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Andy Naselli

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complementarianism

Four Views on Hierarchy and Complementarity

February 29, 2024 by Andy Naselli

This new article is insightful:

Laughlin, Bryan, and Doug Ponder. “Complementarians and the Rise of Second-Wave Evangelical Feminism.” Sola Ecclesia, 26 February 2024.

Here is one of my takeaways from the article (the below table is my own synthesis but in line with the article by Laughlin and Ponder):

Four Views on Hierarchy and Complementarity

Hierarchy

Complementarity

1. Biblical patriarchy / broad, thick, or natural complementarianism

✅ ✅

2. Narrow, thin, or ideological complementarianism

✅*

❌**

3. Egalitarianism / evangelical feminism (initially) ❌

✅**

4. Egalitarianism / evangelical feminism (increasingly now) ❌

❌

*barely (see below)

**in a sense (see below)

Some explanations: [Read more…] about Four Views on Hierarchy and Complementarity

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: complementarianism

The Drivetrain: The MacArthur Center’s New Podcast Episode on Theological Triage

September 10, 2023 by Andy Naselli

The MacArthur Center’s new podcast episode is on theological triage: “The Drivetrain.”

  • on Apple podcasts
  • on Spotify

Austin Duncan and his team produce this podcast with excellence. They obviously put a lot of work into their podcast episodes because they are clear, engaging, and high-quality in both content and form. They piece together various interviews and add sound effects and music. It’s high-caliber audio journalism—like NPR but with good content. It’s the best quality podcast I know of in confessional evangelical circles.

It was my pleasure to contribute to “The Drivetrain” episode on theological triage. Al Mohler popularized this terminology for distinguishing the importance of Bible teachings in his 2005 article “A Call for Theological Triage and Christian Maturity.”

Here’s how I like to present three levels of importance (a version of this table appears in my forthcoming book Predestination: An Introduction, p. 18):

It’s easy to misunderstand and misapply that taxonomy. That’s what “The Drivetrain” is about.

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: complementarianism, conscience, John MacArthur

God’s Good Design for Sex: A Review of Michael Clary’s “God’s Good Design”

July 28, 2023 by Andy Naselli

Here’s my review of a new book on human sexuality:

Naselli, Andrew David. “God’s Good Design for Sex: A Review of Michael Clary’s God’s Good Design.” American Reformer, 28 July 2023.

Overall, Clary’s book is timely, faithful, courageous, accessible, and inspiring.

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: complementarianism, Manhood and Womanhood

Yet Another Attempt to Justify What God Forbids: A Response to Cynthia Lang Westfall, “Male and Female, One in Christ” (on Galatians 3:28)

June 22, 2023 by Andy Naselli

The latest issue of Eikon is mostly a chapter-by-chapter review of the third edition of Discovering Biblical Equality.

I contributed an article on Galatians 3:28:

Naselli, Andrew David. “Yet Another Attempt to Justify What God Forbids: A Response to Cynthia Lang Westfall, ‘Male and Female, One in Christ.’” Eikon: A Journal for Biblical Anthropology 5.1 (2023): 32–39.

    • Web version
    • PDF

Here’s my phrase diagram of Galatians 3:26–29:

[Read more…] about Yet Another Attempt to Justify What God Forbids: A Response to Cynthia Lang Westfall, “Male and Female, One in Christ” (on Galatians 3:28)

Filed Under: Exegesis, Systematic Theology Tagged With: complementarianism, Manhood and Womanhood

Women and Head Coverings: Explaining and Applying 1 Corinthians 11:2–16

March 8, 2023 by Andy Naselli

This short article released today:

Naselli, Andrew David. “Women and Head Coverings: Explaining and Applying 1 Corinthians 11:2–16.” Christ Over All, 8 March 2023.

I answer three questions about 1 Corinthians 11:2–16:

  1. How does Paul argue?
  2. What is the historical-cultural context?
  3. How should we apply it today?
    • 1. Dress in culturally appropriate ways when the church gathers to worship.
    • 2. Recognize that God has designed men and women to relate to each other in different ways.
    • 3. Show that God’s design for husbands and wives is beautiful.

Related:

  1. Do Complementarians Consistently Apply How Paul Argues from Creation in 1 Cor 11:8–10 and 1 Tim 2:13–14?
  2. My Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians

Filed Under: Exegesis, Practical Theology Tagged With: complementarianism

Katie Luther: A Biographical Sketch by Jenni Naselli

October 28, 2022 by Andy Naselli

My wife gave a delightful 27-minute biographical sketch of Martin Luther’s wife, Katie, at the Godward Life Conference a month ago:

This was part of a session titled “Womanhood: Lost and Found.”

  • Abigail Dodds spoke on “She Shall Be Called Woman.”
  • Tilly Dillehay spoke on “Unmentionable Sins.”
  • And the three ladies concluded with a 55-minute panel:

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: Abigail Dodds, complementarianism, Jenni Naselli, Martin Luther

Does Anyone Need to Recover from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood? A Review Article of Aimee Byrd’s Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

May 4, 2020 by Andy Naselli

John Piper and Wayne Grudem edited Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in 1991, and now Aimee Byrd has written Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood some thirty years later.

I just reviewed Byrd’s new book:

Andrew David Naselli. “Does Anyone Need to Recover from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood? A Review Article of Aimee Byrd’s Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.” Eikon: A Journal for Biblical Anthropology 2.1 (2020): 109–51. PDF | web version

Here’s what I argue:

  1. Summary: The gist of Byrd’s book is that biblical manhood and womanhood—especially as John Piper and Wayne Grudem teach it—uses traditional patriarchal structures to oppress women.
  2. Context: On the spectrum of views on men and women, Byrd’s position overlaps partly with the far left side of narrow complementarianism and partly with egalitarianism.
  3. Evaluation: Byrd’s book is misleading because she misrepresents complementarianism, and it is misguided because she shows faulty judgment or reasoning.

Here’s the outline:

1. Summary: What Is the Gist of Byrd’s Book?

2. Context: Where Does Byrd’s Book Fit on the Spectrum of Views on Men and Women?

3. Evaluation: Is Byrd’s Book Fair and Sound?

3.1. Misleading: Byrd Misrepresents Complementarianism

      • Byrd Asserts That Complementarianism Teaches That All Women Must Submit to All Men
      • Byrd Asserts That Complementarianism Teaches That the Key Aim of Discipleship Is Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
      • Byrd Presents a Particular View of the Trinity as Essential to Complementarianism
      • Byrd Implies that Complementarianism Inevitably Leads to Abuse
      • Byrd Argues against Broad Complementarianism without Substantively Engaging Its Strongest Exegetical and Theological Arguments
        • (1) Genesis 1–3
        • (2) 1 Corinthians 14:29–35
        • (3) Ephesians 5:21–33 and Colossians 3:18–19
        • (4) 1 Peter 3:1–7
        • (5) 1 Corinthians 11:7–9 and 1 Timothy 2:8–15

3.2. Misguided: Byrd Shows Faulty Judgment or Reasoning

      • Byrd Focuses on Stories (While Largely Ignoring Direct Teaching on Men and Women)
      • Byrd Constructs Overimaginative and Unlikely Scenarios
      • Byrd Supports Her Conjectures by Citing Evangelical Feminists
      • Byrd Does Not Specify How Men and Women Are Different
      • Byrd Uses the “Biblicist” Hermeneutic She Denounces

4. Conclusion and Four Exhortations

    • 1. Study this issue for yourself.
    • 2. Beware of the ditches on either side of complementarianism.
    • 3. Discern which ditch you are more prone to fall into.
    • 4. Love and celebrate how God has designed men and women.

My article is more than a book review. I attempt to orient Christians to the current conversation. For example, this table from §2 compares narrow and broad complementarianism: [Read more…] about Does Anyone Need to Recover from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood? A Review Article of Aimee Byrd’s Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: complementarianism

Four Reasons to Read Rebekah Merkle’s “Eve in Exile”

January 30, 2020 by Andy Naselli

9Marks just published my review of Rebekah Merkle’s Eve in Exile: And the Restoration of Femininity (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2016).

It’s not so much a critical review as it is a case for Christians to read it. I suggest four reasons:

  1. Her book is timely.
  2. Her book is wise.
  3. Her book is witty.
  4. Her book is motivating.

When my eleven-year-old daughter, Kara, was reading the book, I asked her what she thought of the author. [Read more…] about Four Reasons to Read Rebekah Merkle’s “Eve in Exile”

Filed Under: Practical Theology Tagged With: complementarianism

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God's Will and Making Decisions

How to Read a Book: Advice for Christian Readers

Predestination: An Introduction

Dictionary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament

Tracing the Argument of 1 Corinthians: A Phrase Diagram

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433580349/?tag=andynaselli-20

Tracing the Argument of Romans: A Phrase Diagram of the Greatest Letter Ever Written

The Serpent Slayer and the Scroll of Riddles: The Kambur Chronicles

The Serpent and the Serpent Slayer

40 Questions about Biblical Theology

1 Corinthians in Romans–Galatians (ESV Expository Commentary)

How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics?

Three Views on Israel and the Church: Perspectives on Romans 9–11

That Little Voice in Your Head: Learning about Your Conscience

How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology

No Quick Fix: Where Higher Life Theology Came From, What It Is, and Why It's Harmful

Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ

NIV Zondervan Study Bible

Perspectives on the Extent of the Atonement

From Typology to Doxology: Paul’s Use of Isaiah and Job in Romans 11:34–35

Four Views on the Spectrum of Evangelicalism

Let God and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology

Introducing the New Testament: A Short Guide to Its History and Message

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