Women and Theology

I meant to write a post about Dr. Kreider's view of women a long time ago, but got sidetracked by not blogging very often.  Today he reminded me why I love him so.  He was talking about revelation, and how a doctoral theology student of his worked with him on developing a better classification than "general" and "special."  He raved about this student's genius, then said, "The dissertation was brilliant.  Carissa--"  He paused.  He looked over the room, waiting for our faces to confess that we had assumed he was talking about a male student.  Then he continued, using "her" and "she" pronouns liberally.

The man never misses an opportunity to point out the contribution and work of women in the world.

The first day of class, he asked, "When the Bible refers to "man" in a general way, does it mean men only, or men and women?"  We all acknowledged that it meant men and women.  Dr. Kreider then went on to say, "So if that's what it means, why not use language that reflects its meaning?  That's why the NET Bible (which was translated by mostly DTS professors) uses gender inclusive language."

Doesn't sound all that crazy, except that I remember my mom telling me not to read the NLT gift Bible someone gave me, precisely because it said "men and women" instead of "mankind."  Granted, I don't think she'd hold that opinion any more, but that kind of ignorant prejudice (because I don't think she was willfully prejudiced) is not uncommon or unrecent.

Dr. Kreider didn't stop there, though.  "So when I say the Bible was written by men, do I mean men only, or men and women?"  We all acknowledged that this time he meant men only.  "Really?" he asked.  We stared at him.  "Alright, so probably the actual authors were all male.  But who knew the stories of Ruth and Esther?  Who told Luke about Mary's conversation with the angel?  Is it too extreme to suggest that God worked through those women in the same way He inspired the men who wrote books of the Bible?"

At that, I sat up straight.  I tried to convey with my expression that Dr. Kreider had won my loyalty, that I was now ready to leap on a grenade for him.  I tried to telepathize, "I think it's perfectly lovely how you talk about women."

One class period, he flat out told us, "I'm a complementarian," he said.  "I believe women can have babies and men can preach at church."  I frowned.  Men get the powerful position, and women get the painful one?  But he continued, "I think that's what the Bible teaches.  But should women speak in church?  Of course!  The Bible assumes that they will be be speaking and prophesying in the church.  They just have to cover their heads, whatever that means.  Paul met a man with four prophetess daughters, which means they literally spoke for God.  To a man.  And nowhere does the Bible condemn them.  And let's be honest.  I go to a Baptist church, and I support the International Mission Board.  They say that women shouldn't preach.  But if they made every missionary woman stop preaching and leading churches, the entire board would collapse.  So...think about that."

That man.  I don't understand him.  I don't fully know what he believes.  But I LOVE that he is showing two sides to this complex issue.  I love that he regularly speaks of women with affection and admiration and respect.  I love that he makes me feel as if I belong in his class, belong in a seminary, belong in a school that only allowed my sex to study here thirty years ago.

I think it's perfectly lovely how he talks about women.