According to Patterson, 1 Timothy 2:12 does not only apply to relationships between Christian men and women in church and family, but to all of their relationships, everywhere.
This causes Internet Monk to ask entertaining questions like:
If you are pulled over by a female police officer whom you know to be a Christian, how do you make her understand that she has no authority over you (assuming you are male)?But one question that I've been wondering about (as someone raised in a male-headship church) is:
Should Christian women refrain from writing books, or papers, or internet articles, lest a Christian man should read them and accidentally learn from them? Or should such books and articles come with a warning label -For Women Only!-?To me, the latter is an interesting question. I don't see the difference between teaching and the written word. If it is somehow anathama for a woman to teach a man by speaking to him, it doesn't make sense that it should be permitted for a woman to teach a man through the written word. I view both this blog and my sermon blog as a form of preaching. So, this post carries a health warning: For Women Only. Men should not read anything on this blog lest they be led astray.
5 comments:
ROFL.... if only this weren't so sad....!
I can't say that you led me astray, since my writing indicates that I have been a heretic for quite some time!
Perhaps if my seminary advisor weren't a woman...
Having been a former Southern Baptist, and seen the Destruction brought about by Patterson and his cronies, I would not be surprised if he would get out of his car and lecture the woman. I would hope then the woman officer would then arrest him for obstruction of justice and harrassment of an officer. Then I hope the female judge throws the book at him. Not angry am I?
I am sorry for said female professor, but she was naive to think such an organization with its history and a president with such history would stick to their word with a woman.
Pam, I say write on and on.
Being a recent grad of this seminary, all I can do is roll my eyes and go on. I can't even stomach talking about it any longer.
Canticles, just getting on with things might be the best thing you can do right now.
Although I grew up in a male-headship denomination, the denomination I am in now forbids discrimination on the basis of gender. From this relatively[1] safe place, I have the energy every now and then to speak out. But I get tired too.
After coming out of that environment, it might not be a bad idea to rest and heal and surround yourself with people who believe in women's ministry.
Saying a prayer for your ministry and your future.
[1] I say "relatively" becuase there are still individual members in the denomination who don't want women ministers and they let people know it.
Post a Comment