DESCRIPTION:

This course is designed (1) to undertake a study of the Old and New Testament texts and their cultural environments which bear on the roles and status of women in biblical history and, in particular, in the early church; (2) to reflect on a wide range of hermeneutical, historical and theological perspectives relevant to the issues of women and ministry; and (3) to formulate significant exegetical and hermeneutical implications and conclusions for the role and status of women in ministry and the church today.

Fuller Seminary is committed to equality for women and men in all of its programs of preparing women and men for all forms of ministry. Yet, the issues involved in this commitment and its implications continue to be widely discussed and debated throughout the Church. This course provides a responsible biblical and hermeneutical basis for engaging these issues.

This course will consist of lectures and vigorous discussion. The class will meet twice weekly for two-hour sessions.

Beck, J. R. and C. L. Blomberg. Two Views on Women in Ministry. (Counterpoints.) Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

Belleville, L. L. Women Leaders and the Church: 3 Crucial Questions. (3 Crucial Questions.) Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000.

Clark, E. A. Women in the Early Church. (Message of the Fathers of the Church 13.) Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1983 [distributed by the Liturgical Press].

Groothius, R. M. Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997.

Kraemer, R. S. and M. R. D'Angelo. Women & Christian Origins. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Mickelsen, A. Women, Authority, and the Bible. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1986.

Osiek, C. Beyond Anger: On Being a Feminist in the Church. New York/Mahwah: Paulist, 1986.

Scholer, D. M. Selected Articles on Hermeneutics and Women and Ministry in the New Testament. Pasadena: Fuller Seminary Bookstore, Twelfth Printing, June 2000.

Grenz, S. J. with D. M. Kjesbo. Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1995.

Kraemer, R. S. Her Share of the Blessings: Women's Religions among Pagans, Jews, and Christians in the Graeco-Roman World. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Torjesen, K. J. When Women Were Priests: Women's Leadership in the Early Church and the Scandal of Their Subordination in the Rise of Christianity. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1993.

Van Leeuwen, M. S. Gender & Grace: Love, Work & Parenting in a Changing World. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1990.

1. Three brief critical papers [4-6 pages each], one on Osiek; one on Clark; and one on Beck/Blomberg.

2. A major position paper [15-20 pages; this should clearly reflect the use of all required readings] on the role and status of women in the New Testament and in the Church today.