CONTENTS For the Survival of the Church: What Our Theology Has to DEPARTMENTS 4 Do with Persecution Research shows the connection between Christian belief about men and ‘ From the Editor women and religious persecution. Everything Is Connected by Helene Fisher and Elizabeth Lane Miller “7 Refl ect With Us A Timely Transformation: Tamar’s Quest for Justice in Genesis 3 “9 Ministry News 8 Tamar, in Genesis 3 , subverts her culture’s expectations in her search for justice. “9 Praise and Prayer by Grace Al-Zoughbi 3˜ President’s Message Building Strong Ministry Teams: Women and Men Planting  eology and 13 Churches Together Human Flourishing A vision for mutuality in church planting and evangelism. by Jenn Williamson Was Love the Motive for Women’s Silence in ‚ Corinthians ‚4:34– EDITORIAL STAFF 35? A Lawyer’s Study 17 Editor: Ellen Richard Vosburg An honest investigation into a puzzling passage. Graphic Designer: Margaret Lawrence by Andrew Bartlett Publisher/President: Mimi Haddad Jesus Didn’t Die for Marriage: Why Churches Need to Address 22 Domestic Violence Mutuality vol. 27, no. 2, Summer 2020 Christians must work to hold abusers accountable and respond Cover design by Margaret Lawrence compassionately to survivors of domestic violence. Mutuality (ISSN: 1533-2470) exists to by Mandy Marshall make egalitarian theology accessible to the non-scholar and to explore its Pandita Ramabai’s Legacy: How a Gender-Conscious Bible intersection with everyday life. 25 Translation Impacts Christian Ministry One woman’s ministry shows the connection between theology and Summer humanitarian work.

by Boaz Johnson Men and women serving and leading as equals

Mutuality is published quarterly by CBE International, Advertising in Mutuality does not imply organizational 122 W Franklin Ave, Suite 218; Minneapolis, MN endorsement. Please note that neither CBE 55404-2451. International, nor the editor, nor the editorial team is responsible or legally liable for any content or We welcome your comments, article submissions, any statements made by any author, but the legal and advertisements. Visit cbe.today/mutuality. responsibility is solely that author’s once an article appears in Mutuality. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the 2011 revision of the Holy Bible, New CBE grants permission for any original article (not International Version®, NIV®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, a reprint) to be photocopied for local use provided Aligning Christian Faith and Women’s 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All no more than 1,000 copies are made, they are Equality with Humanitarian Work rights reserved worldwide. distributed free, the author is acknowledged, and CBE is recognized as the source.

2 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org From the Editor by Ellen Richard Vosburg Everything Is Connected

Our theme for this issue intersects with our  evidence for how this odd passage may have made it international conference in London, “Men, Women, in our Bibles today gives us much to ponder. Grace and God: eology and Its Impact,” which we have Al-Zoughbi interprets Genesis 3 , walking us through rescheduled for the fall and may delay further. e Tamar’s world and experiences to show us how Tamar timing of this issue may now feel strange, but we are subverted the patriarchal expectations of her community excited to expand on these ideas with you. Our goal is so that she could nd justice for herself. to gather theologians, humanitarians, pastors, and social justice advocates to explore the connection between Other articles show us how our theology plays out in what we believe about women’s calling and giing for the lives of real women and men around the world. leadership and how that impacts the way we work with Helene Fisher and Elizabeth Lane Miller of Open Doors and empower women around the world. We want this International introduce their research on gender-based issue of Mutuality to introduce you to some of our religious persecution around the world. ey illuminate speakers and the ideas we will address at the conference the ways men and women are persecuted based on gender when it takes place. inequalities endorsed by their theology and culture. Jenn Williamson casts a vision for how to build equitable As I edited these articles while sheltering in place, I church-planting teams that include both women and have struggled with how a magazine can connect with men in leadership and evangelism. Mandy Marshall the lives we’re currently leading—let alone articles for a lays bare the truth of domestic violence in churches and deferred conference, a meeting intended to gather lots of shows us how our overly simple and glib responses about people. I have wondered to myself whether we even still divorce hurt women with abusive husbands even more. live in the same world where these articles were written. Some days, I am overcome with the disconnection I feel Finally, Boaz Johnson introduces us to Pandita Ramabai, from the city where I live, friends and family, and even an Indian Christian who founded Mukti Mission for our mission as egalitarians. People are sick and dying, low-caste and outcaste girls in India near the turn of losing their jobs and livelihoods, and we are all grieving the twentieth century. Ramabai’s life and work clearly and in pain. Yet, I am reminded constantly of the ways demonstrates how our theology directly impacts the that women are and will continue to bear the brunt of lives of girls and women. Her work was jumpstarted this pandemic, and I feel resolved to continue with the during the bubonic plague in India, and Ramabai has work of empowering women and men “to promote the much to teach us about our present circumstances amid biblical message that God calls women and men of all pandemic today. Ramabai is an outstanding model cultures, races, and classes to share authority equally of how correct theology has the power to spiritually, in service and leadership in the home, church, and the socially, and physically liberate women and girls from world.” We need to work together now more than ever. danger and mistreatment.

ese articles were written explicitly to show you how I hope that as you read this issue, you and your loved ones everything is connected. What we believe, our theology, are safe and well. But all is not safe and well in this world, is not separate, not something we can compartmentalize and one of our sicknesses is a theology that keeps girls away from how Christians minister to the problems of and women from realizing their full potential as beloved our world. In this issue, you will encounter articles that children of God. So, I also hope that these articles bring focus on interpreting the Bible with clarity to upli you some holy discomfort and show you the connection women. Andrew Bartlett draws on his investigative between dismantling theological patriarchy and the skills as a lawyer to examine the puzzles we nd in lived realities of women and girls and men and boys  Corinthians :–. His insightful study of the around the world.

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 3 For the Survival of the Church: What Our Theology Has to Do with Persecution

By Helene Fisher and Elizabeth Lane Miller

What Christians believe about men and women matters Watch Research annually investigates to compile the to the literal survival of the church.  at’s not just an World Watch List (WWL)? interesting hypothesis. At Open Doors International, it’s our job (our being Helene and Elizabeth) to answer the By cataloging and analyzing patterns of what happens to how, why, and what-can-we-do-about-it questions about Christian men and women in the WWL’s most di cult gender and religious persecution. By investigating the countries to practice Christianity, we have found that gender-speci c aspects of religious persecution, we’ve religious persecution is almost completely di erent for uncovered the complex and detrimental impact that women and men in outward, characteristic manifestations. gender stereotypes and inequalities have on the stability In our   ndings, the top  ve most common forms of the Christian church under pressure for their faith. of persecution globally for men are physical violence, Protective and cultural prejudices make both men and economic harassment, incarceration by government, women more vulnerable to religious persecution. psychological violence, and military/militia conscription. For women, the top  ve are sexual violence, forced Over the past three years, our research has enabled us marriage, physical violence, forced divorce, and house to de ne more precisely why the loss of men in Syria, arrest (which we catalog as domestic incarceration). the rape of women in Nigeria, the targeted seduction of girls in Egypt, and the prejudicial inheritance practices Religious persecution looks di erent for men and women regarding women in sub-Saharan Africa are especially because how it might happen is based upon the di erent e ective tools of religious persecution.  e negative way sociocultural roles and rights of men and women in churches respond to these kinds of attacks is the key to their speci c contexts. O en these sociocultural roles understanding their e ectiveness. and rights de ne the value of men and women in a given society.  is assigned value in turn de nes how men The Research Question and women will be nurtured, trained, protected, and promoted. We began our research journey with one question: What is characteristic of persecution facing individual Christians  e countries mentioned speci cally in this article are in the seventy-three countries where Open Doors’ World visibly at the forefront of Christian persecution, but the same pattern extends to countries where the attacks and We have found that religious persecution is pressures on men and women take more subtle forms. almost completely different for women and men Targeted Attacks on Men

in outward, characteristic manifestations. If men’s value resides in their physical strength, their role as breadwinner, and their role as church leader, then these

4 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org If men’s value resides in their physical strength, their role as breadwinner, and their role as church leader, then these areas are usually targeted for attack. areas are usually targeted for attack. Why? Undermining from direct harm. men in one of these areas will be most devastating to their  is is not only a happenstance of o cial war. In India, own sense of identity and belief. It will also destabilize being a pastor has been described in our “ Gender- those in their networks who have relied upon or evaluated Speci c Religious Persecution” report as “one of the them through this aspect of their lives. riskiest vocations in the country today.” Across sub- Saharan Africa, men lose their lives as Christian villages Although we see this around the globe, the church in and districts are attacked. When this happens, families Syria stands as the starkest example today. In a post-war that relied upon the husband and father for housing, food, country where many men have been killed or forced to and school fees can  nd themselves in the streets.  e  ee, the Christian communities were hit even harder next generation is then caught in a cycle of violence and than the general population because Christians are one of poverty, which is di cult to escape. the most unacceptable populations to ISIS. Many Syrian churches are completely bere of the eighteen to forty- uite apart from the economics, Syrian women don’t year-old male population.  is in and of itself is a cause feel free to step into the void of spiritual leadership for mourning; however, the strategic signi cance for the due to strict teachings against women in spiritual church is cause for considerable lament. leadership.  ese women feel a sense of abandonment.  e extremists who attack the Christian communities  ese men were expected to be the leaders and have reasoned correctly that these women are no threat breadwinners, holders of power and agency, so they to leave alive because they have not been given the received the overwhelming bulk of the spiritual training con dence, knowledge, and experience that rebuilding in the congregation. Although the women also attended the spiritual community requires. professional training, including college for many, they had been raised to rely on their brothers’ escort for safe passage Several priests in Syria have bemoaned the “brain drain” to school and work and on their fathers or husbands for from their churches and country. While we might be substantial decision-making, all while quietly attending tempted to take o ense that this essentially refers to a church.  is concentration of knowledge and learning loss of the men, it is objectively a loss of the educated in the men simultaneously made the men visible and and functionally able. Even those women who received valuable targets while seeming to keep the women “safe” more advanced training before marriage will not have had

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 5 occasion to hone their skills, test them in practice, or stay For a speci c example, let’s examine the publicly recorded up to date on their usage in a context where a “good” wife case of Elina Das in Bangladesh. Ten years ago, her father depends upon her husband’s decision-making and single had a growing ministry as a pastor and evangelist in a women are “not well received,” as our contacts put it. hostile context. He was not dissuaded by the attacks and threats on his own person, so one night when thirteen- Patriarchy within the church places a target on men’s year-old Elina went to the outdoor bathroom,  ve men backs. Attacking them becomes an expedient means to gang-raped her. eliminate knowledge and experience, intimidate their followers, and reduce families to a constant scramble  is attack on Elina was not only an attack on a vulnerable for survival. young woman, but it was also meant to change the behavior of her father by attacking his personal identity. Targeted Attacks on Women Both his responsibility to protect his daughter and his personal honor were now damaged in the eyes of the  e other half of the story is the complex, violent, and community. Elina’s father said, “I have not the slightest hidden religious persecution which Christian women face doubt that this attack was intended to stop me in my directly.  eir religious persecution is equally possible ministry.” and e ective because of their social positioning and conditioning, if not more so.  is network of relationships is both the ultimate intended target and the means by which the damage So, what is valued in women? Our research shows that will spread if certain beliefs about Elina hold sway. If the women are systematically under attack in areas related community was not attuned to seeing such an attack on to their perceived sexual purity and their family status. a woman’s purity as conclusively devastating to her, her Some societies explicitly link the sexual purity of women father, and his ministry’s honorable standing, then this to the family’s honor while others convey this valuing form of attack would lose much of its appeal in the eyes more subtly, but, in the everyday, it o en translates into of the perpetrators. women speaking of one another with respect for a girl’s or woman’s sexual purity, an esteem for marital status, In other contexts, when women in a community are and praising one another for bearing children.  ese raped, the crime is deliberately not reported because seemingly innocuous conversations, and the protective, of fears around stigmatization.  e consequences of habitual practices which this choice are devastating to develop to reinforce them, these women who are refused the have deep and lasting God is able to do everything. You can opportunity to speak truthfully implications for how see in history that in countries that of their experience or claim vulnerable they make justice by their communities and persecuted communities. went through wars, women came out spiritual leaders. of these wars different. We (Helene and Elizabeth) have sat with many women in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Nigeria who have had these intimate markers of identity snatched away from them in a matter of hours, even minutes.  ese women were established in their churches, comfortable in their situations, scrupulous about their homes—valued members of their communities—until they were violently assaulted. It is deeply dangerous to entrust our value to a malleable test. It makes for an enticing and e ective pathway to destruction for an opposing force. If the Christian community feels it must distance itself from her so-called shame, if her husband can no longer see her as pure and faithful, if her children no longer respect her, then families shatter and communities disintegrate. Sadly, we have all too many examples of this scenario playing out in the a ermath of raids in the CAR and Nigeria.

6 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org At one level this may be argued their new empowerment.” It is as a protective measure, but Misguided beliefs about the not impossible for Christian from a bird’s eye view it only effectiveness of the patriarchal communities today, like those serves to create greater impunity in Syria, to rebuild, even if those for perpetrators, which leads to protection of women and a le behind are starting with more violence, not to mention notion that their security is fewer resources and have more that under-reporting this learning to do. As one Syrian violence increases shaming found in the home have led too respondent said, and stigmatization for victims. It also increases the likelihood many congregations to either God is able to do everything. that trauma, physical injury, or promote unequal practices or You can see in history that in any resulting pregnancy will not countries that went through receive proper consideration, work intentionally against moves wars, women came out of these and therefore each of these to redress economic, educational, wars di erent. In the war they incidents will further weaken were pushed to do things they the entire community and or legal inequalities between men hadn’t done before like what ultimately threaten its integrity. we see happening in Syria right and women. now: women driving taxis, Misguided beliefs about the tractors or trucks. At the end a e ectiveness of the patriarchal protection of women and crisis leads to development. A crisis is hard, but on the a notion that their security is found in the home have other hand it is an opportunity. led too many congregations to either promote unequal practices or work intentionally against moves to redress As we grow in wisdom to counter the schemes used against economic, educational, or legal inequalities between the church, it is encouraging to identify areas where the men and women. In patterns of persecution around church has agency to protect herself. Training women the globe, these very inequalities are repeatedly cited as into their capacities of strength and longevity will create vulnerabilities for the church: prejudicial inheritance a stronger body of Christ before the harshest persecution laws for widows, non-application enforcement of child storms hit, mitigating the ease with which the whole marriage laws, lack of prosecution for domestic abuse, church can be damaged and honoring God by how we stigmatization for female-headed households, lower value each other and work together in balanced re ection employability of women, less freedom of movement for of the Triune God, no matter the storms we face. women, and lower wages.

 e seemingly protective, or simply cultural, practices ingrained in girls who grow up in a patriarchal context in fact result in vulnerabilities for the Christian community in persecution. Because these women are less equipped for independence in life and less knowledgeable for leadership in the church, their so-called protections directly determine how vulnerable both they and the men of their communities are when experiencing persecution. . H. Fisher, E. L. Miller, E. Mayer, “Gender-Speci c Religious Persecution: Analysis and Implications,” World Watch Research, February . Most importantly, these seemingly subsidiary di erences Available at: http://opendoorsanalytical.org/wp-content/uploads/// become crucial components of how persecutors choose to GLOBAL-Gender-speci c-religious-persecution-report-.pdf. persecute Christian communities and why it has potential to cause the maximum destructive e ect.

Helene Fisher and Elizabeth Lane Miller cowrite Something Good Can Come the annual Gender-Specific Religious Persecution Analysis report and codevelop materials to Encouragingly, persecution expert Ron Boyd-MacMillan strengthen Christian communities in the face of reports that although persecutors’ gender-specific these pressures for Open Doors, a ministry serving targeting o en works, sometimes the opposite e ect persecuted Christians. Helene Fisher is the Global occurs. “In Chinese house churches the catastrophic loss Gender Persecution Specialist. Elizabeth Lane Miller of male leaders in the Cultural Revolution allowed women is a Women’s Persecution Specialist. to  ourish as leaders and many networks thrived through

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 7 8 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 website: cbeinternational.org n this article, we will explore the do the unusual thing.”  e “unusual another family, and she has not been Istory of Tamar from Genesis as thing” that Tamar does is obvious, provided with another husband a transforming woman from the Old but it raises the question of whether from the family she had married Testament. A er her husband dies, doing an “unusual thing” is the into, despite one being available. Tamar appears to be a helpless woman, only way for women to change their Tamar has become the victim of but she knows that she has a right to situation or alter aspects of a society the absolute power of her father- have a son and does not easily give dominated by men. In contexts of in-law over her.  rough Judah’s up on the idea despite the intentional injustice and oppression, are women unjust decision, she has been denied oppression she receives from her always condemned to do unusual the means of performing her duty father-in-law. Tamar’s appearance things? To address this question, toward a husband who has died. in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus we will analyze Tamar’s story and She has been robbed of the chance demonstrates the importance of discuss the speci c obstacles Tamar of achieving a sense of self-worth this woman in the story of salvation has to contend with, the way she through giving birth to a child, and (Matt. : ). She transformed the overcomes them, and the values that thereby she has also been prevented narrow and oppressive ways of motivate her. from gaining an honorable status thinking surrounding her through in her community and a child to her courage. ANALYZING TAMAR’S STORY support her as she ages.

How I understand Tamar’s story Tamar’s Predicament Tamar’s Reaction is in uenced by philosopher and ethicist Martha Nussbaum’s notion Tamar’s story takes place in Canaan Years pass by and Judah’s wife dies. that by participating at a political, prior to Israel’s settlement in the When the period of mourning is social, and economic level, people land. Israel’s people live side by side over, Judah, now a widower, goes to can change cultures that are male- with the Canaanites and intermarry attend the shearing of his  ocks at dominated and oppressive of with them. Judah marries a Timnah, in the hill country (Gen. women. She believes that “even in Canaanite woman who gives him :). Shearing is a time of eating, societies that nourish problematic three sons. For Er, the elder son, drinking, partying, and indulgence. roles for men and women, real men Judah chooses a wife called Tamar As for Tamar, she has by now realized and women can also  nd spaces in who lives in the region. Er dies at the that she has been doomed to a life which to subvert those conventions, hand of God. Onan, the second son of permanent widowhood by her resourcefully creating possibilities of refuses to ful ll the duty of levirate father-in-law. She also “knows her love and joy.” Tamar’s actions can be marriage toward his brother’s widow father-in-law well enough, too, so understood in this same way; women (one brother must marry his dead that when the word gets to her that can subvert society’s expectations for brother’s wife if they do not already he is going to the sheep-shearing, she them to  nd justice. have a son, spelled out in Deut.  : – knows what sort of things he has in ), presumably because he would mind.” So, Judah’s journey becomes TAMAR’S TRANSFORMATION have to support a child that is legally Tamar’s chance to takes matters into FOR JUSTICE someone else’s. Onan dies too, and her own hands and to act. Her plan, Judah is now reluctant to surrender however, is bold and dangerous. In the story, Tamar’s qualities as his third son Shelah. Judah instructs She will use her own sexuality in a a heroine and the role of God’s Tamar to remain a widow until cunning way to get for herself what providence are accentuated when Shelah grows up. Tamar goes away has been wrongly denied to her: the she is chosen to maintain the line as a widow, but she is still “engaged” desired status of a mother. of Judah (Gen. ). Tamar makes and therefore not free to remarry. evident the transforming role of a She intends to turn a situation of woman living in a patriarchal society. Tamar is le in an awful predicament: an accidental physical relationship In fact, “Tamar can be considered as “She saw that Shelah was grown up, into an opportunity to get pregnant the forerunner of others in later times yet she had not been given to him and have the child that has been who found that the only way to move in marriage” (Gen. :4, NRSV). denied to her.  e irony here is a society dominated by males was to She has no freedom to remarry into that the child’s father will be the

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 9 very man who has wronged her. In this climactic scene of discovery action, Tamar risks much, but it is One can detect revenge in Tamar’s and recognition (Gen. :4–), also true that she has little to lose, decision to entrap Judah into Judah, the gure of authority and as two attempts to provide her with having a physical relationship with stern judge, is confronted by the a husband have failed. Since justice her disguised as a prostitute. evidence of his breach of promise as is the primary goal of Tamar, James head of the family, of his blindness McKeown’s evaluation seems quite Tamar’s choice is hazardous in many as a lover, and of his incest and correct: “Genesis does not portray ways. On a personal level, the only fatherhood. is is a scene which is women as weak and defeated, but means for rectifying the injustice heavy with moral recognition. While shows that, given the opportunity, done to her is for Tamar to use her Judah was seeking to further exert his they are not at all inferior and oen own body and sexuality. She does power over Tamar, she forces Judah outwit the men.” is comment not participate in prostitution by to confront the meaning of his action. denitely applies to Tamar who, free choice. Judah has to acknowledge: “She is in her own way, challenges the more in the right than I, since I did patriarchal system. On a social level, by choosing to not give her to my son Shelah” ( :). prostitute herself, Tamar becomes By Affirming Her Right to a “legal outlaw,” stepping not only A couple of moral points are made Be a Mother outside the acceptable moral norms in this sentence. First, Judah expected of a woman but also recognizes that “she was not guilty Tamar has been wronged by her two outside the more general norms of in fact of harlotry. On the contrary, husbands and her father-in-law, and social order. Tamar accepted that by playing the harlot, Tamar was she has become a troubled woman who she would become an ostracized and only making clear to Judah that was at odds with society’s expectations despised woman. he (and his sons) had long been for her. Due to circumstances beyond treating her as a harlot, as a woman her control, Tamar’s options in life Legally, Tamar is bound to chastity to be used for pleasure rather than have become nonexistent, as she is by her status as a “chained” widow. a wife celebrated for fruitfulness.” without a husband, children, and She is promised to Judah’s third son Second, this statement is an ultimately without the support of the through the institution of levirate acknowledgment that Tamar has family she had married into. Judah marriage, and as such she cannot taught Judah “multiple lessons about had failed to fulll his responsibilities engage in sexual activity with any right and duty: the justice of keeping to Tamar as a father-in-law, and in other man. So when Judah hears promises; the justice of treating all God’s wisdom, for a better purpose that Tamar is pregnant, he punishes sons equally (upholding the levirate ultimately, Tamar was prevented her for unfaithfulness: “let her be duty) . . . ; the duty of fathers to care from mothering a child to either Er or burned!” (Gen. :). for all their descendants and not Onan. By taking the desperate step of only those they prefer and love.” becoming a prostitute, Tamar arms Discovery and Recognition: her right to become a mother. Tamar’s Vindication TAMAR CHALLENGES AND ALTERS AN INJUSTICE By Following Her Own Moral Tamar’s shame is made explicit when Code her pregnancy becomes public and By Breaking the Boundaries she is condemned. She is exposed of Patriarchy e whole story of Tamar is an and condemned to death by Judah, account of the conict between a the patriarch bearing authority. Bearing children is part of the woman and a man who has absolute Tamar’s capital oense is adultery expectations and requirements of authority over her. She does not feel (Deut. : –) since she is still the patriarchal system for women. it is her place to obey and support betrothed to Shelah. But Tamar As a result of this pressure, Tamar the patriarchal authority of Judah carefully makes her defense using is led to do quite an unusual thing. by conforming to his demands, nor the pledge (signet, bracelet, and Taking matters into her own hands, does she feel that she can conform sta) that Judah had le with her, she steps outside what is considered to the law of society. Against her which will justify her. a moral life in her society. By this role as a woman and the rules of her

10 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org society, Tamar has an inner moral code that leads her to challenge the injustices done to her. Although it is not openly stated in the story, she must have been evaluating and questioning the authoritative decisions in the light of her own values and desires. In this way, Tamar could be considered to be a champion for many women who live in a male-dominated society and who bring about change by doing the unexpected.

TAMAR SEEKS TO UPHOLD JUSTICE

“Genesis shows that women living TAMAR REFUSES TO in a patriarchal society face many challenges.  eir lives seem to be a ACCEPT NEEDLESS constant struggle for recognition.” But Tamar subverts the usual SUFFERING, AND SHE expectations of her society to earn recognition in several important TAKES ACTION TO ways. Tamar seeks to protect her CHANGE A LIFE THAT right to bodily health and the ability to have children. She maintains her WOULD HAVE BEEN bodily integrity by refusing to follow the order of Judah and deciding to CHARACTERIZED BY FEAR, do whatever is needed to have a child. Tamar refuses to accept needless ANXIETY, AND WORRY. su ering and she takes action to change a life that would have been SHE SEEKS TO PRESERVE characterized by fear, anxiety, and HER SELF-RESPECT AND worry. She seeks to preserve her self- respect and dignity; she refuses to be DIGNITY; SHE REFUSES humiliated as a childless widow and wants to be treated as a woman with TO BE HUMILIATED AS A some rights in the patriarchal system. CHILDLESS WIDOW AND So back to the question we asked WANTS TO BE TREATED earlier, “In contexts of injustice and oppression, are women always AS A WOMAN WITH condemned to do unusual things?” Tamar’s story makes us inclined SOME RIGHTS IN THE to answer with a yes.  e fact that there continues to be injustice and PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM. oppression in the world does not mean that transformation will never happen. On the contrary, women’s

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 11 THE FACT THAT THERE CONTINUES TO BE INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION IN THE WORLD DOES NOT MEAN THAT TRANSFORMATION WILL NEVER HAPPEN.

Grace Al-Zoughbi teaches at Bethlehem Bible College. voices, like look for unusual ways to accomplish She nished her master’s Tamar’s, need to be transformation. We must work to program in London and heard, and society needs remove the societal challenges that returned to teach and serve to naturally pay these women prevent women from achieving the as head of the Biblical Studies department at respect for who they are before they justice that Tamar gained. the college.

. Ronald S. Wallace,  e Story of Joseph and the Family of Jacob (Grand Rapids/Edinburgh: Eerdmans/Rutherford House, ), 
. . Wallace, Story of Joseph, summarizes the situation well: “He (Judah) kept one bound whom he intended to defraud,” . Gordon Wenham also observes: “until this point Tamar has been a passive object, acted upon—or alas not acted upon by Judah and his sons . . . now a clear perception of injustice done here is ascribed to Tamar (v. 
),” Genesis ­–‚ƒ, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 
), . . David M. Gunn, Narrative in the Hebrew Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, ), .
. Leon R. Kass,  e Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesi s (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ), . . Kass, Beginning of Wisdom, . . McKeown observes rightly that “Genesis shows that women living in a patriarchal society face many challenges.  eir lives seem to be a constant struggle for recognition,” Genesis (Cambridge: Eerdmans, ), 
. . F. Van Dijk-Hemmes, “Tamar and the Limits of Patriarchy,” in Anti-Co‰enant: Counter-Reading Women’s Lives in the Hebrew Bible, ed. Mieke Bal (She eld: JSOT/Almond, ), –.

. McKeown, Genesis, 
.

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12 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org Building Strong Ministry Teams Women and Men Planting Churches Together

By Jenn Williamson

 e local church is a present outpost of the future, coming whether the lead planter is male or female, there needs kingdom of God.  is kingdom is unlike any the earth has to be a full embrace of partnership between men and known; it is led by Christ, and all are living in harmony women in order for a church to rightly represent the body with his will and his ways.  e church is composed of of Christ. I’d like to o er a vision of what that looks like living examples of God’s holy plan for human life and and a game plan for how to get there. relationships. When Christian men and women work together to plant churches, their cooperation becomes a A Vision of Men and Women Working compelling witness to God’s goodness and grace. Beyond Together in the Kingdom of God the theological reasons, research shows that women are highly e ective at evangelism and church planting, even In John  Jesus prays for the unity of all believers. Jesus in countries where they are disempowered socially and concludes his prayer by saying the result of this unity will their work is not validated. Imagine what could happen be that “the world will know that you sent me and have if the body of Christ fully supported and empowered the loved them even as you have loved me” (John  :). In e orts of both male and female church planters! And essence, our oneness is our witness.  e fact that Jesus

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 13 prayed for unity presumes both the presence of diversity  e famous, so-called Billy Graham rule has been and the challenges diversity creates. When women and justi ably scrutinized over the past few years because of men work together in healthy and holy ways, their unity how it necessarily excludes women from key conversations in Christ increases the redemptive impact of the church with male leaders. My biggest complaint against the Billy in the world. Graham rule is that it prioritizes fear of potential sin over our united call to mission. It wrongly assumes that Mutual respect and mutual submission motivate gi - we who have been redeemed cannot have victory over based ministry, resulting in Spirit-empowered work for lust. It permanently casts women in the role of temptress the kingdom of God, for God’s glory. In an oversexualized and men in the role of predator.  is is not who we are world that declares sexual tensions to be inescapable, the in Christ! local church can be a countercultural place of welcome and rest, where genuine phileo love (or friendship) reigns  e countercultural kingdom of God does not use barriers without awkwardness or reserve. In a world that wields to heal broken relationships. Jesus breaks down barriers power for sel sh purposes, the church can be a place and sets us in right relationship with God and each other. where individuals carefully steward and humbly share We do not need to cut ourselves o from the opposite leadership. As the church incarnates God’s design for sex out of fear of temptation, depriving the church of love and faith in how we live and work, people in the the many bene ts that come from collaboration between world will see the di erence. women and men. We can instead build holy, redeemed, and authentic relationships with each other that are no How Do We Get There? longer de ned by our sin natures.

. We prioritize God’s mission. In the book Mixed Ministry, authors Sue Edwards, Kelley Matthews, and Henry Rogers suggest that Christians God has called all of us to make disciples, which should can have genuinely a ectionate relationships with the ultimately lead to the planting of new churches (Matt. opposite sex by learning to value and appreciate each  :­). To reach the whole world with the good news, we other as “sacred siblings.” Just as brothers and sisters in need the whole church to be on mission together. When a biological family love, protect, help, and inspire each only one gender is engaged in this process, it’s as if the other without the “cloud of lust,” so can brothers and body of Christ has had a stroke and lost all function sisters in Christ.

Sadly, there are many cases where Christians have fallen We do not need a one- prey to sexual sin, so we should not be naive. I am not proposing that we completely ignore our capacity to sin but that we do not let that potential become the basis for size-fi ts-all rule; how we engage in ministry. Rather than limit our contact with the opposite sex, we need to commit to  nding ways to move forward in mission together without rather we need to be compromising integrity. We do not need a one-size- ts- all rule; rather we need to be self-aware and sensitive to self-aware and sensitive the Holy Spirit. Bring every encounter before Christ, inviting him to guide us in each situation. to the Holy Spirit. . We communicate with wisdom, verbally and nonverbally. of one side. Movement becomes terribly di cult, Words have power and can shape our culture. How we awkward, and ine ective. Stimulating a church-planting speak about God and each other will in uence how we movement across any nation will require full-body engage in ministry.  is begins with our choice of Bible participation, coordination, and integration.  is needs translation. Choosing translations that accurately re ect to be our priority. the inclusive nature of the kingdom of God will equip

14 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org team members to be inclusive in their preaching and Countries with the Best Coronavirus Re-sponses Have teaching. Jesus is our model for inclusive preaching. Many of his parables were taught in pairs, using imagery and examples that spoke to both men and women: farming and baking, shepherding and housekeeping, winemaking Building strong and robe-mending. Jesus was not enforcing stereotypes; he was making his kingdom teachings accessible to all. mixed-gender ministry Communication involves not only our message but how we interact with our brothers and sisters. When speaking to and of another, our words should never be disparaging, teams is not only belittling, or sexist.  is does not mean that we cannot disagree but rather that even our disagreements are marked by careful listening, kindness, and respect. possible, it is what When I was a pastor of women’s ministries, I had a zero-tolerance policy for husband-bashing. We created a culture where we spoke well of our spouses and of men Christ asks of us. in general.

Beware of ambivalent sexism, revealed in blanket We are his disciples, statements such as, “Women are just naturally more nurturing than men.” According to an article in Christianity Today, “ is type of sexism undermines invited to join in his opportunities for women through emphasizing the nurturing role of women (particularly in raising children) and the male role as protector of and provider for work, for his glory. women.” In a church-planting team, individuals should be appreciated for the gi s that they bring to the table and empowered to contribute according to their speci c experience and ability. in Common? Women Leaders.” COVID-9 presented the world with a new challenge, one for which women Nonverbal communication is also important. In her leaders have demonstrated certain skills that have not been as prevalent in their male counterparts. According book Making Room for Leadership, Dr. MaryKate Morse explains that leaders need to be aware of how they are to Wittenberg-Cox, these include trust, decisiveness, and stewarding their power through body language. “It is love.  e author concludes with these words: “ ere have thousands of little body postures, gestures, nuanced been years of research timidly suggesting that women’s voices and intricate, intuitive engagements with others. leadership styles might be di erent and bene cial. It is how you enter a room, position yourself to speak, Instead, too many political organizations and companies modulate your voice and use your eyes, while at the same are still working to get women to behave more like men time assessing others who are sharing that same space.” if they want to lead or succeed.” For men and women to work together, we need to be aware of how power is expressed within a team, and that Indeed, it is of no value to a church-planting team includes our nonverbal signals. if women must behave more like men in order to participate, and vice versa! But what this means is that . We see diversity as a strength. there will be diverse leadership styles, diverse worship preferences, diverse biblical interpretations, and diverse If men and women were the same, it wouldn’t matter if interpersonal styles. A church-planting team that can a church-planting team comprises only one gender. It is embrace those di erences will be highly e ective at precisely because we are di erent that both are needed. reaching their community with the gospel. Forbes recently published an article titled, “What Do

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 15 Unfortunately, many tend to seek out teammates that invited to join in his work, for his glory. We are all resemble themselves instead of those that complement called to make disciples, and we need each other in that them.  e result may be fewer disagreements but also process. If are to reach the world, we will have to work bigger and more glaring blind spots. During our wedding together, focusing on God’s mission, being wise about ceremony, the pastor said something that has stuck with how we communicate God’s message, and celebrating the us through almost thirty years of marriage. He said, diversity of God’s kingdom. “When you argue, rather than seeing the disagreement as David versus Jenn, see it as David and Jenn presenting two sides of an issue in an attempt to discern God’s best for the family.” What each person brings has value, and Jenn Williamson is a church planter, a missionary, and a mentor of emerging leaders. She holds a Doctor when it is heard and honored, it will make the end result of Ministry in Leadership and Global Perspectives stronger. from Portland Seminary. Ministering in France since 2010, she is the founder and president of Elan, an Building strong mixed-gender ministry teams is not only organization that builds cross-cultural collaboration between foreign possible, it is what Christ asks of us. We are his disciples, workers and national partners.

. Rebecca Lewis, “Underground Church Movements:  e Surprising Role of Women’s Networks,” Proceedings of the ISFM 
Meeting: Insider Movements, https://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/_
_PDFs/Role_of_Women.pdf. . Sue Edwards, Kelley Mathews, and Henry J. Rogers, Mixed Ministry: Working Together as Brothers and Sisters in an Oversexed Society (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, ). . Edwards, Mathews, and Rogers, Mixed Ministry, 
.
. Interview by Karen Swallow Prior, “ e ‘Benevolent Sexism’ at Christian Colleges,” Christianity Today, November , , https://www.christianitytoday. com/ct//november-web-only/benevolent-sexism-at-christian-colleges.html. . MaryKate Morse, Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and In” uence (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, ), Kindle loc 
. . Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, “What Do Countries with the Best Coronavirus Responses Have in Common? Women Leaders,” Forbes, April , , https:// www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox//
//what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/. . Wittenberg-Cox, “Women Leaders.” STAY INFORMED On issues of biblical gender equality

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16 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org Was Love the Motive for Women’s Silence in ‚ Corinthians ‚¥:‘¥–‘¦? A Lawyer’s Study

By Andrew Bartlett

My professional career as a lawyer has in uenced the desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home, for way that I read the Bible. Lawyers investigate human it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in an assembly” behavior like scientists investigate the natural world, (author’s translation). looking for the explanation that best  ts all the available data. What happens when we apply that approach to the FIVE PUZZLES puzzle of  Corinthians 4:4– ?  ese verses say, “ e women should be silent in the assemblies. For it is not  ese verses from  Corinthians have at least  ve puzzling permitted to them to speak but they should be put in features.  e  rst is that they appear to be in con ict subjection as also the Law says. If there is anything they with chapter  of the same letter, where Paul regulates

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 17 or that they should be put in subjection?  ere isn’t anything in the Old Testament that says that. What’s going on? Has Paul made a mistake?

 is issue becomes even more uncomfortable when we Which verse says that women are recognize the historical context.  ere is evidence of a misconception among Greek-speaking Jews in the  rst not permitted to speak or that they century that there was indeed a Scripture about woman being subordinate, as apparently cited in  Cor. : . should be put in subjection? There Such a belief can be seen in the Jewish historian Josephus, writing about ­ – AD (Against Apion .): “for, says isn’t anything in the Old Testament the Scripture, ‘A woman is inferior to her husband in all things.’ Let her therefore, be obedient to him.” Strangely, that says that. What’s going on? verse  seems to re ect this misconception. Has Paul made a mistake? Anyone familiar with the quality of Paul’s writing, and more especially anyone who regards the New Testament as God’s Word, must view with surprise and discomfort a text where Paul apparently refers to an Old Testament Scripture which does not exist, but which some Jews how men and women pray and prophesy. But these verses of his day mistakenly believed to exist.  is instance is say that women must keep silent in the church assembly. unique in Paul’s letters.

Second, they appear to be in con ict with chapter  e fourth puzzling feature is in the second reason given  and with chapter 4 all the way up to verse . In for women’s silence in  Cor. : : “If there is anything chapter , Paul is saying that spiritual gi s are given to they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at all believers and that all should use them. He makes no home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in an distinction between gi s given to men and gi s given to assembly.”  is reason directly re ects the prevailing women.  ese gi s include ones which may be exercised culture. In Greek and Roman public assemblies, women in the assembled church, such as prophecy, speaking were not allowed to speak.  is would be regarded as in tongues, or a message of wisdom.  is discussion disgraceful. But it doesn’t make any sense for Paul to say continues through chapter 4. Consider verse €: “Two that these cultural rules should be applied in this way. or three prophets should speak and the others should He’s already considered in chapter  what was honorable discern.” We know that prophets include women, so the or disgraceful in the culture, and there he permitted two or three prophets who speak could include women. women to pray and prophesy and did not require them And the others who do the discerning, the weighing up to be silent. of what is said, may also include women. So, women may be both giving prophecies and evaluating them. Fi h, there are theories which propose that Paul does not It is clear that women are speaking in the Corinthian really mean that women should be silent. He means only assembly, and they are encouraged to do so in an orderly that a certain kind of speaking by women is prohibited. way, because it is their Christian duty to use their gi s to Some say the ban is on women asking questions, others build up the body of Christ. that it is on women’s noisy or disruptive chatter, or on women speaking in tongues, or on women evaluating  ird, consider the  rst reason given for women’s silence, prophecies, or on women failing to conform to the which is in  Cor. : : “For it is not permitted to them proper order of worship, or on women teaching falsely, to speak, but they should be put in subjection, as also the or on women making an uneducated contribution. All Law says.” When Paul refers to the Law, he means what these theories run up against the feature that silence is Christians usually call the Old Testament. So, what commanded in unquali ed terms and this unquali ed statement in the Old Testament is being referred to here? ban is stated three times (“women should be silent,” “it Which verse says that women are not permitted to speak is not permitted to them to speak,” “it is disgraceful for a

18 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org SILENCE ADDED—BUT HOW AND WHY? So, what should we do with 1 In the early decades a er Paul’s martyrdom in Rome Cor. 14:34–35? Assuming these (about  AD), his letters were collected and copied. Circumstances had changed since Paul had written verses are authentic, no one has his  rst letter to the Corinthians (about A D ) .  e assemblies of Christians were larger and had greater yet found a satisfactory solution public visibility. Paul had laid down a clear principle in  Cor. :–: that believers should not give unnecessary for these five puzzles. o ense but should be imitators of Christ, who always put others’ interests before his own. Within chapters –4 woman to speak in an assembly”). Each such phrase, Paul had shown how this principle of unsel sh love for even on its own, indicates a complete ban on women’s others should be applied in orderly worship. For example, speaking in the assembly. And the forcefulness of the those who might otherwise exercise too freely their gi complete ban is intensi ed by the rhetorical use of of speaking in tongues should consider the negative repetition. To make the same point three times in e ect on inquirers who might come into the assembly di erent ways was a common device in both Jewish and should restrain themselves (4: – ). Paul had also and Greco-Roman discourse for expressing maximal written elsewhere about this same principle of loving emphasis.  e combination of unquali ed words and self-restraint for the purpose of making the Christian threefold repetition is an extreme di culty for all gospel more attractive to outsiders (Titus :, €–). proposals that only a particular kind of speaking is being Outsiders who came into the assembly would be unlikely prohibited.  at is not what the words convey. to receive the good news of Christ if they were shocked by a lack of decorum. WHAT TO DO? In a more public setting, women’s silence could therefore So, what should we do with  Cor. 4: – ? Assuming be seen as a necessary restriction, with an evangelistic these verses are authentic, no one has yet found a motive. Paul had imposed a restriction on some women satisfactory solution for these  ve puzzles. at Ephesus when circumstances required ( Tim. :–). In the newly visible public assemblies of the church, When I researched these verses for my book, Men and where women’s public speaking would cause o ense Women in Christ: Fresh Light • om the Biblical Texts, I to unbelievers, it would have made sense to extend the was surprised to learn that there is historical manuscript Ephesian restriction so as to ban speaking by women evidence which strongly suggests that these two verses “in the assemblies.”  is would have appeared as a wise are not an authentic part of Paul’s letter. Part of the and loving strategy for diminishing social friction in a evidence is that surviving manuscripts have the words patriarchal culture. It would make it easier for outsiders of what we call verses –  in two di erent positions. to receive the Christian message. In most manuscripts they appear a er verse . In some they appear a er what we call verse 4. It appears probable that in the latter part of the  rst century, when Paul’s letters were being collected and What solution best  ts all the available evidence? copied, a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian considered it If they are authentic, no one has come up with a important to write a comment in the margin, explaining convincing explanation of why they appear in two that women should be silent in the assemblies in order to di erent places in the manuscripts. I conclude in my avoid disgrace in the eyes of outsiders.  is would have book that these verses were probably added into Paul’s been motivated by loyalty to the principles Paul had laid letter (see chapter  for discussion of the evidence and down, and by love and concern for outsiders. the competing theories). If women were going to be silent, this would mean You may wonder: How could that happen? How could that they could not even ask questions. Aware of Paul’s these out-of-context words get added into copies of teaching that women, not just men, should learn (as in Paul’s letter?  Tim. :), he included the suggestion that, if there

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 19 was anything they desired to learn, they should ask had to decide where to put them. It wasn’t clear where their husbands at home. the words belonged.  us, some opted for one position, some for the other. When copyists saw something written in the margin, they had a decision to make: was this just someone’s At the least, our Bibles should have a footnote along the comment, or was it part of the main text, which had lines of: “Manuscript evidence indicates that verses  been written in the margin because the previous copyist and may be a later addition, not original to Paul, and had initially le it out by mistake? If it belonged in the should be omitted.” Better, verses – should be placed main text, there should be a mark showing where to in italics or in a footnote, together with an explanation insert it, but such marks could wear o , or otherwise that the nature of the discrepancies in the manuscripts become invisible or smudged. If in doubt, scribes would suggests that they are of doubtful authenticity. tend to include the words in the main text, rather than miss anything.  ose who regard verses – as an inauthentic addition to the text of Paul’s letter sometimes think of Living in a patriarchal culture where women rarely the addition as a power grab by a man who wanted to spoke in public, scribes may not have been troubled by enforce patriarchal culture on the church. I think it is any appearance of inconsistency.  ey may readily have more likely that it was a well-intentioned e ort to apply assumed that the words they saw in the margin were our Lord’s principle of love to a new situation. Paul’s words, motivated by a concern for not alienating outsiders and being an application of the Lord’s command to love, similar to that in  Cor. 4:3– .

If this is right, it explains why the words appear in Andrew Bartlett QC is based in London. His main di erent places in the manuscripts. If verses – work is as an international arbitrator, deciding multinational commercial disputes in various originated as an early marginal comment, written to give countries around the world. He has a BA in guidance on how to apply Paul’s principles to the new Theology (University of Gloucestershire; situation, there was no editing mark showing where the rst class honors and Bible Society prize). He has served words should be inserted into the main text. So, scribes in several churches as elder or churchwarden.

Living in a patriarchal culture where women rarely spoke in public, scribes may not have been troubled by any appearance of inconsistency. They may readily have assumed that the words they saw in the margin were Paul’s words, motivated by a concern for not alienating outsiders and being an application of the Lord’s command to love, similar to that in 1 Cor. 14:23–28.

20 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org “This teaching is

so clear!” – Mimi Haddad, Ph.D Fact or . Theory? The Truth About Women in Church History and the Bible

Breakthrough teaching separates facts versus theories for the main scriptures used to limit women. With fascinating timeline, 50+ scriptures explained, reconciliation teaching and time of prayer. New information for most viewers. Five dynamic, concise videos. Great to share with others!

Viewable free at FACTorTHEORY.org

Jane L. Crane is a gifted leader and speaker who has taught this material on five continents. She was the Lausanne Movement’s first Senior Associate for the Partnership of Men and Women and holds a Masters in Peace and Justice.

Jesus Didn’t Die for Marriage Why Churches Need to Address Domestic Violence

By Mandy Marshall

“On the night he attacked me, I was strangled to unconsciousness. My friend came round and saw my burst blood vessels in my face, and I was still in shock. She took me to the vicarage, and I was asked, ‘So did you have an argument then?’ . . . The following Sunday the bruising around my eyes had come up. No one at church asked me if I was OK.”

—Susie (name changed, and story shared with permission)

22 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org Over the years I have heard shows that domestic abuse happens hope. Hope, along with a load many stories like Susie’s, where in churches too and is often of church culture that pressures a church’s response to abuse was perpetuated by Christian men. women to stay no matter what, wholly inadequate, where some leaves a woman feeling totally misunderstood the serious nature of It’s easy for Christians who don’t trapped with nowhere to go and domestic abuse, and where they were understand the prevalence of abuse no hope but to pray for change paralyzed to act. When Restored, a to wonder how a seemingly lovely when the abuse escalates. Often, Christian charity working to end man who sits on the leadership of Christian women who are being domestic abuse, raised awareness the church or passes out bulletins or abused by their husbands/partners with churches on the prevalence of helps with the youth group could be feel they are unable to leave him domestic abuse in the UK, some such a monster in private. Because or divorce him because it is not responded with disbelief. People Christians are ready to give people biblical. Common church teachings were quick to respond by saying, the benefit of the doubt, they fail to are what keep women from escaping “surely not in our church.” Or if see how a reputable churchgoer can their abusers instead of empowering they were able to acknowledge have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality. them to find help. the existence of abuse in church But the denial or minimization a communities, many would say it survivor faces in a church after a God Hates Divorce “wasn’t being done by Christian disclosure of abuse can close them men.” Unfortunately, they’re wrong. down from speaking up and getting “God hates divorce” is one of the most- Domestic abuse is prevalent among the help and support they need. used justifications for encouraging a Christians and often perpetuated by woman with an abusive husband the way churches respond to women Pleading in Prayer to stay in the relationship. When who report, which is reinforced by Christians use this justification, common unbiblical teachings on Survivors will tell me about their they become complicit in the abuse. divorce. Churches must do better abusive husbands and how they Yes, God absolutely hates divorce if we want to address this crisis of have tried everything to appease because of the immense hurt, pain, domestic violence. him, please him, and have prayed and destruction that it brings. It for things to change. Sometimes tears hearts into pieces and can take Research on Prevalence of Abuse they ask me to pray with them that years to repair. No loving God would in Churches he will change back into the man want to see any of his children go they once knew and married. They through that. Of course, God hates These myths of abuse were commonly say things like, “If he divorce—who doesn’t? challenged head-on with just went back to the man I married groundbreaking research, “In . . . ,” or “He was so lovely when we This common quip actually Churches Too: Church Responses first got married,” or “He was Mr. represents a misinterpretation of to Domestic Abuse—A Case Charming, and all my girlfriends Malachi :, which says, “‘The man Study of Cumbria” by Kristin were jealous that I got to marry him.” who hates and divorces his wife,’ Aune (University of Coventry) Their pain is heartbreaking. says the L‚ƒ„, the God of Israel, and Rebecca Barnes (University ‘does violence to the one he should of Leicester), looking at church When I ask how he is working on protect.’” Clearly, the man who does responses to domestic abuse across himself to change, their faces are violence against his wife has already, Cumbria, a region in the northwest often downcast and they say things in a spiritual sense, divorced her. A of England famed for the Lake like, “He thinks I need to change,” woman who files for divorce from District National Park. This serene “He thinks I’m crazy,” or “He her abuser is then making legal and seemingly idyllic place saw one doesn’t see anything wrong with the reality he has forced upon her in four churchgoers experiencing what he is doing.” spiritually. Even though God hates abuse in their current relationship. divorce, he does allow for it (Matt. This rose to over  percent Victims and survivors of abuse often 9: ), and it is therefore not a reason when previous relationships were minimize the abuse when speaking to send a woman back to her abusive taken into account. Moreover, out at first. Some do not think husband. In fact, it could be very the research revealed that over € they are being abused because their dangerous to do so. percent of the abuse was committed husband hasn’t physically injured by men, and  percent of these them yet. Prayer becomes their last were churchgoers. This evidence hope, and sometimes it’s a killer

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 23 Till Death Us Do Part Do the church and Christians really walk humbly with our God (Mic. put the institution of marriage above : ). It is our responsibility to call life itself? Do we think Jesus died to out abuse and bring about justice. “Marriage is for life” is another uphold the institution of marriage? frequently cited justification for Clearly, we should not. Call to Action Pandita Ramabai’s encouraging women to stay with abusive partners. This idea refers Jesus didn’t die for marriage or to We need to look at ourselves and to our belief that marriage is a elevate the institution of marriage examine what assumptions we covenant agreement made before above everything else. No, Jesus have imbibed via our patriarchal God to respect, love, and cherish one died to bring us back to God and church culture, or teachings that another. In cases of abuse, it is the show a way of love and peace. misinterpreted Scripture, regarding Legacy abuser who has broken the covenant, The New Testament reprioritizes marriage and domestic abuse. We not the survivor. We need to place marriage so that following Jesus is need to recognize the damage that the responsibility where it lies: with placed above it and all other earthly these assumptions have done to us the person who is abusing. The things. Jesus taught that at the mentally, spiritually, and physically marriage covenant was not meant to resurrection we will not be married and mourn the pain and hurt that be upheld under any circumstance. (Matt. : ), and Paul teaches they have caused. It may take some Abuse, coercive control, infidelity, a preference for singleness in his time to grieve through this because and abandonment are all events letter to the Corinthians ( Cor. our assumptions could be deeply that break this covenant. Forcing a : , – ). Thus, we should not ingrained. Remember though that woman to accept these circumstances be afraid to hold men who abuse in Jesus we have complete freedom. is not loving or just. It is more akin accountable, and we should not Jesus came to bring healing to the to abandoning our Christian duty hinder women seeking to divorce brokenhearted and to break the to care for the hurting, and instead their abusive husbands. chains of injustice. choosing to walk on the other side of the road as the priest and Levite did Holding Abusers Accountable If you are able, discuss these in the story of the Good Samaritan assumptions with a safeguarding (Luke : – ). As a church, we should be angry at ocer (child protection person) at the men who choose to abuse. We your church, or raise it with your How have we arrived at a place should not punish women who are church leader or pastor. Open up a where a woman is encouraged to stay being abused and then prevented debate about the messages that these with a husband who is choosing to from speaking up about the horror assumptions can bring to those who are abuse her because she made a vow of their situation. We silence being abused. Restored has provided of “till death us do part”? It can be women when we tell them that they a resource for churches, which can be very dangerous and lead to the loss cannot speak out because it will downloaded in dierent languages of life. Whose death are we talking give Christianity, the church, or and adapted for dierent countries: about? In the UK, on average, two the abuser’s ministry a bad name. www.restoredrelationships.org/ women a week are murdered by their The blame must be placed on the churchpack. e US version can partner or ex-partner, according to perpetrator. It is he who is at fault, be found here: https://www. a study by the Office for National who has sinned. If anyone gives the restoredrelationships.org/resources/ Statistics. If we advise women to church or Christianity a bad name, info/4/. remain and reconcile, we could be it is the perpetrator of abuse. placing a death sentence on the woman or encouraging her to return We also need to remember that God to a marriage where her safety, sanity, has survived many a scandal over . Report can be accessed here: https://www. and dignity are not being upheld. thousands of years, and the church restoredrelationships.org/resources/info/
/. No Christian or church leader wants will survive without the ministry to be a part of a domestic homicide of a man who is choosing to abuse Mandy Marshall is the review trying to justify why they cofounder of Restored, a his wife. It’s not going to ruin God’s UK-based Christian charity advised a woman to return to her name by speaking out but rather working to end domestic abusive husband or partner, rather the reverse. By not speaking out we abuse. Mandy left Restored than refer her to the professional bring the reputation of the church in March 2020, after ten services available. under question and derision. We years, to take up the role of Director for Gender need to act justly, love mercy, and Justice at the Anglican Communion.

24 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org Pandita Ramabai’s Legacy

How a Gender- Conscious Bible Translation Impacts Christian Ministry

By Boaz Johnson

In ­ ­, the government of India issued a stamp  nally Ramabai’s Early Life and Conversion acknowledging a woman that Hindu India did not want to recognize. Her name was Pandita Ramabai (  – Pandita Ramabai was born in  . Her father was a ­), and this stamp was issued on the one hundredth wandering Hindu Brahmin priest, which meant that his anniversary of the founding of the Mukti Mission, a family traveled with him from one temple to another place of refuge she founded in  ­ for low-caste and in South India, and they lived on the alms given by the outcaste girls who were tra cked and abused. I would devotees of the gods and goddesses. She lost her father, like to introduce some thoughts on Ramabai’s work mother, and sister during the great famine of  – , during the great bubonic plague pandemic which struck which killed an estimated  ve million people. Ramabai the world, and especially India, between  ­ and ­ . and her brother  ed South India for Calcutta, where  ose were the most crucial years of Ramabai’s work, they wandered from one Hindu temple to another. especially her Bible translation work. Ramabai was trained in Sanskrit and in the knowledge of the Hindu texts by her father and mother. She was a skillful interpreter, though her knowledge was technically forbidden. Yet reading these Hindu texts also made Ramabai intensely aware of the unjust place given to women in Hindu society. In her autobiography, she wrote, “ ere were two things on which all those books . . . were agreed: women of high and low caste, as a class, were bad, very bad, worse than demons, and that they could not get Moksha [salvation] as men.”

Ramabai’s quest for a solution for girls, widows, and low- caste women led her to explore the teachings of Jesus from the book of Luke, which she found in her husband’s Keep an eye out for a follow-up article on library. She wrote, “I had found a little pamphlet in my CBE’s blog on this topic. library. I do not know how it came there, but I picked

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 25 Against the advice of people around her, she decided to do something. Her desire to serve was fueled by two Scripture verses: “Thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee” (Deut. Ž‘:Ž‘, KJV), and “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esth. —:Ž—, KJV). it up and began to read it with great interest. It was St. truth about what was going on, so she went deep into Luke’s Gospel in the Bengali language.”  e story of villages to rescue these girls. Jesus’s interactions with women in particular grabbed her attention.  roughout the text, whenever women In a letter to her supporters in  €, she wrote that she encountered Jesus, he elevated their status and o ered had no choice but to do something about the plight of them spiritual, emotional, and social salvation.  is was these women and girls. “My heart sank within me, and I a great contrast to the place of women in Hindu texts. cried to God for help. I feel deeply for these poor dying people.” Against the advice of people around her, she Against the advice of her Hindu leaders, Ramabai decided to do something. Her desire to serve was fueled became a follower of Jesus, and her work with the low- by two Scripture verses: “ ou shalt remember that thou caste and outcaste women of India began. She deemed it wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and the L‚ƒ„ “of  rst importance to prepare the way for the spread of thy God redeemed thee” (Deut.  : , KJV), and “Who the gospel by throwing open the locked doors of Indian knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such zenanas [a place of seclusion in the house for women], a time as this?” (Esth. :, KJV). which cannot be done safely without giving suitable education to the women.”  e emancipation of low- Ramabai was also motivated by her memories of her caste girls and women became her life’s work. own state of servitude in Hindu society. She sought to always remember what Hinduism did to her sister: her Ramabai’s Motivation to Rescue father married her teenage sister to a much older man who severely abused her. She died at a very young age in When the bubonic plague hit Mumbai and Poona (today poverty, hunger, and disease. Ramabai herself must have called Pune) in  ­, Ramabai knew that low-caste su ered much during the wanderings from one temple to girls and women would face the worst of the pandemic. another as an orphan with her brother. Girl babies and sacred prostitutes from low castes were o ered to the gods Ganesha and Yellamma. Ganesha’s Ramabai established Mukti Mission, “House of vehicle, the rat god, was worshiped alongside him, with Salvation,” for these girls. She rescued girls and women rats living and fed in temple precincts. Because rats from the brothels of Mumbai and Poona, and widows were also one of the primary ways the plague spread, and low-caste girls from the local villages. High-caste low-caste girls were the most vulnerable to infection. men would promise low-caste and outcaste parents in During the pandemic, girls were secluded by high-caste villages that their daughters would get good jobs in big authorities on the pretext that they were being checked cities. When they were brought to cities, they were sold out for signs of the plague.  en the girls would disappear into brothels. Sadly, this happens even today. When low- from these seclusion centers, becoming sexual slaves/ caste girls today must travel away from low-caste and mistresses to these high-caste men. Ramabai knew the outcaste villages, they are raped by high-caste young men. It was worse during the time of Ramabai. Ramabai is an amazing model of The Daughters of Ramabai

how correct understanding of the  e  ­ bubonic plague in India was a massive tragedy. Ramabai knew that there was a direct connection Bible leads to liberation of the weak between the bubonic plague, Hinduism, and gender injustice against low-caste people. Ramabai tirelessly and the vulnerable. sought to right this injustice. At her own personal risk, she went on bullock carts to rescue hundreds of low-caste

26 MUTUALITY | Summer 2020 WEBSITE: cbeinternational.org girls, orphans, and widows, to bring them to safety and nurture them to health. Ramabai is an amazing model The only people holding the of how a correct understanding of the Bible leads to liberation of the weak and vulnerable. In history, the hands of the prostitutes of weak and vulnerable have o en been women. Mumbai and Pune today are In my last visit to the red-light districts of Pune and Mumbai, I saw freed and bold “daughters of Ramabai” do the “daughters of Ramabai”! amazing work.  ey are freeing today’s slaves because of the impact of Ramabai’s Bible translation and legacy on their What a lasting legacy! lives. I also  nd fascinating that during the coronavirus shutdown in Mumbai and Pune, the red-light districts are empty of high-caste men.  ey did not care about passing Boaz Johnson is professor of biblical and theological studies at North Park University in Chicago. He is a on their sexually transmittable diseases to these village board member of CBE International. Boaz has a PhD girls previously. But now, scared of the coronavirus, they from Trinity International University, Deer eld, IL. have disappeared.  e only people holding the hands He has taught internationally. Boaz’s wife is a clinical of the prostitutes of Mumbai and Pune today are the mental therapist. They have four grown children and “daughters of Ramabai”! What a lasting legacy! seven grandchildren.

. Pandita Ramabai, A Testimony: of Our Inexhaustible Treasure (Kedgaon, MA: Mukti, ), . . Ramabai, A Testimony, . . Ramabai, A Testimony, –.
. Meera Kosambi, Pandita Ramabai: Life and Landmark Writings (New York, NY: Routledge, ). . Kosambi, Pandita Ramabai, . Reflect With Us by H. Edgar Hix

We Asked We asked, “Where are the inspired leaders? We have so few.”

He said, “The rest are just outside your door, waiting in dresses.” He Said

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• CBE successfully launched our new website! • May CBE’s new website better serve those looking for biblical solutions to Christian patriarchy. • Many amazing scholars, humanitarians, and church leaders are planning to speak at CBE’s 2020 conference • Pray that new donors find and support CBE to replace in London. We are grateful for their gracious flexibility those who recently have had to reduce their giving. as we negotiate the travel and event realities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. • The final editing and design of Created to Thrive, CBE’s new pastor/church resource on preventing • CBE will award THREE Alvera Mickelsen Memorial abuse, is underway and marketing will begin soon. scholarships again this summer, thanks to the generous Please pray for wisdom and creativity. CBE community.

BOOKSTORE: cbebookstore.org MUTUALITY | ”Freedom to Flourish” 29 President’s Message by Mimi Haddad

Theology and Human Flourishing

The most prominent indicator of whether a female will While percent of Americans share the concern that be trafficked, killed as a fetus, abused in her family, or significant obstacles still make it harder for women to get denied food, healthcare, legal support, or an education ahead compared to men, research from Barna Group has is not her gender but the value a society attributes to shown that three in ten people believe gender obstacles are females compared to males. Known as the girl effect, largely gone. Women, however, are more likely to believe researchers show that when communities esteem both those obstacles exist compared to men ( ­ percent vs. † males and females and invest in their potential equally, percent). Significantly, Barna reports that “evangelicals are these communities are less likely to encounter suffering the most skeptical of the existence of barriers for women and are more likely to enjoy flourishing. Both secular in the workplace. Less than one-third (  percent)— and Christian humanitarians increasingly recognize the fewer than any other segment Barna studied—believe influence faith leaders have in promoting the dignity and significant obstacles still exist.” agency of females. To speak for God is the greatest power a leader has. Yet, when male authority is framed as God’s This is why theologians, pastors and Christian design, patriarchy gains an unfathomable force! humanitarians are convening at CBE International’s conference in London to explore the social impact of A large majority of the world follows a faith tradition. failed biblical interpretations. Our goal is to consider the Since most religious traditions have supported male confluence of three different yet overlapping spheres: (‡) authority, fostering gender equality represents a global development/humanitarian work, () Christian significant opportunity for humanitarians, especially faith, and (3) gender equality—three distinct disciplines among Christians. The good news is that the teachings that when aligned hold unrealized and extraordinary and practices of Christianity have, from the beginning, potential for human flourishing. The diagrams below largely identified with the oppressed. The challenge is represent both the challenge and the unique opportunity that Christians have assumed men in authority is the the conference sessions will address. Conference sessions biblical ideal. Even among egalitarians, who affirm gender will consider both the theological flaws of male-only equality as coherent biblically, male leaders outnumber authority while also showing the impact of gender equality female in many fields, especially in the academy and the in humanitarian work. When harmonized, the gospel church. As Karen Longman has shown in her research on frees us to build a more just world to the glory of Christ. women in leadership, women in the Christian academy do We hope you’ll join us! half as well as women in secular institutions. And women represent less than † percent of members of the Evangelical Theological Society where membership is only given to those with terminal degrees.

Human Current State Goal Flourishing Development Development

Gender Christian Gender Christian Equality Faith Equality Faith

Image by Sean Callaghan

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Featured Titles from Upcoming CBE Conference Speakers

Men and Women Altogether Lovely The Marys of Global Voices on in Christ the Bible Biblical Equality Havilah Dharamraj Andrew Bartlett Boaz Johnson Aída Besançon Spencer William David Spencer Mimi Haddad

7 Deadly Sins of Scars Across Rediscovering Out of Control Women in Leadership Humanity Scripture’s Vision Natalie Collins for Women Kate Coleman Elaine Storkey Lucy Peppiatt

For more resources, visit cbeBookstore cbebookstore.org providing quality resources on biblical gender equality