Search — Theology Explorer

Priscilla Aquila women evangelists

Women were church planters and evangelists; laboring 'in the gospel' points to evangelism

Mike draws positive conclusions about women's ministry scope from the terminology.

1 Corinthians 16:19 Priscilla Aquila Craig Keener

1 Corinthians 16:19 does not prove Priscilla and Aquila led a house church

Mike examines Keener's second reference for house church leadership.

Priscilla Craig Keener women teaching men

Conclusions on Priscilla/Aquila: Keener overstates, but women can teach men theology

Mike balances his critique with a positive complementarian conclusion.

1 Timothy 3 1 Timothy 3 elder vs. deacon distinction diakonos

Definition of deacon: can mean generic servant or official church position

Mike defines the semantic range of 'diakonos.'

Two Views on Women in Ministry Craig Blomberg deaconess history

Craig Blomberg on early church deaconesses: common for centuries with pastoral care and baptism roles

Mike cites historical support for women deacons.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 1 Timothy 3:11 women deacons internal contradiction eldership

Egalitarian contradiction: if 1 Timothy 3:11 has women deacons, it proves women are excluded from elders in 3:1-7

Mike identifies an internal contradiction in egalitarian argumentation.

Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

The word apostolos has a range of meanings in Greek

Mike explains the semantic range of 'apostle' as groundwork for the next argument.

Romans 16:7 apostolos Romans 16:7 semantic range

Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Mike's conclusion assuming Junia was an apostle: she was a missionary, not highest-rank

Mike summarizes his 'fallback' position if Junia was indeed an apostle.

Romans 16:7 Acts 2 Linda Belleville Junia Romans 16:7

Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Bauckham's key criticisms of Burer-Wallace

Mike summarizes Bauckham's main points.

Burer-Wallace paper (2001) Richard Bauckham Gospel Women

Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Anticipated objection: if women could not be OT priests but are NT priests, why can't they hold the highest roles?

Mike addresses the challenge to his view: if women's exclusion from OT priesthood was about gender, and now they are priests, doesn't that prove they can have any role?

1 Timothy 3 Titus 1 1 Timothy 3 Levitical priesthood eldership qualifications

Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Mike invites substantive, detailed critique rather than vague pushback

Mike asks critics to provide specific claims, sources, and evidence when challenging his arguments.

methodology

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Galatians 2 pushback: Peter's refusal to eat with Gentiles as social discrimination

Mike addresses the strongest egalitarian counter-argument from within Galatians itself.

Galatians 2:11-14 Paul Peter table fellowship

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Egalitarian pushback: Mike treats the male/female pair differently than Jew/Gentile and slave/free

Mike addresses an objection he considers substantial.

Galatians 3:28 Galatians 3:28 consistency objection three pairs

Mike Winger idea 2022-06-20

Hypothetical: if Scripture required Jewish elders, would you accept it?

Mike uses a thought experiment to test whether people are truly following Scripture or presuppositions.

1 Timothy 2 Galatians 3:28 thought experiment 1 Timothy 2 elder qualifications

kephale semantic range metaphorical meanings

Metaphorical meanings of kephale: literal, headlong, whole person, extremity, prominent part, conclusion, authority

Mike catalogs all the possible metaphorical meanings of kephale.

1 Corinthians 11:3 kephale 1 Corinthians 11:3 Louw-Nida

Louw-Nida lexicon: kephale means 'one of supreme or preeminent status in view of authority to order or command'

Mike surveys the Louw-Nida semantic domain lexicon.

1 Corinthians 11:3 Ephesians 4:15 kephale 1 Corinthians 11:3 DBL Dictionary

DBL Dictionary of Biblical Languages (2001): kephale means 'superior, one of preeminent status'

Mike surveys the DBL lexicon.

kephale semantic equivalence misleading framing

Many lexicons that don't use the word 'leader' still support authority with terms like chief, subordinate, sovereignty, lord, ruler, master

Mike addresses the misleading focus on the specific word 'leader.'

1 Corinthians 11 head coverings series preview 1 Corinthians 11

Preview: next video will be on head coverings — a thorough examination of 1 Corinthians 11

Mike previews the upcoming video in the series.

Mike Winger idea 2022-08-15

Davids claims 1 Peter 2:13 makes family a 'human institution' like government

Mike examines Davids' argument that family structures are human constructions.

1 Peter 2:13-14 Peter Davids 1 Peter 2:13-14 human institutions

Mike Winger idea 2022-03-28

Mike's assessment: 'Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood' preaches well but continually distorts the text; egalitarian scholars' handling of Scripture drove him deeper into complementarianism.

Overall assessment of Byrd's book and the egalitarian case

complementarianism egalitarianism Aimee Byrd

Mike Winger idea 2022-03-28

The wise woman of Abel Beth Maacah (2 Samuel 20:16-22) negotiated peace during a siege, representing the whole city — she exercised real political power in crisis.

Examining a more substantive example of a wise woman

2 Samuel 20:16-22 Joab 2 Samuel 20:16-22 wise woman of Abel Beth Maacah

1 Corinthians 11:15 Romans 12:17 1 Thessalonians 5:15 1 Corinthians 11:15 Alan Padgett anti

Greek word analysis: anti in verse 15 means equivalence, not replacement

Mike examines the Greek preposition debate in verse 15.

Philip Payne peribolaion Alan Padgett

Alan Padgett and Philip Payne: even with equivalence, hair replaces cloth covering

Mike examines the revised arguments of hair-up proponents.

men's head coverings Richard Oster Gordon Fee

Gordon Fee wrongly dismissed men's head coverings as hypothetical -- there IS evidence

Mike corrects a widely-cited scholarly error.

Troy Martin peribolaion anti

Six reasons Martin gives for testicle in 1 Corinthians 11 -- all fail

Mike systematically refutes Martin's case from the text of 1 Corinthians.

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

Paul's consistent pattern: he qualifies Corinthian slogans with wisdom rather than fully disagreeing

Mike shows from multiple examples that Paul never fully disagrees with Corinthian slogans.

1 Corinthians 6:12 1 Corinthians 10:23 Corinthian slogans 1 Corinthians 6:12 1 Corinthians 10:23

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

Elders as the only universal biblical ongoing office with authority

Mike provides scriptural evidence for the elder/overseer role as the primary authority structure in the church.

Acts 14:23 Titus 1:5 Acts 14:23 Titus 1:5 elder/overseer/bishop

Mike Winger idea 2024-03-01

Mike's initial openness to egalitarian arguments and respect for egalitarian scholars

Mike describes wanting to examine egalitarian scholarship fairly before drawing conclusions.

egalitarianism Craig Keener Bible Background Commentary

Mike Winger idea 2024-03-01

Analogy to overturned German scholarship on the Gospels and Greek myths

Mike argues that entire schools of scholarly thought can be wrong and get overturned.

German scholarship Gospel origins anti-Semitism in scholarship

1 Corinthians 7 Mark 5:13 Acts 21:40 1 Corinthians 7 epitrepo word study

Word study on epitrepo (permit) across the New Testament

Mike examines every NT use of epitrepo to determine whether it carries authority or merely expresses personal preference.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 2 Thessalonians 3:12 1 Timothy 2:2 1 Timothy 2:11-12 hesychia hesychios

Hesychia: 'silence' vs. 'quiet/peaceable' semantic range

Mike examines what hesychia means in 1 Tim 2:11-12 — total silence or a peaceable disposition.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 1 Peter 3:3-4 Ephesus Artemis cult Gary Hoag

Gary Hoag and Sandra Glahn's updated Artemis arguments

Mike addresses more recent egalitarian attempts to revive the Artemis cult argument with updated evidence.

authenteo Koine Greek Classical Greek

Koine Greek vs. Classical/Attic Greek distinction and its relevance to authenteo

Mike explains the critical linguistic distinction between Classical Greek and the Koine Greek of the NT period.

authentein semantic range Al Wolters

Cognate analysis: authentes, authentikos, authentia, authentein

Mike examines words related to authenteo to establish the semantic range of the word family.

authenteo Linda Belleville Cynthia Long Westfall

Egalitarian scholars' classifications of authenteo meanings

Mike examines how egalitarian scholars categorize the various proposed meanings.

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

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 2:11 1 Timothy 2:11 women's education let a woman learn

Conclusion 2: Women should fully participate in Christian education

Mike highlights the positive command in the passage.

anti-patriarchal church vs social settings eldership function

Conclusion 6: The restriction is about church leadership, not all social settings

Mike pushes back against patriarchal over-application of the passage.

intellectual honesty personal testimony egalitarian arguments

Mike's personal disappointment with egalitarian arguments

Mike shares his personal experience studying both sides of the debate.