Vol 34, No 2 | Spring 2020 PPThe academic journal of CBE International Interdisciplinary Egalitarianism 3 Exploring the Garden of Feminine Motifs in Songs of Songs Timothy Paul Erdel Sermon Mary and Martha: Celebrating the Gifts of Others Janet Galante and Molly Kate Hance Women Leaders at the Table in Early Churches Ally Kateusz 23 Women Priests and the Image of God Karen Strand Winslow Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos more perfectly in the way of the Lord. (Acts :) because numerous disciplines beyond the obvious ones I Tertius . (that is, the ones obvious to me—biblical studies, theology, Journals serve to advance academic and and church history) contribute to the advancement of professional disciplines. Typically, the egalitarianism. While this has frequently been the case in the eld of inquiry that a journal is seeking thirty-four years of Priscilla Papers, it is particularly true of to advance is evident from its title. this issue. Not only do the items in the following pages arise Colleagues of mine have, for example, from di erent primary disciplines, but each of them is also, recently published articles in the Journal of within itself, interdisciplinary. Physiology and the American Journal of Occupational erapy. Making no claim to be comprehensive, I will here list Priscilla Papers, however, does not promote a clearly- the authors and then note disciplines represented in their demarcated discipline, such as experimental psychology contributions to this issue. or mechanical engineering, or a focused profession such as • Timothy Paul Erdel: genre studies, hermeneutics, music education or pediatric nursing. Instead, what we are literary criticism, Old Testament exegesis advancing is egalitarianism—more speci cally, evangelical • Janet Galante and Molly Kate Hance: homiletics, gender egalitarianism. And this eld of inquiry, by its nature, hermeneutics, New Testament exegesis is interdisciplinary. Or, put di erently, egalitarianism is in • Ally Kateusz: archaeology, art history, church fact not a eld of inquiry. Instead, we might think of it as a history, iconography trajectory within various disciplines and professions. • Karen Strand Winslow: ecclesiology, church history, We frequently publish articles from biblical studies, theology (Not only is this article interdisciplinary, theology, and church history. Doing so is an initial step toward but it has to take into account the disciplines of the interdisciplinarity, for these are three disciplines rather than person whom it investigates—namely, C. S. Lewis, one. However, it is more complicated than that. who was a literary critic, medievalist, Christian First, it is more complicated because each of these areas can apologist, and ction writer.) be subdivided. Biblical studies, for example, is typically divided What is true of our authors is also true of our Peer Review by corpus, Old Testament or New Testament. From here we Team, of the CBE sta , and, moreover, of our readership. can specify the ancient language under consideration (Hebrew, Indeed, Priscilla Papers is created by and for people with Aramaic, Greek, Latin, etc.), the method being employed a broad range of gi s, professions, callings, and interests. (rhetorical criticism, narrative criticism, ethnography, etc.), Together, we are advancing evangelical gender egalitarianism. and so forth. Moving in the other direction—broadening out rather than narrowing into subdivisions—it is more complicated . greet you in the Lord. DISCLAIMER: Final selection of all material published by CBE International in Priscilla Papers is entirely up to the discretion of the publisher, editor, and peer reviewers. Please note that each author is solely legally responsible for the content and the accuracy of facts, citations, references, and quotations rendered and properly attributed in the article appearing under his or her name. 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Priscilla Papers is a member publication of the American Association of Publishers. • PRISCILLA PAPERS | ­/ | Spring cbeinternational.org Exploring the Garden of Feminine Motifs in Songs of Songs T P E Song of Songs is lled with subtle but powerful metaphors and It is particularly important to note that the female voice motifs that teach about the beauty, power, and nature of erotic love, (variously referred to as “beloved,” “friend,” “fair one,” “dove,” as well as various abuses of erotic love (including social prejudice, “sister,” “bride,” “perfect/spotless one,” “maid of Shulem/ patriarchal control and double standards, machismo, undue haste Shulamite,” or “daughter of a prince/noble maiden”) predominates in sexual relationships, and indelity). Furthermore, I arm the throughout the text. is voice is echoed by a female chorus notion common among many readers through the centuries who (variously labeled “friends” or “daughters of Jerusalem”), and champion the possibility of spiritually upliing analogies between the female protagonist does not hesitate to sing the praises of human erotic love and divine-human relationships. us, I am her lover and his lovemaking, beginning in the rst chapter. One suggesting both a “literal” interpretation rooted in creation popular evangelical blog post for women draws ve lessons from that celebrates the genuinely erotic as a legitimate, divinely- this basic fact: sanctioned element of the human experience (echoing Eden), and Women can desire sex. also a more “typological” reading that acknowledges analogies to divine-human relationships based upon the human experience of Women can be visual. the erotic. Women can initiate. e foregoing positions are standard in discussions of Song of Women can be free and uninhibited in the bedroom. Songs, though many commentators arm only one, rather than both literal and typological approaches. e special focus of this Women can (and were designed to!) experience article will be to explore the ways some of these themes take on pleasure. new signicance when the reader listens closely to the female voice In short, there is a remarkable emphasis on the female (as the in Song of Songs. Note in what follows that seemingly obvious beloved) appreciation of erotic desire and activities throughout interpretations profoundly change as a result of listening to her Song of Songs. words, including the fundamental nature of the divine-human The Power of Erotic Love analogy that has been so beloved by so many. e overriding power of erotic love is a clear but subtle theme that The Beauty of Erotic Love builds throughout the entire work in a variety of ways. From the e beauty of erotic love is such a basic and widely recognized outset, love overcomes barriers of color and social class, uniting a theme in the Song of Songs that I will not take the time to argue kingly gure with a lower-status woman who is a humble vineyard for it. Many commentators have noted the multiple allusions to worker and shepherdess. Love gives a clear, compelling voice to Eden. Garden imagery is pervasive throughout, and references a woman who might otherwise be silenced in a patriarchal world. to animals abound. ere is a fresh, frank, and unashamed She is an unsettling mare among Pharaoh’s chariots (: ). She is a celebration of the human body (which can serve abuse survivors, lion and a leopard (: ), references not ascribed to the male. Her among others, well—both here and in Gen :). ere are explicit neck is a strong tower ringed with shields—the rugged imagery of references to bodily parts and direct descriptions of physical a warrior’s citadel (:–). is woman has the capacity to rouse aection, beginning with the opening ode to kissing that ends in her lover ( :b). the king’s bedchamber (:–). ere are poetic but unmistakable e recurring allusions and references to the power of erotic intimations of sexual relations throughout the text. ere is at love build to an overriding crescendo in the nal chapter of Song least the anticipation of the two becoming “one esh” in marriage. of Songs. ere is a joyful sense of egalitarian mutuality throughout, one Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on tinged with royal triumph, though, by the end, there are also your arm. intimations of the fall. In fact, Song of Songs may also be read as a pre-Christian exploration of what it would mean to reverse the For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring eects of the fall. as the grave. Both new translations and new illustrated editions keep Love ashes like re, the brightest kind of ame. appearing in an attempt to capture the luster of the Hebrew Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers poetry, which is presumably an impossible task. Marc Chagall, drown it.