Taking a stand over the gender-issue divide

Author and New Testament scholar Michael Bird was formerly in favor of distinct gender roles in ministry, a viewpoint commonly called "complementarianism." But inconsistencies in practice and careful biblical study convinced him to rethink his position.

Originally published as a short ebook, Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts offersan engaging, incisive perspective on biblical gender equality and the egalitarian view--a preference for allowing women to hold teaching and leadership positions in ministry.

While Bird is now egalitarian, he nevertheless strikes a respectful tone toward those in his previous camp, seeking to craft a perspective that both values women and upholds biblical differences between the sexes. Humorous and hard-hitting, Bird will challenge readers on both sides of the gender-issue divide.

Discussions surrounding the roles of men and women--whether in the church, the home or society at large--never seem to end, often generating more heat than light. Such debate is still important, though, because this issue directly affects every member of Christ's body. What we believe the Bible teaches on these matters shapes nearly all we do in the church. In addition, these questions deserve further thought and reflection because neither side has won the day. In an effort to further discussion, Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (general editors), with the aid of Gordon D. Fee (contributing editor), have assembled a distinguished array of twenty-six evangelical scholars firmly committed to the authority of Scripture to explore the whole range of issues--historical, biblical, theological, hermeneutical and practical. While dispelling many of the myths surrounding biblical equality, they offer a sound, reasoned case that affirms the complementarity of the sexes without requiring a hierarchy of roles. Contributors include Ruth A. Tucker, Janette Hassey, Richard S. Hess, Linda L. Belleville, Aída Besançon Spencer, Craig S. Keener, I. Howard Marshall, Peter H. Davids, Walter L. Liefeld, Stanley J. Grenz, Kevin Giles, Roger Nicole, William J. Webb, Sulia Mason, Karen Mason, Joan Burgess Winfrey, Judith K. Balswick, Jack O. Balswick, Cynthia Neal Kimball, Mimi Haddad, Alvera Micklesen, R. K. McGregor Wright and Alice P. Mathews. Here is a fresh, positive defense of biblical equality that is at once scholarly and practical, irenic and yet spirited, up-to-date and cognizant of opposing positions.

Most women in the church don't aspire to "lord it" over men, nor do they want to scramble for position. Instead, they want to be accepted as full participants in God's work, sharing in kingdom tasks in ways that use their gifts appropriately.

In Gender Roles and the People of God, author, radio host, and professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Alice Mathews surveys the roles women have played in the Bible and throughout church history, demonstrating both the inspiring contributions of women and the many hurdles that have been placed in their path. Along the way, she investigates the difficult passages often used to preclude women from certain areas of service, pointing to better and more faithful understandings of those verses.

Encouraging and hopeful, Mathews aims for an "egalitarian complementarity" in which men and women use all of their gifts in the church together, in partnership, for the glory of God.

Women comprise at least half the world, and usually more than half the church, but so often Christian teaching to women either fails to move beyond a discussion of roles or assumes a particular economic situation or stage of life. This all but shuts women out from contributing to God's kingdom as they were designed to do. Furthermore, the plight of women in the Majority World demands a Christian response, a holistic embrace of all that God calls women and men to be in his world.

The loudest voices speaking into women's lives in the twenty-first century thus far come from either fundamentalist Islam or radical feminism. And neither can be allowed to carry the day.

The Bible contains the highest possible view of women and invests women's lives with cosmic significance regardless of their age, stage of life, social status, or culture. Carolyn Custis James unpacks three transformative themes the Bible presents to women that raise the bar for women and calls them to join their brothers in advancing God's gracious kingdom on earth. These new images of what can be in Christ free women to embrace the life God gives them, no matter what happens. Carolyn encourages readers with a positive, kingdom approach to the changes, challenges, and opportunities facing women throughout the world today.

Learn biblically-based principles for ministering to people and living a ministry life from a seasoned ministry wife, Mrs. Gordon (Gail) MacDonald. There is something here to fit just about everyone's ministry world--the excitement, the struggles, the blessings, and the consequences. This work is thoroughly revised and updated from the author's best-selling 1981 book of the same title, and is now available in paperback. The book is designed for casual reading, but it also includes discussion questions for study group or classroom use.
Gail MacDonald loves the ministry. Over a period of four decades, she has been involved with four congregations and one parachurch organization with her husband, Pastor Gordon MacDonald.
Throughout the book you will take a tour through these years of shared ministry. Like Paul the apostle who gave and received much from the churches, Gordon and Gail look gratefully at the journey they have shared with these distinctive groups of people.
It is Gail's prayer that readers will see their own uniqueness in God's design, never trying to be anyone but themselves--the people God intended them to be. When you are finished reading, she hopes that you have heard one unmistakable message--that a life of ministry in the church is still a high call, a high privilege.