Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #MakingBiblicalWomanhood
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I was alerted that some pastor out there is demanding I answer for why abuse occurs in egalitarian spaces too (instead of just complementarian). I must have the guy muted bc I don't have any notifications from him (I was just sent the screenshot).
But I'll answer.
But I'll answer.
Because this is easy.
First, you should read @lweaverswartz #StainedGlassCeilings. It is brilliant (as I have said before). Drawing on her substantial study of Asbury Seminary (egalitarian) and Southern Seminary (complementarian),
First, you should read @lweaverswartz #StainedGlassCeilings. It is brilliant (as I have said before). Drawing on her substantial study of Asbury Seminary (egalitarian) and Southern Seminary (complementarian),
she argues that because both still "center white married men and decenter other standpoints," both continue to reinforce male authority/power over women (although they do it in different ways).
Listen to her thesis: "evangelicalism in both its complementarian and egalitarian..
Listen to her thesis: "evangelicalism in both its complementarian and egalitarian..
To be clear:
1) I understand why people believe patriarchy is God-ordained
2) I think marriages often function egalitarian even if they claim male headship
3) For those who ascribe to complementarianism--I do not question their faith & I'm willing to work with them
However
1) I understand why people believe patriarchy is God-ordained
2) I think marriages often function egalitarian even if they claim male headship
3) For those who ascribe to complementarianism--I do not question their faith & I'm willing to work with them
However
4) I think patriarchy is wrong. I cannot say otherwise.
5) Even though many folk who ascribe to Xian patriarchy never experience its dark underbelly, that doesn't mean it isn't there.
6) Good people can still be complicit in harmful systems of oppression.
5) Even though many folk who ascribe to Xian patriarchy never experience its dark underbelly, that doesn't mean it isn't there.
6) Good people can still be complicit in harmful systems of oppression.
My goal is to help people without academic training to have access to the same tools & scholarship I do.
I hope this will help them see historical reality of patriarchy, which I hope brings understanding that complementarian beliefs stem more from culture than faith.
I hope this will help them see historical reality of patriarchy, which I hope brings understanding that complementarian beliefs stem more from culture than faith.
It is good for me to remember that I am in the public eye.
But it is good for you to know that the whole reason I stay in the public eye is to fight against patriarchy, especially patriarchy within the evangelical church that damages both women & the Gospel.
But it is good for you to know that the whole reason I stay in the public eye is to fight against patriarchy, especially patriarchy within the evangelical church that damages both women & the Gospel.
I am an evangelical (Baptist), I know & believe the Bible, I know & understand the history of patriarchy & the church, I recognize patterns within churches that are indicative of both unhealthy attitudes & as well as the treatment of women, & I know how to interpret evidence.
I try to always speak from evidence. But I have never claimed infallibility. If I am wrong, I will admit it (as I have done).It is true I didn't talk about TVC in #MakingBiblicalWomanhood, but it is also true that it fits the patterns I discussed & is connected to the networks.
As a medieval historian, I understand concerns about presentism. My dissertation advisor, Judith Bennett, argued convincingly for how much history today needs the distant past in her History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism. historians.org/publications-a…
My public facing #MakingBiblicalWomanhood clearly shows how much the modern world has forgotten the distant past and how much remembering history matters.
But is my scholarship "presentist" because it uses history to explain systemic patriarchy to modern evangelicals
But is my scholarship "presentist" because it uses history to explain systemic patriarchy to modern evangelicals
in a public-facing narrative that appeals to readers?
This is a question I have asked myself.
Am I being faithful to my historical guild using my knowledge as a medieval historian to tackle the very recent manifestation of patriarchy by modern evangelicals (complimentarianism)?
This is a question I have asked myself.
Am I being faithful to my historical guild using my knowledge as a medieval historian to tackle the very recent manifestation of patriarchy by modern evangelicals (complimentarianism)?
I just read a thread arguing that birth control gives women options they 'naturally' shouldn't have, throwing Christian families into "artificial confusion."
I don't know enough about author to quote tweet him; nor do I want to drive folk to him. But I can't stay silent either.
I don't know enough about author to quote tweet him; nor do I want to drive folk to him. But I can't stay silent either.
His point--that women today have choices btw career & family, about education, etc., afforded them only by the "artificial" introduction of birth control that has disrupted the natural rhythms of marriage & motherhood--doesn't have the historical footing that he thinks it does.
Take work, for example. He links women's ability to "build a career" (as a choice instead of being a mom) to reliable birth control. Does this mean that women who worked before modern birth control were either celibate or beyond child-bearing years?
Patriarchy & beauty: a 🧵
“I can do hard things. God, help me do hard things.”
That was my running mantra for 2019-2020,the year I wrote #MakingBiblicalWomanhood. I had run regularly for 10 solid years before 2016–the year my husband was fired. 1/10
“I can do hard things. God, help me do hard things.”
That was my running mantra for 2019-2020,the year I wrote #MakingBiblicalWomanhood. I had run regularly for 10 solid years before 2016–the year my husband was fired. 1/10
But the shock of his firing disrupted everything in my life. Maybe one day I’ll tell the strange health issues that developed for me that year, primarily bc of stress, but maybe I won’t either.
Needless to say by 2018 I had mostly stopped running. 2/10
Needless to say by 2018 I had mostly stopped running. 2/10
I was trying to get back into it just when I began talking with @BrazosPress about writing a book. I decided to do both: run and write. It worked, with my mantra, and I was flying again by the time I birthed #MakingBiblicalWomanhood. My clothes fit better and I felt better. 3/10
I am a liability for my husband's career, as so many male pastors in our Texas Evangelical world are shy of collaborating/including/considering him bc his wife wrote #MakingBiblicalWomanhood.
It is a price he was, and continues to be, willing to pay. 1/2
It is a price he was, and continues to be, willing to pay. 1/2
I have noticed more and more female pastors in our area reaching out to us, even bringing their congregants to our church (like at our Good Friday service last week). They feel safe working with him, because they know he respects their calling. Y'all, we need more men like him.
I honestly can't imagine how hard it is to be a female pastor in the Texas evangelical (even mainline) world. Most are not at high profile churches so never make the news the way male pastors do in our area. I'm so grateful we can be an encouragement to them. 3/3
Telling: "There are plenty of Black female theologians teaching &writing today on the same subjects as Barr, Du Mez and other. But the Black scholars don’t appear to merit any attention from these white males.”
The year of being threatened by smart women baptistnews.com/article/the-ye…
The year of being threatened by smart women baptistnews.com/article/the-ye…
Although I do have to say in regards to @MedfordMama quote, I have discussed multiple times why my story is a white narrative. I was conscious that it is a white story, & I worked hard to include Black voices as well as point out I knew it was framed from a white perspective.
I also have worked hard listening to more Black women & accepting critique. I also spent an entire semester reading Womanist theory & learning more, & will keep learning. I also am glad so many more people are reading Bettye Collier-Thomas & Clarice Martin bc of my book.
I've seen a few folk write that I set up complementarian strawmen in #MakingBiblicalWomanhood. I would ignore this, as it isn't true, but folk seem to really misunderstand the term "strawman". So let me explain my methodology👇🧵
Strawman is a term used when someone intentionally misrepresents an argument so that their take-down is easier to make. Here is a clear, quick overview of strawman arguments: grammarist.com/rhetoric/straw…
As a teacher of history, one of my jobs is to simplify complex topics so that students who have very little knowledge of the topic can get a basic understanding. This doesn't mean the simplified explanation is all there is to it; it is just an entry point.
Welcome to one of our favorite annual traditions: counting down our most popular posts from the past year!
30. Our 2021 list begins with Daniel Williams, who placed four posts on this list in his first full year of blogging. patheos.com/blogs/anxiousb… #YearInReview
30. Our 2021 list begins with Daniel Williams, who placed four posts on this list in his first full year of blogging. patheos.com/blogs/anxiousb… #YearInReview
29. In another post about the mainline, Dan Williams suggested that many white liberal Protestants underwent a kind of secularizing “conversion experience” during the civil rights movement. patheos.com/blogs/anxiousb… #YearInReview
28. In the first of his two posts on our 2021 list, Philip Jenkins urged us to take seriously the possibility that “we really are seeing a precipitous decline in religion as such… however broadly we define it.” patheos.com/blogs/anxiousb… @BaylorISR #YearInReview
So much scholarly evidence exists showing that 'biblical womanhood' isn't biblical. @scotmcknight's #BlueParakeet is a must read--kind, careful, & mind-exploding--for showing how we have gotten the Bible wrong on so many issues, including women in ministry 1/2 
This is why I was so excited to have @scotmcknight
not only agree to read #MakingBiblicalWomanhood, but give it one of my favorite endorsements. Along w/ @laurambarringer, his #AChurchCalledTOV shows Christian patriarchy harms not only women but the entire culture of the church.
not only agree to read #MakingBiblicalWomanhood, but give it one of my favorite endorsements. Along w/ @laurambarringer, his #AChurchCalledTOV shows Christian patriarchy harms not only women but the entire culture of the church.
I wrote #MakingBiblicalWomanhood to help the women who live every day in situations just like @JonathanLeeman described 👇 🧵
The women who are met with patronizing attitudes and gaslighting techniques when they try to get help from abusive husbands.
The women who are told that believing God calls women to lead and serve in the same ways as men is sinful and will lead them astray from gospel truth.
The women who are told that believing God calls women to lead and serve in the same ways as men is sinful and will lead them astray from gospel truth.
Y’all, these women are my audience. My heart breaks every day for them because I lived in their shoes for so so long. Because I know the Bible doesn’t teach what they are being taught,
The gospel is bigger than this. Jesus is better than this.
The gospel is bigger than this. Jesus is better than this.
I try to not speak in anger. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to speak. I think it is time for me to speak out against that review. Because this matters. Because it encapsulates most of my points in #MakingBiblicalWomanhood.
Because it shows that men who believe women should not lead in church discredit women’s leadership in church history.
Because it shows that men who teach women are less than men treat women as less than men.
Because it shows how biblical womanhood hurts real women.
Because it shows that men who teach women are less than men treat women as less than men.
Because it shows how biblical womanhood hurts real women.
It’s time for the church to man up & act like Jesus.
Jesus treated women as fully human. Jesus listened to women. Jesus didn’t judge women by sexual status. Jesus told a woman she was of great faith—not when she stayed silent at home but when she called out to him in the street.
Jesus treated women as fully human. Jesus listened to women. Jesus didn’t judge women by sexual status. Jesus told a woman she was of great faith—not when she stayed silent at home but when she called out to him in the street.
I have three things to say.
1. I didn’t write #MakingBiblicalWomanhood for me. I wrote it to help women trapped in an ungodly system that is damaging the Gospel of Christ. I threatened an entrenched power structure, and they are trying to take me down….
1. I didn’t write #MakingBiblicalWomanhood for me. I wrote it to help women trapped in an ungodly system that is damaging the Gospel of Christ. I threatened an entrenched power structure, and they are trying to take me down….
2. I wrote over 4000 years of history in a tiny book. Yes it is an overview with windows into specific historical moments. Yes there is a lot more to say. Yes I didn’t explain all the nuances of Arianism. Others have done that. Go read them. I gave you hundreds of citations….
3. I told my story. I told it broadly because it involves real people. I didn’t tell the story for vengeance, I told what was needed to help you see the full implications of “biblical womanhood.” This isn’t just an abstract idea; it is a harmful system that hurts people….
Y’all this week has been fun. I missed all the convos. I suspect I’ll be going in and out for a while, though, so I just want to be clear on a few things before I go quiet again…. 🧵
1. I wrote #makingbiblicalwomanhood because I believe complementarianism is wrong. I agree with egalitarians/mutualists (I think I like term mutualist best) that God calls women and men equally to serve in church and home.
2. I think the claim that patriarchy is God-ordained is wrong. I think patriarchy is a product of human sin.
Man. The memories from my four years in seminary at BCS keep trickling back.
On #InternationalWomensDay, let me share this memory with you, as a kind of apology to the women (especially pastor’s wives) who have been taken for granted.
TW: Christian patriarchy.
On #InternationalWomensDay, let me share this memory with you, as a kind of apology to the women (especially pastor’s wives) who have been taken for granted.
TW: Christian patriarchy.
In one of the later years of my M.Div program at BCS, I took a “Biblical Eldership” class. It wasn’t a hard class, but it did have a rather demanding requirement: that we all attend the Spring “Weekender” retreat at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. together.
CHBC holds these retreats twice a year, I believe, and the design is to help pastors and ministers see what congregational life and pastoral leadership should look like, essentially. Retreat-goers get behind-the-scenes snapshots of how this big Baptist church “does church.”
