Search — Theology Explorer

Colossians 4:15 Discovering Biblical Equality Nympha Lynn Cohick

Nympha in Colossians 4:15 -- Lynn Cohick's claim she led a house church

Mike begins examining individual women named in the NT, starting with Nympha.

Colossians 4:15 Linda Belleville Nympha Colossians 4:15

Belleville assigns Nympha the title 'overseer' based on hosting; Mike challenges the logic

Mike examines how Belleville gets from 'church in her house' to 'overseer.'

Colossians 4:15 Nympha Colossians 4:15 commentary survey

Mike's survey of 18 commentaries on Nympha's leadership: only 3 of 18 agree

Mike conducts his own commentary survey to test the 'most commentators' claim.

Linda Belleville hosting vs. leading overseer

Central egalitarian claim: hosting a house church made you the leader/overseer of that church

Mike identifies this as a pervasive claim that recurs throughout egalitarian literature.

James Linda Belleville Two Views on Women in Ministry hosting vs. leading

Belleville's defense: patronage of a house church was an authoritative role in Greco-Roman times

Mike reads Belleville's argument from Two Views on Women in Ministry (p. 37).

Luke 9:1-5 hosting vs. leading Luke 9:1-5 apostles

Luke 9:1-5 refutes host-as-leader claim: apostles stayed in strangers' homes

Mike tests the host-as-leader claim against the biblical text.

Acts 16:15 Lydia N.T. Wright hosting vs. leading

Acts 16:15 refutes host-as-leader: Lydia hosted Paul immediately after conversion

Mike applies the host-as-leader test to Lydia.

Acts 12:12 Linda Belleville hosting vs. leading Mary mother of Mark

Acts 12:12 refutes host-as-leader: Mary mother of Mark hosted a prayer gathering

Mike presents another counter-example.

Titus 1 John hosting vs. leading Timothy Titus

Additional arguments against host-as-leader: Timothy/Titus appointing elders, reductio ad absurdum examples

Mike piles on counter-evidence to the host-as-leader claim.

Acts 10 hosting vs. leading Cornelius Acts 10

Cornelius counter-example: would be an overseer before being a Christian

Mike continues listing absurd implications of the host-as-leader theory.

Linda Belleville hosting vs. leading scholarly methodology

Wayne Meeks (The First Urban Christians) -- Belleville's own source refutes her position

Mike traces Belleville's scholarly source for the host-as-leader claim.

Acts 17:5-9 hosting vs. leading Jason Acts 17:5-9

Jason in Acts 17:5-9 does not prove host-as-leader; shows external cultural accountability only

Mike addresses the one passage egalitarians use to support host-as-leader.

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.

Philemon 1-2 Philemon Craig Keener hosting vs. leading Philemon 1-2

Philemon 1-2: church in Philemon's house does not make Apphia or Archippus leaders

Mike examines Keener's third reference.

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.

Acts 6 apostles Acts 6 deacon definition

Acts 6: the seven men as proto-deacons; deacons do everything that isn't eldership

Mike discusses the origin of the deacon role.

eldership universal priesthood of believers

Argument 3 preview: Universal priesthood of believers means women can hold any ministry role

If all Christians are priests (including women), then women should be able to serve in any ministry role including eldership.

eldership universal priesthood of believers

Argument 3 introduced: Universal priesthood of believers

Mike introduces the argument: since all NT believers are priests, and priestly functions include teaching and leading, women should be able to be elders.

eldership priesthood mediation

Being a priest does not mean anything about being an elder; eldership is not priestly in character

Mike draws the sharp distinction: priesthood is about access to God, not about teaching or leading others.

Romans 12:6-8 spiritual gifts teaching gift leadership gift

Romans 12:6-8 — teaching and leading are listed as spiritual gifts alongside gifts women clearly have

Mike examines the gifts list in Romans 12 to determine whether women can have teaching and leadership gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:8-11 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 word of wisdom word of knowledge

1 Corinthians 12:8-11 — speaking gifts (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, tongues, interpretation) seem available to women by analogy with prophecy

Mike examines another gifts list and finds it would be arbitrary to say women can prophesy but not have other speaking gifts.

Romans 12:6-8 spiritual gifts Romans 12:6-8

Romans 12:6-8 revisited — women were in every gift category except teaching/leading; it is arbitrary to exclude them from those two

Mike restates the argument from Romans 12 more explicitly.

eldership spiritual gifts argument

Summary of gifts argument: women likely have teaching/leadership gifts, no scripture limits those gifts by gender, but limitations are on who can be an elder specifically

Mike summarizes his conclusions from the gifts argument.

male headship oppression claim husband leadership

The stakes: either husbands shirk responsibility by not leading, or they oppress by trying to lead

Mike frames the binary that emerges from the debate over male headship.

Lynn Cohick Wayne Grudem kephale survey

Wayne Grudem's survey of 2,336+ uses of kephale — Cohick's misleading summary of his work

Mike discusses how Cohick misrepresents Grudem's lexical survey.

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom Kathleen Kroeger Christians for Biblical Equality

Church history argument: Kathleen Kroeger, founder of Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE)

Mike introduces the church history argument and Kathleen Kroeger's significance.

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.'

Lynn Cohick argument from silence Rebecca Groothuis

Groothuis and Cohick cite the LSJ as proof kephale doesn't mean authority — misleading because the LSJ doesn't address NT usage

Mike shows how egalitarians use the LSJ in misleading ways.

kephale Wayne Grudem LSJ revision needed

Grudem argues the LSJ should be revised and provides extensive Greek examples of kephale meaning authority

Mike presents Grudem's broader argument about the LSJ's inadequacy.

Mike Winger idea 2022-08-15

Complementarian reading: Paul affirms authority but with Jesus-like caveats

Mike offers the alternative complementarian reading of Colossians 3.

Colossians 3:18-19 servant leadership Colossians 3:18-19

Micah 6:4 Linda Belleville Miriam Septuagint

Analysis of Micah 6:4: the Hebrew word for 'lead' has God as the subject, not Miriam — Belleville stretches the text.

Rebutting Belleville's first claim about Miriam

Micah 6:4 Philip Payne Miriam textual stretching

Philip Payne also claims Miriam was 'sent by God to lead Israel' — Mike calls this reckless handling of the text.

Additional egalitarian scholar making the same claim

Exodus 15 Moses Miriam Exodus 15

Exodus 15 shows Moses leading the people in a song, then Miriam leading the women — her leadership is specifically of women.

Contextualizing Miriam's role in Exodus 15

Judges 5 Barak Jael Judges 5

The question: is Barak being rebuked for not stepping up as a man? Is God reminding us even with a female judge that a man should have been leading?

Interpretive question about the Barak passage

judges Deborah judges Gideon

Deborah was never rebuked for her role as judge — she served for years, was one of the best judges, and never had a terrible ending like other judges.

Strong point against complementarian minimizing

2 Kings 11:1-3 Linda Belleville Two Views on Women in Ministry Athaliah

Athaliah: Belleville says she ruled Israel 842-836 BC as a 'head of state' — but reading 2 Kings 11 shows she was a murderous usurper.

Examining Athaliah as an egalitarian example

Isaiah 3:12 Isaiah 3 Isaiah 3:12 metaphor Isaiah 3

Further evidence for metaphor: infants weren't literally ruling, verse is about current rulers not future replacement, and women are rebuked later in chapter 3 but not for leading.

Building the case that Isaiah 3:12 is metaphor

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

Problems with the 'everyone judges prophecy' view

Mike argues against congregational testing of prophecy.

congregational testing eldership function doctrinal guardianship

Mike Winger idea 2022-12-04

Personal examples of questions being used to control meetings

Mike provides real-world illustrations of how questions can be used to control group discussions.

Mormonism questions as manipulation group dynamics

spiritual development church announcements congregational prayer

Women doing announcements and leading prayer congregationally — fine with nuance

Mike addresses women doing announcements and prayer in church.

youth ministry pastoral function facilitator vs pastor

Women in youth ministry: depends on whether the role functions as pastoral

Mike addresses women leading youth ministry with older teens.

worship leading pastoral worship music ministry

Women worship leaders: depends on whether the role becomes pastoral

Mike addresses women leading worship music.

small group leadership facilitator vs elder church-specific decisions

Women leading small groups: depends on whether the leader functions as an elder

Mike addresses small group leadership.