Filter results by source database — Scripture Commentary, Theology, Mike Winger, or Pulpit. Click a tab to narrow to one database.

...more
All (9098) Scripture Commentary (4737) Theology (229) Mike Winger (4093) Pulpit (39)
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mistake #2: Believing women in ministry is simply a result of the evils of feminism.

Mistake #2: Evils of feminism

bypassing scripture feminism complementarianism
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mistake #3: Believing it is the 'evils of patriarchy' that must be fought — egalitarians who frame complementarians as patriarchalists use privilege/power language to bypass scripture.

Mistake #3: Evils of patriarchy

bypassing scripture patriarchy egalitarianism
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

This anti-patriarchy presupposition leads egalitarian scholars to one of two conclusions: the Bible does not teach patriarchy, or the Bible teaches it and is wrong.

Mistake #3: Evils of patriarchy

egalitarian scholarship Bible and patriarchy biblical authority
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mistake #4: Believing that equality of personhood philosophically rules out differences in roles. Mike introduces Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and her work.

Mistake #4: Equality of personhood rules out role differences

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis equality of personhood role differences
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Groothuis's argument appears in chapter 20 of 'Discovering Biblical Equality' — a brand new edition of the premier egalitarian multi-author volume that Mike read including an advance copy.

Mistake #4: Equality of personhood rules out role differences

egalitarian scholarship Rebecca Merrill Groothuis Discovering Biblical Equality
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Groothuis's syllogism: if women's subordination is permanent, comprehensive, and ontologically grounded, then women are inferior persons; women are not inferior; therefore subordination is unjustified.

Mistake #4: Analyzing Groothuis's syllogism

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis Discovering Biblical Equality syllogism
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mike agrees women are not inferior persons but argues that submissive roles and inferior personhood are not the same thing — children submit to parents, employees to bosses.

Mistake #4: Rebutting Groothuis's syllogism

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis submission vs. inferiority personhood
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Groothuis's three qualifications — permanent, comprehensive, ontologically grounded — do not describe what complementarians actually believe or what the Bible teaches.

Mistake #4: Rebutting Groothuis's qualifications

complementarianism Rebecca Merrill Groothuis permanent subordination
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Rebuttal: women's submission is not permanent — it is limited to this life, and Christians should not view this life as their permanent state. Most Christians permanently submit to elders anyway.

Mistake #4: Rebutting 'permanent'

eldership duration of submission eternal perspective
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Rebuttal: women's submission is not comprehensive — Groothuis claims there is 'no area in which a woman has any authority, privilege, or opportunity that a man is denied,' which massively overstates complementarian claims.

Mistake #4: Rebutting 'comprehensive'

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis Discovering Biblical Equality comprehensive submission
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Many egalitarians expand male authority to its most monstrous extreme to make it intolerable, causing readers to reject complementarianism before ever reading the Bible.

Mistake #4: Egalitarian rhetorical strategy

bypassing scripture straw man argument egalitarian rhetoric
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Groothuis's argument only works against an extreme form of complementarianism that most complementarians would also reject — it attacks a straw man.

Mistake #4: Straw man critique

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis straw man argument relational submission
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Rebuttal: women's submission is not ontologically grounded — it is not rooted in women's nature making them inherently submissive.

Mistake #4: Rebutting 'ontologically grounded'

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis ontological grounding nature vs. assignment
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Groothuis defines 'human' as having higher rational functions including decision-making, then argues that denying women leadership over men is inherently dehumanizing.

Mistake #4: Analyzing Groothuis's definition of human

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis definition of human dehumanization argument
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mike argues unexpressed human capacities do not make someone less human — children who die young have unexpressed capacities but are not less human.

Mistake #4: Rebutting Groothuis's definition of human

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis dehumanization argument unexpressed capacities
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

The Levite analogy: Levites had exclusive priestly roles based on tribal lineage (nature), not ability — yet non-Levites were not less human. Groothuis addresses but does not defeat this.

Mistake #4: Levite analogy against Groothuis

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis Levites priestly roles
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

If countless generations under Levitical role restrictions for hundreds of years is acceptable, why would one lifetime of gender-based role differences be dehumanizing?

Mistake #4: Levite analogy continued

Levites nature-based roles temporary vs. permanent
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Groothuis's rebuttal that prophets had more authority than Levites is a red herring — Levites were the regular, widespread spiritual authorities throughout Israel.

Mistake #4: Levite analogy — responding to Groothuis's counter

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis Levites prophets
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Tom Schreiner's response to Groothuis: egalitarians face the 'daunting prospect' of saying non-priestly Israelites had less dignity than Levites.

Mistake #4: Schreiner's critique of Groothuis

Levites Tom Schreiner Two Views on Women in Ministry
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Additional analogy: only a son of David could be king of Israel — this eliminates most people from the highest authority by nature, yet does not make them less human.

Mistake #4: Davidic kingship analogy

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis nature-based roles Davidic kingship
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Israel as God's chosen nation is another example: other nations could not qualify no matter how faithful, yet this does not make them less human.

Mistake #4: Chosen nation analogy

nature-based roles Israel as chosen nation election
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

A possibility Groothuis ignores: role can be associated with nature but not grounded in nature — God assigns roles by association, not by saying one nature is inferior.

Mistake #4: The overlooked possibility

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis associated vs. grounded divine assignment
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Possible non-inferiority reasons for role differences: picturing Christ and the Church, societal order, or unstated divine purposes. Groothuis rejects all of these.

Mistake #4: Alternative explanations Groothuis ignores

Rebecca Merrill Groothuis Christ and the Church Eph 5
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Even if Groothuis is right philosophically, her conclusion explicitly blocks Bible reading — she says there can be 'no biblical or theological warrant' for women's submission, which pre-determines what the Bible is allowed to say.

Mistake #4: How Groothuis's argument bypasses scripture

bypassing scripture biblical authority Rebecca Merrill Groothuis
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Philip Payne's related argument in 'Man and Woman, One in Christ': if we are equal in Christ, we cannot exclude anyone from leadership based on gender.

Mistake #4: Payne's variant of the philosophical argument

Philip Payne Man and Woman, One in Christ equality in Christ
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mike's rebuttal to Payne: role differences are about God's calling/assignment, not nature or equality in Christ. Payne's logic would make eldership part of what it means to be Christian.

Mistake #4: Rebutting Payne

eldership Philip Payne equality in Christ
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Both Groothuis and Payne's philosophical arguments kill Bible study by leaving only two options: the Bible supports egalitarianism, or the Bible is wrong.

Mistake #4: Conclusion

bypassing scripture Philip Payne biblical authority
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mistake #5: The argument that complementarianism leads to abuse and is therefore wrong — the most common argument Mike encounters.

Mistake #5: Complementarianism leads to abuse

domestic abuse complementarianism and abuse story-driven theology
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Story-driven theology uses real horrific abuse examples to claim they are the automatic result of complementarianism, which keeps people from reading the Bible.

Mistake #5: Story-driven theology

bypassing scripture domestic abuse story-driven theology
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Beth Allison Barr's 'The Making of Biblical Womanhood' as a prime example of story-driven theology — the book frames the entire discussion through personal pain and church hurt.

Mistake #5: Critique of Beth Allison Barr's book

church hurt story-driven theology Beth Allison Barr
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Barr equates complementarianism with abuse — 'you cannot separate the issues' — making the book about stories creating theology rather than understanding scripture in context.

Mistake #5: Critique of Beth Allison Barr's book

complementarianism and abuse Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Barr uses the story of a rude complementarian male student to overrule Russell Moore's distinction between pagan patriarchy and biblical complementarianism.

Mistake #5: Barr's story overruling theological argument

story-driven theology Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Barr's argument: personal stories overrule any theological distinction — 'nice try, tell that to my story' — all nuance and distinction between pagan patriarchy and complementarianism is erased.

Mistake #5: Stories overruling scripture

bypassing scripture story-driven theology Beth Allison Barr
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Discovering Biblical Equality chapter 28 argues complementarianism causes domestic abuse from a social science perspective.

Mistake #5: Academic version of the abuse argument

Discovering Biblical Equality domestic abuse complementarianism and abuse
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Quote from Discovering Biblical Equality: complementarianism is 'by definition a system of permanently unequal power distribution' that creates conditions under which abuse flourishes.

Mistake #5: Academic version of the abuse argument

Discovering Biblical Equality domestic abuse complementarianism and abuse
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mike's rebuttal: the argument that complementarianism causally relates to domestic violence does not pass the 'smell test' when applied consistently to other authority structures.

Mistake #5: Rebuttal via analogy

government analogy authority structures logical consistency
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Extending the analogy: church authority has been abused, boss-employee relationships have been abusive — should we abolish all authority structures?

Mistake #5: Rebuttal via analogy continued

authority structures Ed Citronelli church abuse
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Abuse can be addressed without proving egalitarians are right — let egalitarians be right because of biblical arguments, not extra-biblical ones. This was probably the biggest reason Mike did not become egalitarian.

Mistake #5: Conclusion

bypassing scripture egalitarianism abuse arguments
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

The reverse would also be invalid: blaming egalitarians for divorce rates and dysfunctional homes would equally bypass scripture.

Mistake #5: Showing the argument works both ways

bypassing scripture logical consistency
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mistake #6: Thinking submission is inherently evil — submission was not a bad word in biblical culture, though it is in modern culture.

Mistake #6: Submission is inherently evil

submission cultural assumptions 1 Pet 5:5
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Linda Belleville is so opposed to submission that she argues nobody had authority in the early church — not even Jesus or the apostles.

Mistake #6: Belleville's extreme position on authority

Linda Belleville submission authority in the early church
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Mistake #7: Picking one passage to rule all the rest — both sides do this, creating contradictions within the Bible rather than seeking unified understanding.

Mistake #7: One passage rules the rest

1 Tim 2:12 proof-texting canonical consistency
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Egalitarians do the same with Galatians 3:28; Thomas Schreiner argues no single set of texts should function as a prism controlling the others.

Mistake #7: One passage rules the rest — egalitarian side

Gal 3:28 1 Tim 2:12 proof-texting
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

When all scripture is examined in detail, a beautiful balance emerges — like Mike's previous study on alcohol, which showed positive and negative passages creating a nuanced view.

Mistake #7: The benefit of a unified biblical approach

hermeneutics unified biblical interpretation
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Three commitments: (1) Mike will not submit scripture to culture — neither progressive nor conservative cultural pressure.

Three things Mike will NOT do in this series

hermeneutics scripture and culture Southern California
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Three commitments: (2) Mike will not play games with polemic or moral pressure — the series will be easy to listen to because it is Bible study, not rhetoric.

Three things Mike will NOT do in this series

polemic moral pressure
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Three commitments: (3) Mike will not be 'God's PR department' — he will not avoid truths or fail to confront false beliefs to make Christianity palatable.

Three things Mike will NOT do in this series

God's PR department biblical submission intellectual honesty
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Preview of Genesis 1-3 debate: creation order, Adam naming Eve, Eve as climax of creation, Adam blamed for the fall, dominion given to both, 'your husband will rule over you' — with complementarian and egalitarian responses to each.

Preview of next video (Video 2)

Gen 1-3 creation order Adam naming Eve
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-07

Closing: Mike welcomes viewers to the series, expects low view counts but prioritizes depth, and announces a Friday live Q&A at 1 PM Pacific.

Closing remarks

women in ministry biblethinker.org
Mike Winger idea 2022-03-14

Introduction to part 2 of Women in Ministry series, framing it as a month-long research project engaging deeply with egalitarian views.

Series introduction and framing

women in ministry complementarianism egalitarianism
← Prev Page 101 of 182 Next →