Craig Keener on Women in the Ministry (Video and Discussion)

Craig Keener is a renowned New Testament scholar. In some of the circles I run in–circles with Christian apologetics at the forefront–he is well-known for his work on miracles in the New Testament and defense of their possibility and actually having happened. Other circles appreciate the depth of his work on Acts and commentaries on the New Testament more generally. But many of these same people reject the notion of having women in the ministry. In particular, many of these same people assert that one cannot take the Bible seriously and advocate for women pastors. But those people either don’t know or are inconsistent about the scholars they cite so favorably for biblical scholarship also affirming women pastors. Craig Keener is but one example.

His recent talk, Women in Ministry, was posted on Youtube recently. In it, Keener provides a detailed introduction to the biblical egalitarian position. I encourage you–whether you agree or disagree with Keener’s position–to watch the video. Let’s have some discussion about it, if we can! I’ve set out some things to think about with the video:

Keener notes some of the common objections to women in the ministry and shows how they would be ridiculous when applied the other way. For example, arguing against women who are named to positions in the church throughout the NT, some complementarians say that no women are actually named as pulpit preachers. But of course no male is named in that role anywhere in the Bible, either. So for the argument to work, no one would be allowed to be a pastor.

Can one seriously claim, watching this video, that egalitarians simply reject what the Bible has to say? Keener demonstrates time and again that careful interpretation favors the egalitarian position. What do you think?

Links

Women in the Ministry– Keener’s talk about women in the ministry in the Bible.

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SDG.

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