Search — Theology Explorer

Nympha Margaret MacDonald Lycus Valley

Margaret MacDonald's claim: Nympha was a key leader across the Lycus Valley churches

Mike traces Belleville's footnote source.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Philippians 4:2-3 Linda Belleville Euodia Syntyche

Belleville's argument from Paul's public appeal: if they weren't leaders, no need for third-party intervention

Mike evaluates Belleville's second argument for Euodia/Syntyche's leadership.

Linda Belleville Euodia Syntyche

Belleville's third argument: their disagreement jeopardized church unity, proving leadership role

Mike addresses Belleville's final argument for Euodia/Syntyche as leaders.

Linda Belleville Craig Keener synergos

Egalitarian argument: 'fellow worker' (synergos) and 'labor' (kopiao) mean leadership

Mike identifies a major branch of egalitarian argumentation about Pauline terminology.

Romans 16:3 Philippians 4:3 Tom Schreiner Two Views on Women in Ministry Mary

Tom Schreiner's refutation: co-worker/labor terms are too vague to indicate leadership

Mike reads a lengthy quote from Tom Schreiner (Two Views, pp. 280-281).

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.

deaconess history women's baptism ministry anointing ministry

Church history: women had distinct ministry roles (baptism assistance, anointing); called deacons

Mike provides historical context for women's active ministry.

false positives in exegesis egalitarian evidence critique

Fishing analogy: egalitarians reel in 'false positives' for women in leadership

Mike uses an analogy to describe the egalitarian evidence pattern.

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.

John Piper John Piper complementarian overcorrection Pharisaical over-regulation

'Paranoid masculinity': over-regulation of gender roles in complementarian circles

Mike coins a term for a problem he sees in complementarian practice.

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.

Romans 16:2 Philip Payne Phoebe prostatis

Philip Payne's claim: Phoebe was Paul's personal leader based on 'prostatis' in Romans 16:2

Mike examines an extraordinary claim about Phoebe's role.

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.

complementarianism egalitarianism women as apostles

Series overview: Were women apostles in the New Testament?

Mike introduces part 5 of the Women in Ministry series, focused on the claim that women were apostles.

apostolic authority apostolos

Apostle must mean highest leadership for egalitarian argument to work

Mike emphasizes a key logical requirement of the egalitarian argument.

Romans 16:7 Junia apostolic authority Romans 16:7

Option 1: Junia as highest-sense apostle (like Peter or Paul)

Mike examines the strongest possible egalitarian reading.

soft complementarianism Two Views on Women in Ministry Craig Blomberg

Craig Blomberg's soft complementarian view: missionaries with temporary authority

Mike presents Blomberg's nuanced position from Two Views on Women in Ministry.

co-workers in Paul women in missions Paul's missionary teams

Women were missionaries in the early church; 'co-workers' means missionary partners

Mike affirms women's roles in early church missions.

1 Timothy 2 Junia 1 Timothy 2 egalitarian trump card

The egalitarian 'trump card' of Junia as apostle does not work

Mike's interim conclusion before moving to the Greek syntactical argument.

Mary Magdalene N.T. Wright equivocation fallacy

Mike identifies equivocation in Wright's argument about apostle

Mike charges Wright with a logical fallacy.

1 Corinthians Mary Magdalene apostolic office apostolic commission

The office of apostle involves more than witnessing the resurrection

Mike distinguishes the office of apostle from mere witness.

women as apostles apostolic office egalitarian arguments refuted

Mike's conclusion: no female apostles in the official high-leadership sense

Mike summarizes the positive data section.

Craig Blomberg elder restriction the Twelve

Negative data: all twelve apostles were men

Mike presents the complementarian argument from the composition of the Twelve.

cultural accommodation unfalsifiable theory God's design for leadership

Unfalsifiability problem: can we distinguish God's design from cultural accommodation?

Mike challenges the egalitarian method at its core.

Acts 8 N.T. Wright Acts 8 persecution argument

Argument 1 preview: The persecution argument from N.T. Wright

Mike introduces the first argument: N.T. Wright claims that Paul persecuting women (Acts 8) proves women were leaders in the early church.

Luke 10:39 N.T. Wright Luke 10:39 Mary and Martha

Argument 2 preview: Jesus training women to be rabbis, not just disciples

The claim that Mary sitting at Jesus's feet (Luke 10) is a technical phrase meaning rabbinical training, implying Jesus intended women for eldership-level leadership.

spiritual gifts argument teaching gift leadership gift

Argument 5 preview: God gifts women with teaching and leadership, so they should be able to use those gifts fully

Mike says this argument challenged him the most. If the Holy Spirit gives women gifts of teaching and leadership, restricting those gifts contradicts God's purposes.

N.T. Wright persecution argument

Wright's claim that women were persecuted 'equally' with men is an overstatement

Mike analyzes Wright's specific wording. While both men and women were imprisoned, we have no data on whether persecution was truly equal in degree or severity.

Acts 26:9-11 persecution argument Acts 26:9-11 Paul/Saul

Acts 26:9-11 shows Paul persecuted 'many of the saints,' not leaders specifically

Mike reads Acts 26:9-11 where Paul describes persecuting 'many of the saints,' punishing them 'in every synagogue,' and compelling them to blaspheme.

Acts 8 Stephen Acts 8 deacon

Stephen was a deacon, not a high leader, yet he was stoned

Stephen's martyrdom further undermines the claim that persecution targeted only high leaders.

Conclusion on persecution argument: being persecuted proves you are a Christian, not a leader

Mike's conclusion: the NT context never says persecution implies important leadership. It just implies being a Christian.

persecution argument

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.

Discovering Biblical Equality universal priesthood of believers Stanley Grenz

Grenz: the NT parallel to Levitical priesthood is the church as a whole, not ordained leaders

Grenz argues that the priesthood of all believers means the parallel to OT priests is all Christians, not just clergy.

eldership Levitical priesthood

Arguments that current leadership is priestly in character are bad, but we can learn something from an all-male OT priesthood

Mike rejects the priestly-character-of-eldership argument but says there may still be relevant principles from the all-male Levitical priesthood.

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 Corinthians 12:7 Discovering Biblical Equality Stanley Grenz 1 Corinthians 12:7

Grenz argues the Spirit's sovereign call and gifting, not gender, determines who can be an elder

Grenz's more detailed argument: since the Spirit calls believer-priests to ministry, gender cannot be an overriding disqualifying factor.

headship universal priesthood of believers complementarian correction

Correction for complementarians: the husband is NOT the priest of his home

Mike disagrees with many complementarians, including pastors he has respected, on this point.

1 Timothy 3 Titus 1 1 Timothy 3 eldership qualifications Titus 1

Eldership is radically different from prophecy: anyone could prophesy instantly, but elders must meet extensive qualifications

Mike begins a detailed list of differences between prophecy and eldership.

1 Corinthians 14:29 1 John 4:1 prophecy and authority 1 Corinthians 14:29 1 John 4:1

Prophecy is tested; the prophet has no authority over the evaluation of their own prophecy

Mike explains the testing process for prophecy per 1 Corinthians 14:29 and 1 John 4:1.

spiritual gifts argument teaching gift leadership gift

Argument 5 introduced: The spiritual gifts argument — God gifts women with the same gifts as men

Mike introduces the fifth and final argument, which he considers the strongest of the day.

1 Corinthians 12:7 Philip Payne spiritual gifts argument 1 Corinthians 12:7

Philip Payne's two-part argument: complementarians either assume God never gives women certain gifts OR they wrongly restrict those gifts

Mike presents Philip Payne's formulation of the gifts argument.

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 12:28 apostles 1 Corinthians 12:28 kubernesis (administrating)

1 Corinthians 12:28 — 'administrating' (leadership) appears as a gift distinct from the office of teacher

Mike examines another gifts list.

apostles spiritual gifts offices vs. gifts

Gifts do not seem gender-specific; leadership and teaching could be gifts women have

Mike's conclusion on the first part of the gifts argument.