Theology in the Raw - Bonus Q&A (Women In Leadership)

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Subscribe to Theology in the Raw on Patreon to instantly unlock this full Bonus Q&A on women in leadership! You’ll also have access to a huge archive of bonus episodes, Extra Innings, and free video content from the Exiles in Babylon archives.  Here’s the questions you’ll find when you unlock the full episode!* Are Egalitarian arguments similar to arguments from pro LGBTQ theologians? * 1 Corinthians 12 gives a list of spiritual gifts for church leadership and specifically doesn’t mention sex distinction. Are these roles specific to men only? * Which is a bigger risk - being wrongly complementarian or being wrongly egalitarian? What price do we pay in each case?* How do complementarians rationalize listening to female academics (such as those on your podcast) when they say Biblically women can't teach men?* “1 Tim 2:11: ‘A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.’ Once culturally liberating, now often restrictive—how do you handle that tension?”* In Eph 5, ppl teach about men & women like it transcends culture over time, but the bit on slaves is taught differently. How can we know how to differentiate?* How should the fact that Jesus chose 12 male Jewish apostles inform this question?* What is the complementarian rationale for keeping male/female distinctions while no longer keeping slave/free and Jew/Greek distinctions in Gal. 3:28?* Paul says, “ I do not permit a women to teach” he didn’t Say “God does not allow a women to teach” do you make anything about this being a “Paul” command Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All right, the first question I want to address was actually sent in through the Theology in the Raw website. It wasn't part of the Q&A that I sent out to the patrons, but this question was so good and I really wanted to address it. I'm not going to give the name of the person who sent this in because it was a private question, but it's such a good one. And I think a lot of people might have the same question. So I want to address it. Her question has to do with an episode that I have already recorded with Sandy Richter, Dr. Sandy Richter. The conversation I had with Sandy Richter was a vibrant one, lively one, but a very academic one. We dug deep into, oh, the Artemis cult in Ephesus and the historical background of 1 Timothy, too,

among many other historical things going on behind the scenes when the Bible was written. Okay? So, it was a very academic conversation. This person says, it appeared from the conversation that only those with vast academic knowledge could truly interpret this subject properly. This would be unfortunate. And then they go on to say, I feel as though this issue is very similar to the same-sex marriage issue. Everything Sandy said in the after-portion of the interview, how difficult things were for her, how she was excluded from certain areas, how the Holy Spirit was leading her, that conversation has been repeated over and over again by Christians who support same-sex

marriage. Things like, I know this is God's call on my life. God has opened these doors for me. I never felt so alive. This is where I'm most fulfilled. Just as the church has treated LGBTQ people horribly, yes, it has also treated women horribly. How we address these issues certainly has room for tremendous growth and care and adjustments were needed. But I think many people, including myself, would be more comfortable with same-sex marriage

and egalitarianism being ordained by God's Word because it would be easier to live in that culture. However, if it takes multiple PhDs and years of study to prove your position, I can't help but wonder if we're missing the simple meaning of the text. Okay. This is such a great question. There's kind of two parts to the question. Number one, do we need, you know, multiple PhDs to understand what the Bible says about women in ministry or women in

leadership? And then the second question is, when we hear things like women saying, I feel called to ministry, or I am, now that I'm able to preach, I feel so satisfied in this, I feel God's hand on, you know, kind of these like, if I can say subjective experiences, that sounds a lot like what some people would say who are in a same-sex marriage relationship. You know, I feel so alive, so satisfied, feel God's hand, a blessing on me. Again, you know, subjective descriptions

of their experience. Okay, so the first question, the first part of this question, do we need multiple PhDs to understand what the Bible says about women in leadership? We need multiple PhDs to read the Bible. We'll let that linger for a second. You can't, I mean, unless you're fluent in ancient Koine Greek and Aramaic and Hebrew, you can't read the Bible. You need other people to learn these languages and translate the Bible for you.

So I mean, I guess you don't technically need a PhD to become fluent in biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek and Aramaic for the few portions that are written in Aramaic, but I mean, most people are that equipped in these languages to be able to translate them into a target modern language like English, for instance. They do have PhDs. The point is, the Bible was never meant to be interpreted on a strictly individual basis. In fact, for the first 1,500 years of Christianity, the overwhelming majority of people couldn't even read. They were dependent upon a small minority of people to read the Bible out loud so that they can understand what it even means or says, you know? And then they had other people that would help interpret the text so that they can understand it.

So, I don't, I mean, the question really is, it can be a much broader one. How can we understand the Bible apart from its historical interpretation, how it's been passed down. If you just woke up on a desert island and read the Bible, would you be able to formulate a doctor of the Trinity that would be orthodox and would resonate with the Nicene Creed. I mean, maybe, but probably not. We do need other gifted and skilled teachers to help us understand the Bible. Hey friends, I hope you enjoyed this portion of the Patreon Only Q&A podcast. If you'd like to listen to the full-length episode and receive other bonus content like monthly podcasts, opportunities to ask questions,

access to first drafts of my research and monthly Zoom chats and more, then please head over to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw to join theology in the raw's Patreon community. That's patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. This show is part of the Converge Podcast Network.