Search — Theology Explorer

Discovering Biblical Equality universal priesthood of believers Stanley Grenz

Grenz's positive case: whoever is a priest should be able to be an elder

After Grenz dismantles the complementarian argument, he builds his own: women are priests, therefore they can be elders.

1 Timothy 2:5 priesthood mediation 1 Timothy 2:5

Priesthood means no one mediates between you and God; this is different from teaching

Mike now builds his positive case for what priesthood means for Christians and why it does not equate to eldership.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 1 Corinthians 12-14 1 Corinthians 14:3-4 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 1 Corinthians 12-14 1 Corinthians 14:3-4

Broader context of 1 Corinthians 11-14 confirms it is about gathered worship: Lord's Supper and spiritual gifts in church

Mike appeals to the wider literary context to confirm his reading.

women teaching gender bias

Bias against women's teaching comes from women too, not just men

Mike points out that the attitude that women cannot correct men is held by some women as well.

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Westfall conflates different concepts to build her bridge

Mike prepares to walk through a detailed example of conceptual conflation.

Cynthia Long Westfall logical analysis conflation of concepts

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Correction for complementarians: do not treat women as a lower class of Christian

Mike offers balance by correcting his own side.

1 Peter 3:7 complementarian correction 1 Peter 3:7 husband accountability

Mike Winger idea 2022-08-15

Central question of the video: Does the Bible teach an authority imbalance in marriage?

Mike frames the core question for the entire video, distinguishing it from the simpler question of whether wives should submit.

complementarianism egalitarianism marriage authority

Mike Winger idea 2022-08-15

Summary of 'maybe' chain problems in Keener's cultural argument

Mike recaps the weakness of Keener's cultural-bowing case.

Craig Keener cultural bowing idolatry as primary accusation

testicle theory ancient medicine Troy Martin

Preview of the testicle interpretation of women's hair

Mike warns of adult content and previews a scholarly claim about ancient medical views.

1 Corinthians 11:15 Philip Payne 1 Corinthians 11:15 peribolaion

Payne's pivotal claim: verse 15 shows hair done up IS the covering (not analogy)

Mike explains Payne's hinge interpretation of verse 15.

refutation view reputation view Corinthian quotations

The refutation/reputation view: Paul is quoting and refuting the Corinthians

Mike presents the third interpretive approach.

kephale headship church history

Question 3: What does kephale mean? Conclusions from video 8 on male headship

Mike references his prior detailed study on kephale.

Ephesians 5:22-24 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 Ephesians 5:22-24 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 cultural hermeneutics

Evidence that headship is transcultural: creation order, Ephesians 5, and the danger of cultural relativism

Mike builds his case that headship is not culturally bound.

1 Corinthians 11:5-6 1 Corinthians 11:15 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 analogy argument 1 Corinthians 11:15

Why verse 15 is an analogy: four reasons supporting the traditional cloth covering view

Mike builds his case that Paul is making an analogy, not an identification.

complementarianism egalitarianism gender roles

Overview of the egalitarian vs. complementarian debate

Mike frames the two polar opposite positions on women in ministry as context for the five views he will present.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 textual criticism 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 interpolation theory

Introduction of View 1: The Interpolation View

Mike introduces the first of five views, which argues these verses do not belong in the Bible at all.

1 Corinthians 14:36 quotation-refutation view 1 Corinthians 14:36

Introduction of View 2: The Quotation-Refutation View

Mike introduces the view that Paul is quoting the Corinthians and then refuting them in verse 36.

education view clatter view Dionysus cult

Introduction of View 3: The Education/Clatter View

Mike introduces a cluster of related views that shift the focus from women per se to education or disruptive behavior.

complementarianism utter silence view women's speech in church

Introduction of View 4: The Utter Silence View

Mike introduces the most strict complementarian view, which limits women from nearly all public speech in church.

complementarianism judging prophecy view testing prophecy

Introduction of View 5: The Judging Prophecy View (Mike's own view)

Mike introduces his preferred interpretation, which limits the silence command specifically to the testing/judging of prophecy.

Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood quotation-refutation view

View 2 analysis: The Quotation-Refutation View and Beth Allison Barr's promotion of it

Mike begins analyzing the quotation-refutation view, noting Beth Allison Barr as a key proponent.

education view clatter view cultural coincidence argument

Introduction of View 3: The Education/Clatter View in detail

Mike begins analyzing the education/clatter view, which treats the passage as authentic but shifts focus away from gender.

Craig Keener universal scope women elders

Education View Hinge 2: Why ALL women in EVERY church?

Mike presses the problem of universal scope for the education view.

eldership doctrinal testing church governance

Elders have a natural role in judging prophecy due to their doctrinal guardianship function

Mike builds the case that elders must have been prominent in testing prophecy.

Mike Winger idea 2024-03-01

Three areas of women's authority: (2) managing the household — 1 Timothy 5:14

Mike identifies household management as a domain of women's authority.

1 Timothy 5:14 1 Timothy 5:14 oikodespoteo household management

Mike Winger idea 2024-03-01

When does a boy become a man? Puberty too young, 18 workable, adulting principle preferred

Mike works through the age/manhood question for ministry application.

youth ministry defining manhood puberty

Mike Winger idea 2023-11-22

Egalitarian responses to Kostenberger's syntactic argument

Mike addresses attempts to refute the Kostenberger syntactic pattern.

1 Timothy 2:12 1 Timothy 2:12 Philip Payne Cynthia Long Westfall

Mike Winger idea 2023-11-22

Mike's assessment of View 4: his second choice, held if View 5 fails

Mike states his personal ranking of the views before presenting his preferred interpretation.

1 Timothy 2:15 hermeneutical principle 1 Timothy 2:15 uncertain vs certain

Mike Winger idea 2023-11-22

Best objection to the Messianic view: teknogonia is an odd word choice for the Messiah

Mike presents what he considers the strongest push-back against his preferred view.

1 Timothy 2:15 1 Timothy 2:15 teknogonia Messianic interpretation

Mike Winger idea 2018-02-14

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth — a movement that tolerates and encourages fake healings is not operating in step with Him

Mike gives his theological summary on the healing practice issues

healing theology Holy Spirit Spirit of Truth

Mormonism apologetics LDS Church

Overview of Mormonism's scale and the testability question

Setting up the apologetic challenge

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham Pearl of Great Price

Introduction to the Book of Abraham as the key test case for Mormonism

Setting up the argument

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham 1835

Smith's diary entries document ongoing 'translation' work on Egyptian alphabet and grammar in late 1835

Documentary evidence from Smith's own journals

Abraham Joseph Smith Book of Abraham

LDS Church president's diary corroborates that Smith translated Abraham's own handwriting using the Urim and Thummim

Secondary LDS historical witness to Smith's translation claims

Abraham Joseph Smith Book of Abraham

The LDS Church officially canonized the Book of Abraham as translated from the papyrus by Joseph Smith

The canonical status of the Book of Abraham in LDS theology

Abraham Joseph Smith Book of Abraham facsimiles

Smith's interpretation of the facsimile images: he identifies figures as the angel of the Lord, Abraham, and names Egyptian gods

Smith's specific claims about the facsimile imagery

Joseph Smith LDS Church Egyptology

Early Egyptologist critics were dismissed because the original papyri could not be examined

How the LDS Church handled early scholarly criticism

LDS Church papyrus Metropolitan Museum of Art

The original papyri were discovered in 1966–1967 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and given to BYU

The rediscovery of the Joseph Smith Papyri

Joseph Smith Book of Abraham Brigham Young University

LDS professor at BYU commented that the rediscovery of the papyri was 'a far more' significant test of LDS claims

Internal LDS academic recognition of the significance of the papyri rediscovery

translation comparison Joseph Smith testability of religious claims

Unlike the Book of Mormon (golden plates taken away), the Book of Abraham papyri CAN be tested — this is unique

The Book of Abraham as a uniquely testable LDS truth claim

Abraham Book of Abraham Egyptology

The papyri date to the 2nd century BC — approximately 2,000 years after Abraham's time

Core finding from the Egyptological examination of the recovered papyri

translation comparison LDS Church Book of Abraham

The LDS Church's own official article on lds.org admits the characters on the papyri do not match the Book of Abraham text

The LDS Church's own admission in its official online materials