There are two of us EEWC-CFT members at this CBE conference in Pittsburgh! I'm so happy that Bettina Pedersen is here, presenting a workshop. I feel a little apprehensive, waiting for rejection because I'm from a gay-friendly group--kind of like being back in the 1970s and being a feminist in the church.
At the first meeting I sat next to Sarah Robertson of Wheaton, IL. She recognized my name and told me she had been at the Fresno conference in 1986 where the Minnesota chapter of EWC split off from us over the issue of homosexuality. Sarah was very friendly. I wonder how many of the 200+ people in the room had been EWC members back when.
This conference so far is stunningly good. The title of it, "Take Every Thought Captive to Christ," turns on a metaphor that doesn't appeal to me and in fact feels repressive. It's from 2 Corinthians 10:5. However, Mimi Haddad's keynote address emphasized the subtitle of the conference: "Ideas Have Consequences."
What a profound and feminist insight--like Mary Daly's "If God is male, the male is God."
Mimi's talk was about the idea of patriarchy, understanding its consequences over the centuries, and the need "to expose and dismantle patriarchy as a 'biblical' ideal... We through the ages have constructed a world view that is harmful...."
She said that a Weltanschauung (world view) includes epistemology, metaphysics, teleology, and ethics. "A distortion in these elements leads to oppression, injustice, and suffering."
We need to expose "the underbelly of patriarchy and its consequences." She talked about abused women coming to CBE in its early years: "We learned that abusers relied upon a particular reading of the Bible to excuse their abuse. Ideas have consequences."
She showed the Bill Gothard graphic of God's hand using a hammer and chisel (the husband) to work on the stone (diamond?), which I think represents a woman. Just a tad abusive.
Mimi cited a prominent (unnamed) complementarian woman who has now left the Christian faith. Her husband's "abusive behavior chiseled away at her dignity and ultimately her faith." Gothard's view of women's roles is related to Quietism, she said, a theology now discredited. (Mimi holds a doctorate in historical theology from the University of Durham, England.) Statistics show women leaving the church over ideas such as these; the number of women in churches has decreased 11% since 1991.
In the main portion of her talk, Mimi systematically refuted the four main arguments given by those who hold to patriarchal views in the church:
1) Jesus, a male, is God.
2) God is a father (not mother).
3) Jesus chose 12 male disciples.
4) Jesus submits eternally to God the Father.
Next she did a long and dazzling riff on Katherine Bushnell (1856-1946).
* attending medical school, one of the first women to do so
* being a medical missionary toChina
* fighting against the holding of women as sex slaves for US miners,
* working against prostitution and sex trafficking in India
* deciding that the only way to end trafficking of women is to change Bible interpretation--writing God's Word to Women so that women would no longer be seen as "morally, physically, and spiritually weaker than men."
Mimi concluded with the preference for male offspring resulting in 100 million girls missing from the planet right now: we must work for "a world where male rule is no longer seen as biblical."
I was deeply moved by this address. As a speaker, Mimi Haddad does not disappoint.
Next I heard a surprisingly good lecture by Rick McKinniss (pastor in Connecticut and author of Equally Yoked) about gender issues in first-century Ephesus.
McKinniss holds that 1 Timothy 2 (which he considers to be genuinely Pauline) is Paul's rebuttal to several tenets of the cult of Artemis.
* To the priority of Artemis before male gods, Paul says "Eve was not formed first."
* To the superiority of female wisdom accepted in Ephesus and in the cult of Artemis, Paul says "Eve was deceived but not Adam."
* To Artemis as goddess for protection in the life-or-death crisis of childbirth, Paul says "women will be delivered through the ordeal of childbirth if they trust in Jesus, don't use amulets etc." as mentioned in Acts 19:18-19.
I hadn't heard this approach before--I haven't been keeping up with current books and articles on the subject. I did know that in general these two letters are written in opposition to Gnosticism among early Christians.
McKinniss thinks that Paul, who so often endorsed women leaders in the church, made a temporary exception in Ephesus to counter Christian women who were syncretist, blending Artemis ideas and Christian ideas.
Sadly, McKinniss was very anti-academic and scornful of the theory that a follower of Paul wrote 1 and 2 Timothy. Mimi Haddad, however, reined him in a little on this in the Q & A.
As a medievalist, I know that before the printing press it was considered extremely egotistic to put one's own name on a treatise or other original composition. It was better to translate an earlier author or to comment on his work. Another approach was to expound on the views of a famous earlier authority and give that person credit for your writing, rather than claiming that your own ideas were somehow valuable. I'm sure that the author of the two letters to Timothy felt that he was writing what Paul wanted the church to hear.
A third highlight of the day: the talk by Lee Grady, father of 4 girls and author of 10 Lies the Church Tells Women. It was excellent and very funny.
He spoke about God calling Deborah to be judge over Israel and about Jael killing Sisera in Judges 4-5--texts "not often preached upon by evangelicals." His conclusion: God wants women to act independently, to be fiercely brave (timidity is a sin), to be unconventional, and to sometimes "deal the final blow in battle."
I recommend listening to both Mimi Haddad and Lee Grady's talks. CDs are available on the CBE website.
I also enjoyed meeting Xana Macauley and her husband Alan from Johannesburg--so exciting after corresponding with Xana by email for several years.
Another good thing about this conference: the opening prayer of each plenary session is in a different language, given by a native speaker and then translated into English. CBE's conference next year will be in Medellin, Colombia. Getting the message of biblical equality out to women/men in other cultures is primary goal.
In short, it was a good day except for the intensity of so many interactions, often with very conservative Christians ("Is your husband here?). I even wore a skirt and 1" heeled sandals. Mimi greeted me in a friendly way and we talked a bit.
I'm passing out business cards with EEWC-CFT's website to many of the women I talk with. My constant question is whether and when to introduce our materials. I need to do this because we do not have an exhibit table (see yesterday's post), but I debate whether I'm being too aggressive or too hesitant.
The weekend's MC, Tom McCarthy, began the conference with a plea for restraint: "We war against principalities and powers--not against people. Let's all commit to be gracious."
Half of those present are first-timers to a CBE conference, and some are still new to the concept of male/female equality in the church. After the McKinnis talk on Ephesus, there were a few questions about whether the traditional patriarchal reading of I Timothy 2 can really be refuted.
Today's conclusion on CBE: I would like them to take a welcoming and affirming stance toward gays and lesbians, but I can see that the One Who Loves Us All is using them where they are, flawed though they be--and I guess that's true of all of us.
