It would be amusing, if it were not so distressing, to note that evangelicals are by no means exempt from the danger of misrepresentating one another.

One such instance involves Andrew Bartlett, author of Men and Women in Christ: Fresh Light From Biblical Texts, and Sharon James, in her review of that book.

Bartlett complains:

‘According to James: “Throughout his book, Bartlett uses ‘patriarchy’ … as a smear word”. But I don’t use the term “patriarchy” at all. In the whole book, this word appears just once, in the title of an egalitarian article which I footnote for the purpose of disagreeing with it.’

To the innocent reader, James appears to have been thoroughly discredited.  If she can make such an obvious error, then how can we trust anything else in her critique?

But not so fast.  Did you notice the three little dots (“Bartlett uses ‘patriarchy’ … as a smear word”).  Did you wonder what they were hiding?

No? You’re not nearly curious enough!

So let me tell you.

What Sharon James actually writes is this:

‘Throughout his book, Bartlett uses “patriarchy” (or “patriarchal”) as a smear word without defining it (cf. 4, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 24, 26, 27, 48, 54, 111,195, 386, 392).’ (Emphasis added)

It is perfectly true that Bartlett uses the word ‘patriarchy’ only once.  But he uses the adjective ‘patriarchal’ no less than twenty-one times.

Bartlett thinks that complementarians have a ‘listening problem’.  Well, in this instance, it’s a case of the kettle calling to pot ‘black’.