Bringing the Word to Life

Women Are to Learn, Paul Tells Timothy

3 Comments / Teaching, Women in Ministry / By /

Paul left us with one argument against women teaching in the church, based on a theological understanding of Genesis 1-3. We must reckon with this because our default setting is “to take the Bible literally.” And yet, as we have observed in the last few days, the witness about women in leadership in the NT is mixed. 1 Timothy 2:11 is the most serious challenge to women’s ordination, and therefore we must examine what it meant to its original hearers and how it is to be applied today. The passage begins with Paul’s expressed desire for men “in every place […]

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The Women’s Question in Paul’s First Letter to Timothy

2 Comments / Teaching, Uncategorized, Women in Ministry / By /

In his first letter to protégé Timothy, the Apostle Paul addresses a pastoral problem with advice and counsel. The statements he makes about women and ministry (1 Tim 2:8-15) are problematic in our twenty-first century context, but here they are in my own translation from the Greek:  8 Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath or dispute. 9In the same way also, women to adorn themselves in respectable garb with modesty and discretion, not in elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothing, 10 but that which is proper for

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The Women’s Question in the New Testament

6 Comments / Teaching, Women in Ministry / By /

The witness of Scripture regarding the suitability of women for public ministry leadership is a mixed bag. Though there are interesting role models in the Old Testament (Deborah and Esther come to mind), this discussion will focus on New Testament data. We shall go back to the OT when necessary, to track down a reference or rationale given in the NT. We can organize our data into a grid (this would be a good white-board exercise, if you undertake a group study). The columns would be “pro” and “con,” and the rows would be labeled “Jesus and the gospels,” “Early

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The Women’s Question and The Confessions

15 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Essential Tenets of the Reformed Faith, GAPJC Decisions, PCUSA / By /

The issues have been confused for years and I’m ready to stop out for a couple of days from the marriage curriculum and address a question that keeps coming up. The second form of the question popped out in the one-minute speech of a GA commissioner, who said, basically, that if it were up to the Book of Confessions, she would never have been ordained. The first form of the question, around for years, asks: “The Bible requires silence of women in the church, yet we ordain women. Why can we not ordain committed homosexuals despite the prohibition of homosexual

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Woe to Those Who Cause Presbyterians to Stumble

6 Comments / Marriage Definition, Moral Authority, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

In Matthew 18:1f, Jesus is clarifying for the disciples “who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus’ teaching so far in Matthew has painted the picture of an upside-down kingdom, where the poor are rich, the lowly are great, and the meek will inherit the earth. This theme continues here, as Jesus draws a child close to him as a sermon illustration, and says: 3“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the

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Becoming Childlike Learners

2 Comments / Marriage Definition, Moral Authority, Teaching / By /

“[Jesus] called a child, whom he put among [the disciples], and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-3) Scholarly discussion—in which, I can assure you, children do not take part—revolves around just what childlike qualities Jesus had in mind when he talked about entering the kingdom of heaven. Was it their helpless dependence? their innocence? their lowly stature in the community? their teachability? Within the gospel context, Dale Bruner favors the notion of childlike humility based on their low social status, which required them to

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Teach Your Children Well . . .

2 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), GAPJC Decisions, Marriage Definition, Parnell v. San Francisco, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

The charge given to the PCUSA by the General Assembly is to “enter into a season of serious study and discernment concerning its meaning of Christian marriage.” Implicit in this assignment is the exploration of Christian marriage, which gets its definition from Scripture and the history of Scripture’s application within the church. Discernment is necessary when a particular teaching requires a particular doing. Since as Presbyterians we hold fast to the principle that learning is pursued so that we can behave rightly (“truth unto goodness”), the process must aid us in making decisions about what we do regarding marriage. So

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Marriage Curriculum: Learning Indicators

25 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

Step Three in the process of developing a curriculum on marriage is to identify learning indicators in each of the four domains (knowing, feeling, doing, and becoming). If we haven’t already encountered a sticky wicket, this step gives pause to many. The development of learning indicators is predicated on the following givens: 1. There is something to learn; there is knowledge to be discovered and applied to everyday life. Yes, Virginia, there is truth and you can know it because God has revealed it in his Word. 2. Feelings are going to come out, if we do our job right

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Learning Goals for a Course on Marriage

4 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Teaching / By /

The second major step in developing a curriculum on marriage for congregations in the PCUSA is to unpack the overall goal, which was stated yesterday: “The purpose of this course is to arrive at an understanding of marriage that can be affirmed and practiced, with joyful confidence and a clear conscience, in the church.” A careful examination of this guiding statement points to sub-goals in four areas: what do we want the learners to know (information), to feel (emotional impact), to do (together in class activity as well as in application elsewhere), and to become (transformation). In other words, we

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Steps Toward Developing a Marriage Curriculum—Part II

12 Comments / 2012th General Assembly (Pittsburgh), Marriage Definition, PCUSA, Teaching, Uncategorized / By /

To give you an idea of where I am headed in the next few posts, let me outline the general plan for how to develop a curriculum on any topic. The foundational work of such a plan is important, because it sets the direction for the whole project. It reveals the starting point for discussion, and offers the measure for success at the end. As you read through this outline, think about its application for a course on marriage in your church. 1. Set the overall learning goal for the course. This is the “big picture” statement of what one

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