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Mike Winger idea 2022-04-13

Balance: all believers should be open to learning from one another, including across genders

Mike offers a balanced complementarian application.

women in ministry mutual edification informal teaching
Mike Winger idea 2022-04-13

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

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

John Piper John Piper complementarian overcorrection Pharisaical over-regulation
Mike Winger idea 2022-04-13

Women gifted for ministry hold back in complementarian churches due to fear

Mike describes a pastoral observation.

women in ministry complementarian overcorrection spiritual gifts
Mike Winger idea 2022-04-13

Transition to deacons: eldership is male; deacons are the question

Mike frames the deacon discussion.

eldership women deacons deacons
Mike Winger idea 2022-04-13

Phoebe likely was an official deacon because of the phrase 'of the church at Cenchreae'

Mike concludes Phoebe was a deacon based on the qualifying phrase.

Romans 16:1 Tom Schreiner Craig Blomberg Phoebe
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

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.

complementarianism egalitarianism women as apostles
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Complementarian views on women apostles

Mike summarizes the complementarian positions on the question.

complementarianism elder qualifications missionaries vs apostles
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

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

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

soft complementarianism Two Views on Women in Ministry Craig Blomberg
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Soft complementarianism restricts only the elder role to men

Mike defines the soft complementarian position.

soft complementarianism Craig Blomberg elder restriction
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Negative data: all twelve apostles were men

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

Craig Blomberg elder restriction the Twelve
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Mike's experience researching egalitarian scholarship: layers of confusion

Mike shares his personal intellectual journey through the literature.

complementarianism egalitarian scholarship critique research methodology
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Mike's conclusions on women's roles: high view of women but not apostles

Mike begins his summary conclusions for the video.

soft complementarianism female deacons women's roles in NT
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Soft complementarianism is Mike's conclusion from the evidence

Mike names his overall position.

soft complementarianism elder restriction
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-09

Preview of next video: prophecy argument, gifts arguments, universal priesthood

Mike previews the topics for part 6 of the series.

spiritual gifts prophecy argument priesthood of all believers
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Introduction: Mike feared he had not heard the best egalitarian arguments

Mike explains why he avoided answering women-in-ministry questions for years — he worried he had not been exposed to strong egalitarian arguments due to his complementarian upbringing.

complementarianism egalitarianism
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Five egalitarian arguments previewed; first two are weak, last three are stronger

Mike previews the five arguments he will cover: persecution, rabbi-training, universal priesthood, prophecy, and spiritual gifts. He says the first two are weak but the last three challenged him and offer corrections for complementarians.

soft complementarianism complementarianism egalitarianism
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Historical chauvinism and negative attitudes toward women have affected the church

Mike acknowledges that negative attitudes toward women exist in complementarian circles, rooted not just in biblical teaching but in broader cultural attitudes historically hostile to women.

misogyny in the church cultural influence on theology
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

Acts 8 N.T. Wright Acts 8 persecution argument
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

Luke 10:39 N.T. Wright Luke 10:39 Mary and Martha
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Argument 4 preview: If women can prophesy to the whole church, they can also teach and be elders

Since women prophesied at mixed-gender gatherings and prophecy is a high role involving authority, women should also be allowed to teach and serve as elders.

eldership Craig Keener prophecy argument
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

spiritual gifts argument teaching gift leadership gift
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Argument 1 detail: N.T. Wright's persecution argument from 'Surprised by Scripture'

Wright quotes Kenneth Bailey's cultural analysis to argue that women being targeted by Saul's persecution proves they were leaders and influential figures in the community.

Acts 8 N.T. Wright Surprised by Scripture Acts 8
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Mike spent 12 hours searching for Kenneth Bailey's source material and could not find it

N.T. Wright's citation of Kenneth Bailey has no footnotes or bibliography. Mike tried to find Bailey's original argument in his books, papers, and Google Scholar.

N.T. Wright Kenneth Bailey scholarly sourcing
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

N.T. Wright persecution argument
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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 26:9-11 persecution argument Acts 26:9-11 Paul/Saul
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Acts 8:1 — all believers scattered except the apostles, showing persecution targeted non-leaders

The persecution resulted in everyone fleeing Jerusalem except the apostles. If persecution targeted leaders, the non-leaders should have stayed.

Acts 8:1 persecution argument Acts 8:1
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

Acts 8 Stephen Acts 8 deacon
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Acts 8:3 — Saul went house to house dragging off men and women; this was general persecution, not targeting leaders

Mike reads Acts 8:3 which is the actual text Wright bases his argument on. Paul went to every house interrogating whether people were Christians.

Acts 8:3 persecution argument Acts 8:3
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Mike covers N.T. Wright because many viewers said Wright influenced their egalitarian views

Mike explains he is covering Wright's arguments not because many scholars make them, but because viewers told him Wright was the reason they became egalitarian.

N.T. Wright
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Argument 2 detail: N.T. Wright claims 'sat at the feet' is a technical phrase meaning rabbinical training

Wright argues that Mary sitting at Jesus's feet (Luke 10:39) means she was being trained to become a rabbi/teacher, not merely learning as a disciple.

Luke 10:39 Acts 22:3 N.T. Wright Luke 10:39 Mary and Martha
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Acts 22:3 — Paul 'at the feet of Gamaliel' does not prove everyone who sat at a teacher's feet became a rabbi

Mike questions whether the phrase necessarily means rabbinical training for every person who used it.

Acts 22:3 Acts 22:3 sat at the feet Gamaliel
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Luke 8:35 uses the same phrase 'sitting at the feet of Jesus' for the healed demoniac — who was clearly not being trained as a rabbi

Mike finds a counter-example in the same gospel (Luke), only two chapters away, using the identical phrase.

Luke 8:35 sat at the feet Luke 8:35 Gerasene demoniac
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

A third option Wright did not consider: learning theology deeply without becoming a rabbi

Mike rejects Wright's binary (learning for information vs. becoming a rabbi) and proposes a middle option.

N.T. Wright discipleship
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Correction for complementarians: no theology is off limits to women

Mike uses the Mary passage to correct complementarians who would limit what theology women can learn.

Luke 10:39-42 Mary and Martha women in theological education Luke 10:39-42
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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 universal priesthood of believers
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

There is no select group of priests within the body of Christ in the New Testament

Mike explains that the concept of a special clerical priesthood arose from culture and church history, not from the NT or apostolic teaching.

presbyter priesthood Roman Catholicism
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

1 Peter 2:4-5 — all believers are a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices

Mike begins building the biblical case for universal priesthood from 1 Peter.

1 Peter 2:4-5 universal priesthood of believers 1 Peter 2:4-5 spiritual sacrifices
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Revelation 1:5-6 — Jesus made us a kingdom and priests; includes all freed by his blood

Another proof text for universal priesthood.

Revelation 1:5-6 universal priesthood of believers Revelation 1:5-6
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Revelation 5:9-10 — those ransomed from every tribe are made a kingdom and priests

Mike continues building the universal priesthood case from Revelation.

Revelation 5:9-10 universal priesthood of believers Revelation 5:9-10
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Revelation 20:6 — all who share in the first resurrection are priests and will reign with Christ

Final priesthood proof text: men and women together in rulership and priesthood for the millennium.

Revelation 20:6 universal priesthood of believers Revelation 20:6 millennium
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

The Bible never speaks of a second tier of 'extra-priesty' people within the body of Christ

Mike emphasizes there is no second category of priests in the NT beyond the universal priesthood.

universal priesthood of believers clerical priesthood
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Some complementarians argue eldership is priestly in character, therefore reserved for men — Mike rejects this

Mike introduces and then rejects a complementarian argument that the pastoral office is priestly and therefore male-only.

Discovering Biblical Equality Stanley Grenz priestly character of eldership
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

Discovering Biblical Equality universal priesthood of believers Stanley Grenz
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Mike partially agrees with Grenz but warns against pushing the OT-NT priesthood parallel too far

Mike agrees that some functions of the Levitical priesthood transferred to all believers, but not everything transfers perfectly.

typology Stanley Grenz Levitical priesthood
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Anecdote: Mike challenged a female complementarian scholar at ETS about the universal priesthood problem in her argument

A female egalitarian (corrected: complementarian) scholar argued that priesthood is masculine in character and therefore women cannot hold pastoral positions. Mike asked her about the universal priesthood of believers.

universal priesthood of believers ETS (Evangelical Theological Society)
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

eldership Levitical priesthood
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

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.

Discovering Biblical Equality universal priesthood of believers Stanley Grenz
Mike Winger idea 2022-05-30

Priesthood is necessary but not sufficient for eldership

Mike proposes replacing 'irrelevant' with 'insufficient for' in Grenz's claim.

eldership qualifications necessary but not sufficient
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