I
am impressed with this book. If Christians were to read only one book
to understand the egalitarian position, this would be at the top of
my list. Knorr reminds us that just because a doctrine has been held
for a long time does not mean it is true (think slavery).
He
thoroughly explores the two biblical passages most debated on the
issue of women in ministry (1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians
14:34-35). Knorr studied the earliest manuscripts of these passages,
the highly valued P46 and the Codex Vaticanus. He shows how
the passages have often been mistranslated. He appeals to the
writings of early church fathers as they quote Scripture. He reveals
the gender bias of modern translations, inserting male pronouns where
none exist in the Greek.
I
really like how Knorr gives much evidence from early church writings
that women in ministry were accepted at the time. His documentation
is extensive. Early church fathers accepted that Junia was a female
apostle, for example. (97) He shows how there were female leaders in
both Judaism and secular religions at the time so female leaders in
Christianity would not be a huge cultural change.
Knorr
appeals a great deal to the original Greek. While some laypeople may
be overwhelmed by his extensive arguments, if one works through this book thoroughly, the evidence is convincing. His conclusion is that
Scripture shows women can hold the role of deacon, elder, apostle,
prophet, and by extension, pastor. (119)
I
highly recommend this book to any Christian desiring to really
investigate the egalitarian position.
My
rating: 5/5 stars.
Along
with a career in computer programming, Seth Knorr is also an elder,
Sunday school teacher, and small group leader in his church. He also
served as a youth pastor for ten years and created the biblical
search engine SmartBibleSearch.com,
which offers Google-like features. All of which led to a passion for
studying the Bible in its original languages along with church
history and the early church fathers. You can go to http://www.smartbiblesearch.com/ and
http://www.greekbiblesearch.com/ to use the search engines Knorr has created.