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February 13, 2006

Kaleo Conference on Gender and the Chuch: Keynote 2

Kaleo Conference on Gender and the Church
Covenant College
February 11, 2006

Frank James gave the second keynote address, unpacking the history of gender and the church. The "more serious the discussion and the debate," he prefaced, "the more important it is to have some sense of historical context." To this end, he began by reading a series of quotes about women from the early, medieval, and reformation church fathers. These were not inspiring words.

The Early Church on Women:
Origin: "Women are worse than animals because they are continually full of lust."

Tertullian: "You are the devil's gateway, you are the first deserter of the divine law, you destroyed so easily God's image: man." And also, "Mankind, not woman, is made in the image of God.

Augustine: "I don't see what sort of help woman was created to provide man, if one excludes procreation. If the woman is not given to man to bear children, for what help could she be? To till the earth? If man needed help for that, man would have been a better help for man. The same goes for comfort and solitude. How much better for two men to live together..." And also, "For woman is not the image of God. Man alone is the image of God."

At a regional theological conference in France, Catholic bishops and laymen came together to decide this question: "Are women human?" In the end, they voted, 32-31, in favor of the fact that women were human.

The Medevial Church on Women
Aquinas: "A woman cannot be trusted... prudent men, therefore, tell their wives as little as possible about their plans. A woman is a botched male and by comparison with him she possesses a defective nature. In short, one should be on guard against any woman as against a poisonous snake."

Otto of Clooney: "To embrace a woman is to embrace a sack of manure."

James paused here to make a caveat: there are always good men out there who do love their wives, but this is a discussion of the trends. And, as we entered the Reformation period, three major trends were evident:
1) women were routinely viewed as seductresses -- dangerous
2) women were inferior by nature
3) women are not made in the image of God

The Reformation Fathers on Women
Luther: "Although Eve was a most extraordinary creature, similar to Adam so far as the image of God is concerned, that is, in justice, wisdom, and happinesss, she was nevertheless a woman. For as the sun is more excellent than the moon (although the moon, too, is a very excellent body), so the woman, although she was a most beautiful work of God, nevertheless was not the equal of the male in glory and prestige.

Calvin: "Woman was created in the image of God but in a second degree."

At this point, the audience was reeling. Yet, as James pointed out, as Christians we are morally obligated to tell the truth even when the truth hurts. In this discussion, we will not be able to make progress unless we tell ourselves the truth. From these quotes, James drew several helpful observations.

First, history reminds us that all our heroes are flawed. The history of the church is full of examples of heroes with feet of clay. The Bible is profoundly honest about the frailty of the heroes of the faith. In the end, there is but one hero: the Lord Jesus Christ

Secondly, history reminds us that we have come a long way on the question of gender. At least we think women are image bearers now! Even better, we are no longer debating whether women are human. Given the history of the church, this is a big deal.

Third, history reminds us that Christian practice is often better than the principles that have been espoused. For example, although Augustine did not believe that women are not made in the image of God and saw her main role as a procreator, his autobiographical Confessions tell a seemingly contradictory story. It is a woman, his mother Monica, who played the central role in his life as a witness and spiritual warrior. Augustine specifically relates a time when he and his mother were praying together and had an extraordinary spiritual experience together, something that he always cherished. Martin Luther, too, said many harsh things about women. But, he loved his wife, Katie, dearly. Luther's whole conception of what marriage was changed the world. In fact, James suggested, "the reformation Luther wrought in the concept of marriage may have actually been greater than the revolution in doctrine." Luther stablished a new, non economic, reason for getting married: love. Furthermore, in his will, Luther makes Katie his executor, even though the practice of the time was to leave one's possessions to the nearest male relative. These men were often better in practice than principle.

Fourth, history reminds us that debate and controversy are not always bad. No one enjoys controversy, but God, in his mystery and wisdom has a way of using controversy to bring about advances for the kingdom. "God has made a practice in history of bringing light out of the darkness of controversy and debate."

Fifth, historically it seems that healthy debate enables us to ask more helpful questions For example, in the American church, the "racial" question has evolved radically over the last three centuries. It went from "Are African Americans property?" in the 1800's, to "Do they have the same civil rights as a white person?" in the 1960's, to "Can we blend our worship services and have African Americans and whites worshipping side by side in the same church?" Similarly, in the PCA, James said, our questions of gender have started to change: from "what are the limitations we place upon women in the local church?" to "What can women do?"

Sixth, and finally, history reminds us who the real enemy is. At this point, James may have been getting a little wired, because relating a post-Reformation controversy over the Lord's Supper he said, and I faithfully quote, "John Calvin got on his horsey," rode to Switzerland, and sat down with his counterpart in Zurich and came to an agreement, putting together a document that both could agree on. What motivated Calvin was the thought of how much he and this other man had in common versus the relatively small amount of differences. They also shared the same enemy.

James concluded, "In this discussion about gender, the enemy is not the complementarians or egalitarians, the ultimate enemy is the devil himself." We must not forget this in the midst of a serious debate that a spiritual battle is raging.

Culture, Yo , Faith , Woman, Woman, Woah-man , Writing | By elissa | 03:27 PM

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Posted by: zw at February 13, 2006 03:46 PM

Posted by: Macey at February 13, 2006 05:18 PM

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