Nearly 20 years ago New Testament scholar Tom Schreiner, in a review essay, made an aside on the challenges of writing on complementarianism and the attractiveness of new egalitarian interpretations of Scripture. I think about this quote a lot:
Sometimes I wonder if egalitarians hope to triumph in the debate on the role of women by publishing book after book on the subject. Each work propounds a new thesis which explains why the traditional interpretation is flawed.
Complementarians could easily give in from sheer exhaustion, thinking that so many books written by such a diversity of different authors could scarcely be wrong.
Further, it is difficult to keep writing books promoting the complementarian view. Our view of the biblical text has not changed dramatically in the last twenty five years. Should we continue to write books that essentially promote traditional interpretations? Is the goal of publishing to write what is true or what is new?
One of the dangers of evangelical publishing is the desire to say something novel. Our evangelical publishing houses could end up like those in Athens so long ago: “Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21, NASB).
More recently, Schreiner wrote about Kevin DeYoung’s Men and Women in the Church: A Short, Biblical, Practical Introduction (Crossway, 2021).
This is the first book I will recommend to those who want to study what the Scriptures teach about the roles of men and women both in marriage and the church. . . I was amazed at how much wisdom is packed into this short book. Everything in the book is helpful, but the practical application section alone is worth the price of the book.
For other resources, see:
- Claire Smith, God’s Good Design: What the Bible Really Says about Men and Women, 2nd edition
- Sharon James, God’s Design for Women: In an Age of Gender Confusion
- Abigail Dodds, (A)Typical Woman: Free, Whole, and Called in Christ
- Kathy Keller, Jesus, Justice, and Gender Roles: A Case for Gender Roles in Ministry
- Village Church, Affirmations and Denials
- Jerram Barrs, Through His Eyes: God’s Perspective on Women in the Bible
- Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, ed. Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9–15, 3rd ed.
