Ministry in Motion (MIM) Ezine, October 20, 2006

-- The Reconstruction of A Youth Worker: “A Conversation About Youth Worship,” by R. Scott Miller.

-- Book Review: Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, By Andreas J. Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, reviewed by Teena M. Stewart.

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Peter heaved a deep sigh as he sank into his office chair. He had just hung up from a phone call with Larry, the Chair of the Finance Committee. In the two years since his arrival at Maintenance Community Church, he had learned to recognize the symptoms and the players in a slow and general decline of the church over the last 25 years.

The phone call illustrated his point. Larry had called to indicate that he and Alethia, the treasurer, didn’t see a need to do all that extra stuff for a pledge campaign. They were doing okay meeting the budget. It seemed like a lot of extra work when most people were going to give what they had always given.

Peter pondered his approach. How can he help all of his leaders get over this speed bump? They were good people. They loved the Lord. They loved their church. They just didn’t understand how their church reflexes contributed to maintaining the problem rather than creating new solutions.

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Recently, I had been contemplating about including some observations about Christian youth into my ramblings. After hanging out with a group called the Dead Pastors Society not long ago, a few of us continued our discussion over lunch, and the subject about my articles came up in conversation. One of my friends commented about how he would like to hear opinions from youth about worship. To me, this verified the need to include some of the youth into this series and it encouraged me to do it soon.

Let me introduce you to the voices you will be hearing from in the next few issues of my Ramblings:

Book Review - Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15

By Andreas J. Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, Editors, Baker Academic, 2005, 080102904X, 284

Andrea J. Kostenberger (PH.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of New Testament and director of Ph.D./Th. M. studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Thomas R. Schreiner (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminar) is professor of New Testament interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Together they have done a thorough research on 1 Timothy 2:9-15 which has long been an issue of debate regarding women in leadership, their roles in the church, biblical authority and submission to men.

Their book provides a scholarly look at all aspects of the passage. Is it written simply for the people of that time, or should the passage apply to Christians today? One of the dangers of interpreting scripture is that we often overlay our culture into the interpretation as well as taking the passage out of context. The authors give fair coverage to the history of Ephesus, and its culture and the prevalent gods/goddesses of the region and time.

Also provided are quotes from past published essays on the subject by scholars who have been either of the persuasion that men and women should be given equal authority or that men should have authority over women and not vice versa.

In addition, they cover the syntactical parallels to 1 Timothy 2:12 and language pattern groupings which are important to understand if the passage is to be interpreted accurately.

Though the authors spend a vast amount of time dissecting the Greek language, when explanations were given regarding the meaning of the words or specific terms, the authors do not include an English pronunciation of the Greek word, nor phonetic spelling or pronunciation. It may have been helpful for their readers if they had since those who are not Greek scholars may soon become confused as to exact meanings of the words as more Greek words are introduced and dissected.

Chapter 6, What Should a Woman Do in the Church written by Dorothy Kelly Patterson (a Koine Greek scholar) lends additional credibility to the book and provides good insight. The primary conclusion the authors reach is that women should not be in positions where they have authority over men in the church but that the passage is not a blanket command to eliminate all feminine teaching and leadership.

This is an academic book that relies heavily on research, biblical exegesis, and language interpretation. The back one third of the book is note references which may give you an idea of just how reference-heavy this book is. The average lay person may become bogged down in the in-depth time spent on referencing past published research by other scholars. It is appropriate reading for those wishing to go to great depths to pull apart the meaning while reviewing essays and research papers on the topic. In the end, it will be up to you reach your own conclusions after reading this thorough exploration by the authors.

Teena Stewart is a published writer, a ministry consultant and coach, and a product developer for Ministry in Motion. You can email her at smartwords@sbcglobal.net. To learn more about Teena, her writing, and consulting services, click here.

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MIM Ezine October 20, 2006