Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful
I decided to start “listening” to the voices and stories of the women within scripture’s pages from a woman’s point of view, for we know God created woman with good intent. To woman God gave the power to bring forth life, to be strength, courage, and a powerful rescue to the people of earth. Adam was unable to go it alone. Only with Eve, his equal and his counterpart, bringing with her the gifts of life, love, hope, strength, courage, faithfulness and power would Adam survive. Together, they had the potential to thrive.
To study 32 women from the Bible, Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful
From the blog
Last Call: Study the Gospel of John
John takes a dramatic departure in his gospel in several ways, not the least of which is in his depiction of Jesus with women. If you would like to study this gospel with us, please register here.
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Martyrdom of the Mothers, Part Two
Last week I gave the cultural and Christian context for martyrdom, particularly of women, and mothers at that. I also gave the context of choice, highlighting the difference between Perpetua’s and Felicity’s grisly end in the arena, and Paula’s “living” martyrdom of poverty and self-denial for the sake of Christ. This week I look at…
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Martyrdom of the Mothers, Part One
The translation of Perpetua’s first-hand account (in Greek) of the weeks leading up to her martyrdom, her visions, and that of one of her companions, of the loss of her son, and the loss of her servant’s daughter, is available in the public domain following this link. It is only six pages long, the last…
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The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, Part Two
Perpetua’s visions had a great impact on the martyrs who came after her, as well as our understanding of life after death. Her first vision is described in Part One. Today are the rest of Perpetua’s visions.
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The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas, Part One
I came across the story of Perpetua and Felicitas during my studies at Portland Seminary. She was an early Christian martyr, notable because she was a woman, of noble birth, and she died just as the second century came to a close.
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“On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women Through Scripture”
On Purpose offers a comprehensive look at Genesis 1-3, Ephesians 5, Passages in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, and 1 Peter 3.
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Tabitha (Dorcas)
The unique and intriguing story of a woman with dual citizenship, as it were, a woman known for her good deeds, the only woman who was actually called disciple in the entire Christian Testament, whose death rocked her Christian community to its core, and her deliverance by being raised back to life generated widespread belief…
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The Eden Book Series by Bruce C. E. Fleming
This year, we will carefully and methodically, verse-by-verse, read the Word of Truth together in the following texts, using the study guides provided in the Eden Book series:
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Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful
I decided to start “listening” to the voices and stories of the women within scripture’s pages from a woman’s point of view, for we know God created woman with good intent. To woman God gave the power to bring forth life, to be strength, courage, and a powerful rescue to the people of earth. Adam…
Keep reading
A Better Reading of 1 Corinthians 11 and 14
Paul shook his head and muttered to himself. He could feel his temperature rise, even against the close heat of the small room he’d been given, to spend the night. But, there was no mistaking what he was reading, as the simple, clay oil lamp flickered its light across the papyrus. “God!” he thought. “God!…
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Colossians 3: Household Codes
Paul worked from the teachings of Jesus. Everything Paul wrote must be sifted through the Gospels, or it won’t read right. Jesus was very clear—a point we have tragically ignored for most of Christendom’s existence—that we are not to rule over anyone within the kingdom.
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How Genesis 3:15 Supports 1 Timothy 2:11-15
Crazily enough, these verses mean exactly the opposite of what you and I have been lead to think.
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Let Her Learn!
I learned in my own Greek class that whenever a group was mixed, male and female, only the male gender was used to describe the group. If you were looking at a group of, let’s say, six girls and one boy, you would use male gendered language to describe that group, if you were speaking…
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Three Keys to 1 Timothy
What if we’ve been trying to unlock 1 Timothy from a modern, western, Age of Enlightenment perspective when the letter itself is based upon the logic, letter-writing customs, and Greek idiosyncrasies of the ancient near east?
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What is the Point of 1 Timothy 2:12?
The Chiastic Structure or Pattern shows a different emphasis in 1 Timothy, one in which proto-gnostic teaching was becoming a problem that must be addressed head on. Timothy was to make sure everyone was properly educated before they were entrusted with being deacons and elders, teachers and leaders within the church.
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1 Timothy 2:11-12
The part people often miss is that Paul wanted women in the classroom, learning scripture, theology, Greek and Hebrew, reading and writing, and presumably teaching and evangelizing, right alongside the men.
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αὐθεντέω
Excerpts from Cynthia Long Westfall and NT Wright, trying to get a handle on the word translated “Authority” in 1 Timothy 2:12
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“Twisted Scripture”
There are four important points to consider before wading into a Bible passage in order to try to understand what it’s saying and what it means, let alone to try and figure out how to live it out.
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The Book of Eden: God Did Not Limit Woman In Any Way
CBE Review: “The Book of Eden: Genesis 2–3 by Bruce C. E. Fleming (based on the work of Joy Fleming, PhD, PsyD), is an excellent addition to the field of biblical gender studies.”
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Abigail
Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
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Has God Appointed Men as God Appointed Levites?
Surely some of you are asking why. Why would God say the Levites were to be priests? Guess what. There is an answer to that, but it’s a triggering kind of story, if you have a low tolerance for evil and violence.
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Ezer Kenegdo
God made woman to share with man a mutual concern and responsibility, a shared commission to govern the earth, with united commitment to each other that reflected God’s own eternal three-in-one being of equal deity and power.
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About Me
My passion for the Bible began when I was eight or nine years old, somewhere in there, when on occasion my dad would take me to synagogue, where he sang. I remember watching the men in synagogue pray the words of scripture, murmuring and weeping, lovingly touching and kissing the Torah, and I wished I could read what they were reading.
Imagine, then, my wonder when I was given a Bible of my own!
Let’s hang out
[Catacombs of Saint Gennaro | By Dominik Matus – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58309035]
