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1 Thessalonians 4:17 – the ‘rapture’

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It was J.N. Darby who in 1830 first articulated the idea that in the end times the church will be secretly taken up to heaven, leaving behind a sinful and godless world.

The key text is 1 Thessalonians 4:17 –

‘Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.’

The Thessalonian believers had been troubled that in the time between Paul’s evangelistic activity among them (in AD 49) and the time that this letter was written (up to two years later), some of their number had died. …

Joanna = Junia?

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Was Joanna (mentioned in the Gospels) the same person as Junia (mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:7)?

Let’s look at each of them separately, and then see if the accounts (almost literally) add up.

Joanna

Joanna was one of the women who had been healed by Jesus, and travelled with him and the Twelve, providing for them out of their own means (Lk 8:1-3).

She was the wife of Cuza, Herod’s ‘household manager’.  She is therefore likely to have been a woman of some means and influence.…

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 8

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

The beginning of the 8th and final chapter (‘Isn’t it time to set women free?’) makes uncomfortable reading.  The author tells of an early relationship with a boyfriend who, apparently influenced by Bill Gothard’s ‘Basic Life Principles’ teaching, according to which ‘a wife owed total submission to her husband’ applied this to their own dating relationship.…

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 7

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

In chapter 7 (‘Making Biblical Womanhood Gospel Truth’), Barr argues that women have been central to the (authentic and historical) evangelical cause in ways and to degrees that few appreciate.

Focusing on the Southern Baptist denomination, she tells of a Mrs Lewis Ball who was invited to preach a series of ‘revival’ sermons First Baptist Church Elm Mott, an old Southern Baptist congregation near Waco, Texas. …

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 6

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

Patriarchy existed in the medieval period, writes Dr Barr in chapter 6 (‘Sanctifying subordination’), just as it continued to exist in the modern era.  But patriarchy  is not the same in each era.  It is a shapeshifter.

Where did the idea come from, that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’?

Not from the medieval period, Barr tells us. …

Jn 20:22/Acts 2 – How many Pentecosts?

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John 20:22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

The relationship between this gift of the Spirit and the Pentecostal outpouring is debated (Klink outlines seven different interpretations).

Some, such as Barrett, think that the two accounts cannot be harmonised.

Among those who do look for harmonisation, the following interpretations have been proposed.

1. Two versions of the same event?

Many modern commentators argue that there is one gift of the Holy Spirit, independently witnessed to by Luke and John. …

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 5

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

Chapter 5 is entitled, ‘Writing Women out of the English Bible.’  Barr’s main point is that some popular translations of the Bible (she singles out the ESV for particular mention) distort Scripture by projecting an unduly patriarchal view of the text.  This, she claims, is a relatively modern, ideologically-driven phenomenon: in the Middle Ages, the biblical text was presented in a much more gender-inclusive way.…

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 4

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

In chapter 4 (‘The Cost of the Reformation for Evangelical Women’), Dr Barr considers the effects of the Protestant Reformation on the role and status of women.  For Barr,  the Reformation, for all its achievements, laid the groundwork for the patriarchy that has been so prevalent in the church ever since.

Patriarchy, Barr often reminds us, is a ‘shapeshifter’. …

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 3

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

In chapter 3 of this book (‘Our selective medieval memory’), Beth Allison Barr might be supposed to be on pretty solid ground.  She is, after all, a medieval historian who has a special interest in women preachers of that period.

So who (myself included) is competent to doubt her when she claims that history is on the side of her particular version of egalitarianism?…

‘The Making of Biblical Womanhood’ – 2

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The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, by Beth Allison Barr, Brazos Press, 2021.

In chapter 2, Dr Barr asks: ‘What if biblical womanhood doesn’t come from Paul?’

She begins by noting that many have taken Paul’s teaching to be heavily patriarchal.  Complementarians look to 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2 to support their case.  But this, suggests Barr, is to misread the apostle.

If, writes Barr, instead of focussing narrowly on texts such as those just mentioned, and take more account of the broader sweep of Paul’s teaching, then a different picture emerges.…