Select Bibliography
Books
Abzug, Robert H. Passionate Liberator: Theodore Weld and the Dilemma of Reform . New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
Balch, David L. Let Wives Be Submissive: The Domestic Code in 1 Peter . SBLMS 26. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981.
Barnes, Albert. An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery . Philadelphia: Parry & McMillan, 1855.
Bartchy, S. Scott. MALLON CHRESAI: First Century Slavery and the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21 . Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1973.
Bechtler, Steven Richard. Following in His Steps: Suffering, Community, and Christology in 1 Peter . SBLDS 162. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998.
Beck, James R., and Craig L. Blomberg, eds. Two Views on Women in Ministry . 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
Bilezikian, Gilbert. Beyond Sex Roles: A Guide for the Study of Female Roles in the Bible . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985.
Bloesch, Donald G. Is the Bible Sexist? Beyond Feminism and Patriarchalism . Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1982.
Channing, William E. Slavery . Boston: James Munroe, 1835.
Cheever, George B. The Guilt of Slavery and the Crime of Slaveholding: Demonstrated from the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures . Boston: John P. Jewett, 1860.
Clouse, Bonnidell, and Robert G. Clouse. Women in Ministry: Four Views . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1989.
Copan, Paul. Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God . Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011.
Cosgrove, Charles H. Appealing to Scripture in Moral Debate: Five Hermeneutical Rules . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
Elliot, E. N., ed. Cotton Is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartwright on This Important Subject . 1860. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969.
Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. Discipleship of Equals: A Critical Feminist Ekklēsia-logy of Liberation . New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1993.
_________. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins . New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1994.
Foh, Susan T. Women and the Word of God: A Response to Biblical Feminism . Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980.
Fowl, Stephen E. Engaging Scripture: A Model for Theological Interpretation . Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998.
France, R. T. Women in the Church’s Ministry: A Test Case for Biblical Interpretation . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
Giles, Kevin. The Trinity and Subordinationism: The Doctrine of God and the Contemporary Gender Debate . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002.
_________. Women and Their Ministry: A Case for Equal Ministries in the Church Today . East Malvern, Australia: Dove Communications, 1977.
Grenz, Stanley, and Denise Muir Kjesbo. Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1995.
Groothuis, Rebecca Merrill. The Feminist Bogeywoman: Questions and Answers about Evangelical Feminism . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.
_________. Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality . Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997.
Grudem, Wayne. Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006.
_________. Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More Than 100 Disputed Questions . Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004.
Harrill, J. Albert. The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity . Hermeneutische Untersuchungen. zur Theologie 32. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1995.
_________. Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions . Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.
Harris, Murray J. Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001.
Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation; A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics . San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996.
Hove, Richard. Equality in Christ? Galatians 3:28 and the Gender Dispute . Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1999.
Hurley, James B. Man and Woman in Biblical Perspective . Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981.
Jewett, Paul K. Man as Male and Female: A Study in Sexual Relationships from a Theological Point of View . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975.
Johnson, Luke Timothy. Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church . Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
Kassian, Mary A. The Feminist Gospel: The Movement to Unite Feminism with the Church . Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1992.
_________. The Feminist Mistake: The Radical Impact of Feminism on Church and Culture . Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005.
_________. Women, Creation, and the Fall . Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1990.
Keener, Craig S. Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul . Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992.
Kidd, Reggie M. Wealth and Beneficence in the Pastoral Epistles: A “Bourgeois” Form of Early Christianity? SBLDS vol. 122. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.
Knight, George W., III. The Role Relationship of Men and Women: New Testament Teaching . Chicago: Moody Press, 1985.
Köstenberger, Andreas J. Studies on John and Gender: A Decade of Scholarship . Studies in Biblical Literature, vol. 38. New York: Peter Lang, 2001.
Köstenberger, Andreas J., and David W. Jones. God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation . 2nd ed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010.
Köstenberger, Andreas J., and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 . 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
Köstenberger, Andreas J., Thomas R. Schreiner, and H. Scott Baldwin, eds. Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995.
Kroeger, Catherine Clark, and Richard Clark. I Suffer Not a Woman: Rethinking 1 Timothy 2:11–15 in Light of Ancient Evidence . Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992.
Longenecker, Richard N. New Testament Social Ethics for Today . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.
Lowance, Mason, ed. Against Slavery: An Abolitionist Reader . New York: Penguin Books, 2000.
_________. A House Divided: The Antebellum Slavery Debates in America, 1776–1865 . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Marshall, I. Howard. Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology . Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.
_________. The Role of Women in the Church . Leicester: IVP, 1984.
Mickelsen, Alvera. Women, Authority, and the Bible . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1986.
Mollenkott, Virginia R. Women, Men, and the Bible . Rev. ed. New York: Crossroad, 1988.
Patterson, Orlando. Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Pierce, Ronald W., and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, eds. Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004.
Piper, John, and Wayne Grudem, eds. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism . Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991.
Scanzoni, Letha Dawson, and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? A Positive Christian Response . Rev. ed. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1994.
Sparks, Kenton L. God’s Word in Human Words: An Evangelical Appropriation of Critical Biblical Scholarship . Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008.
Spencer, Aida Besançon. Beyond the Curse: Women Called to Ministry . Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985.
Stendahl, Krister. The Bible and the Role of Women: A Case Study in Hermeneutics . Translated by Emilie T. Sander. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966.
Stewart, John W., and James H. Moorhead, eds. Charles Hodge Revisited: A Critical Appraisal of His Life and Work . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
Swartley, Willard M. Slavery, Sabbath, War and Women: Case Issues in Biblical Interpretation . Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1983.
Tise, Larry E. Proslavery: A History of the Defense of Slavery in America, 1701–1840 . Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1987.
Verner, David C. The Household of God: The Social World of the Pastoral Epistles . Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981.
Webb, William J. Corporal Punishment in the Bible: A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic for Troubling Texts . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2011.
_________. Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis . Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001.
Weld, Theodore. The Bible Against Slavery: or, An Inquiry into the Genius of the Mosaic System, and the Teachings of the Old Testament on the Subject of Human Rights . Pittsburgh: United Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1864.
Witherington, Ben. Women in the Earliest Churches . SNTSMS 59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Wolters, Albert M. Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.
Articles
Clines, David J. A. “What Does Eve Do to Help? and Other Readerly Questions to the Old Testament.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament , 94. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990.
Giles, Kevin. “The Biblical Argument for Slavery: Can the Bible Mislead? A Case Study in Hermeneutics.” EQ 66 (1994): 3–17.
_________. “A Critique of the ‘Novel’ Contemporary Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 Given in the Book, Women in the Church . Part I.” EQ 72 (2000): 151–67.
_________. “A Critique of the ‘Novel’ Contemporary Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 Given in the Book, Women in the Church . Part II.” EQ 72 (2000): 195–215.
_________. “The Ordination of Women: On Whose Side Is the Bible?” In Force of the Feminine: Women, Men and the Church , ed. Margaret A. Franklin, 38–48. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1986.
_________. “Women in the Church: A Rejoinder to Andreas Köstenberger.” EQ 73 (2001): 225–45.
Grudem, Wayne. “Should We Move Beyond the New Testament to a Better Ethic? An Analysis of William J. Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis .” JETS 47 (2004): 299–346.
Guelzo, Allen C. “Charles Hodge’s Antislavery Moment.” In Charles Hodge Revisited: A Critical Appraisal of His Life and Work , ed. John W. Stewart and James H. Moorhead, 299–325. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
Gundry-Volf, Judith M. “Christ and Gender: A Study of Difference and Equality in Gal. 3, 28.” In Jesus Christus als die Mitte der Schrift: Studien zur Hermeneutik des Evangeliums , ed. Christof Landmesser, Hans-Joachim Eckstein, and Hermann Lichtenberger, 439–77. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche, Band 86. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1997.
_________. “Gender and Creation in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16: A Study in Paul’s Theological Method.” In Evangelium, Schriftauslegung, Kirche: Festschrift für Peter Stuhlmacher zum 65. Geburtstag , ed. Jostein Ådna, Scott Hafemann, and Otfried Hofius, 151–71. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997.
Haas, Guenther. “The Kingdom and Slavery: A Test Case for Social Ethics.” Calvin Theological Journal 28 (1993): 74–89.
_________. “Patriarchy as an Evil That God Tolerated: Analysis and Implications for the Authority of Scripture.” JETS 38 (1995) 321–36.
_________. “Slave, Slavery.” In Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch . Edited by T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2003.
Hamilton, James M., Jr. “What Women Can Do in Ministry: Full Participation within Biblical Boundaries.” Paper presented at the Wheaton Theology Conference, Wheaton, IL, April, 2005.
Harrill, J. Albert. “Slave.” In Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible . Edited by David Noel Freedman. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000.
_________. “Slavery.” In Dictionary of New Testament Background . Edited by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2000.
_________. “The Use of the New Testament in the American Slave Controversy: A Case History in the Hermeneutical Tension between Biblical Criticism and Christian Moral Debate.” Religion and American Culture 10 (2000): 149–86.
Köstenberger, Andreas J. “Gender Passages in the NT: Hermeneutical Fallacies Critiqued.” WTJ 56 (1994): 259–83.
_________. “Women in the Church: A Response to Kevin Giles.” EQ 73 (2001): 205–24.
Moo, Douglas J. “1 Timothy 2:11–15: Meaning and Significance.” TrinJ 1 NS (1980): 62–83.
_________. “The Interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11–15: A Rejoinder.” TrinJ 2 NS (1981): 198–222.
Niccum, Curt. “The Voice of the Manuscripts on the Silence of Women: The External Evidence for 1 Cor. 14:34–5.” NTS 43 (1997): 242–55.
Noll, Mark A. “The Bible and Slavery.” In Religion and the American Civil War , ed. Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, and Charles Reagan Wilson, 43–73. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Osborne, Grant R. “Hermeneutics and Women in the Church.” JETS 20 (1977): 337–52.
Padgett, Alan. “Wealthy Women at Ephesus: 1 Timothy 2:8–15 in Social Context.” Interpretation 41 (1987): 19–31.
Patterson, Orlando. “Paul, Slavery and Freedom: Personal and Socio-Historical Reflections.” Semeia 83/84 (1998): 263–79.
Payne, Philip B. “Fuldensis, Sigla for Variants in Vaticanus, and 1 Cor. 14:34–5.” NTS (1995): 240–62.
_________. “Libertarian Women in Ephesus: A Response to Douglas J. Moo’s Article, ‘1 Timothy 2:11–15: Meaning and Significance.’ ” TrinJ 2 NS (1981): 169–97.
Rupprecht, Arthur A. “Attitudes on Slavery Among the Church Fathers.” In New Dimensions in New Testament Study , ed. Richard N. Longenecker and Merrill C. Tenney, 261–77. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974.
_________. “Slave, Slavery.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters . Edited by Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1993.
_________. “Slave, Slavery.” In The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible . Edited by Merrill C. Tenney and Steven Barabas. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975.
Sanders, Carl. “The 19th Century Slave Debate: An Example of Proto-Redemptive- Movement Hermeneutics?” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Antonio, TX, November 18, 2004.
Sanders, Laura L. “Equality and a Request for the Manumission of Onesimus.” Restoration Quarterly 46 (2004): 109–14.
Scholer, David M. “Feminist Hermeneutics and Evangelical Biblical Interpretation.” JETS 30 (1987): 407–20.
_________. “1 Timothy 2:9–15 & the Place of Women in the Church’s Ministry.” In Women, Authority & the Bible , ed. Alvera Mickelsen, 193–219. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1986.
Schreiner, Thomas R. “Review of Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals ,” JBMW 7 (2002): 41–51.
Scorgie, Glen G. “Tracing the Trajectory of the Spirit: Gender Egalitarians and Biblical Inerrancy.” Paper presented at the meeting of the Far West Region of the Evangelical Theological Society, La Mirada, CA, April 19, 2002.
Scroggs, Robin. “Paul and the Eschatological Woman.” JAAR 40 (1972): 283–303.
_________. “Paul and the Eschatological Woman: Revisited.” JAAR 42 (1974): 532–37.
Stendahl, Krister. “Women in the Churches: No Special Pleading.” Sounding 53 (1970): 374–78.
Stowers, Stanley K. “Paul and Slavery: A Response.” Semeia 83/84 (1998): 295–311.
Thompson, David L. “Women, Men, Slaves, and the Bible: Hermeneutical Inquiries.” CSR 25 (1996): 326–49.
Tiessen, Terrance. “Toward a Hermeneutic for Discerning Universal Moral Absolutes.” JETS 36 (1993): 189–207.
Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “Into the Great ‘Beyond’: A Theologian’s Response to the Marshall Plan.” In Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology , by I. Howard Marshall, 81–95. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004.
Ware, Bruce A. “Male and Female Complementarity and the Image of God.” In Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood , ed. Wayne Grudem, 71–92. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002.
Webb, William. “Balancing Paul’s Original-Creation and Pro-Creation Arguments: 1 Corinthians 11:11–12 in Light of Modern Embryology.” WTJ 66 (2004): 275–89.
_________. “Bashing Babies against the Rocks: A Redemptive-Movement Approach to the Imprecatory Psalms.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Atlanta, November 20, 2003.
_________. “Gender Equality and Homosexuality.” In Discovering Biblical Equality : Complementarity without Hierarchy , ed. Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, 401–13. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004.
_________. “The Limits of a Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: A Focused Response to T. R. Schreiner.” EQ 75 (2003): 327–42.
_________. “A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: Encouraging Dialogue among Four Evangelical Views.” JETS 48 (2005): 331–49.
_________. “A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: Responding to Grudem’s Concerns.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Antonio, TX, November 2004.
_________. “The Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: The Slavery Analogy.” In Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy , ed. Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, 382–400. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004.
_________. “Rod, Whip and Meat Cleaver: Spanking Kids and Cutting Off a Wife’s Hand.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Diego, CA, November 2007.
Witherington, Ben III. “Rite and Rights for Women—Galatians 3:28.” NTS 27 (1981): 593–604.
_________. “Women (New Testament).” In ABD . Edited by David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Index of Scripture
Genesis
1—58, 125
1–2—7, 66
1–3—65n80, 122
1:26ff—66
1:26–27—58, 126n42
1:26–28—122n29
1:27—57n45, 116, 150
1:28—118
2—51, 59, 76, 78, 125
2–3—51
2:7—51n14, 59
2:8—51n14
2:15—51n14
2:18—51, 59, 66, 118n11, 163
2:19—51n14
2:20—51, 59
2:20–24—66n84, 76
2:21ff—66
2:21–22—62
2:21–23—66
2:22—59
2:23—59
2:24—48n3, 66, 68–69, 77–78, 94, 116, 118n11
3—51
3:13—51
3:16—65–66
5:1—58n49
5:3—58n49
9:3—120
9:6—58n49
33:5—118
48:18—86
Exodus
13:1–16—86n7
15:6—86
15:12—86
20:12—82n27
21:16—16, 19, 40
21:20–21—171–73
Leviticus
11:44–45—86n3
19:2—86n3
19:9–10—148
19:10—109
20:7—86n3
23:22—148
Deuteronomy
24:1–4—44
24:7—40
25:1–3—171–73
25:3—173
25:4—162
25:11–12—168, 174
Numbers
12:1–15—65
Judges
3:12–30—87
20:16—87
1 Chronicles
6:39—86
Psalm
50:21—ix
89:27—86n7
106:20—122n29
110:1—86, 93
127:3–5—118
Proverbs
5:15–23—118n11
Isaiah
28:11–12—65
29:16—51n15
52:5—32n40
Jeremiah
13:22–27—91
Ezekiel
16:37–39—91
Hosea
1–3—90
1:2–3—91
1:8—91
2—67n86, 90–93
2:3—90–93
2:10—91
Nahum
3:4–5—91
Matthew
5:31–32—117n7
7:12—15, 150
19—44, 116
19:3–12—116
19:4–6—117n7
19:8—45, 116
19:11—119
22:30—139
22:44—86, 93
26:64—93
Mark
10:2–8—117n7
10:8—100n55
10:12—96
10:45—74
Luke
6:31—15
16:18—117n7
22:25–26—74
John
1:12—143n106
10:30—100n55
13:14—109
15:12—86n3
Acts
5:29—108n87
Romans
1—121
1:20—121
1:23—121, 122n29
1:25—121–22
1:26–27—121, 123n32, 124, 158
2:24—32n40
5:12—51
8:17—143n106
8:18—97n43
8:18ff—135
8:29—86n7
9:20—51n15
12:5—100n55
16:16—106n78
1 Corinthians
3:8—100n55
6:16—66
7—47n1, 139
7:1–9—118n11
7:2—117n7
7:7–9—119
7:10–16—96
7:11—42n91
7:12–16—70
7:17—43
7:20—42–43
7:21—xx, 2, 2n7, 16, 18–19, 23n2, 41–43, 97, 164–65
7:22—42
7:23—164
7:24—42, 43
7:25–35—119
7:28—42n91
8:6—135
9:9–12—162
11—31, 56n38, 57, 58n48, 60, 62–64, 66–67, 69, 71, 76n6, 79, 81, 88–89, 93–94, 98,
105n74, 106, 113, 142, 157
11:2–16—47–48, 49n3, 56, 77, 132, 140, 143
11:3—56–57, 60n57, 67n87, 78, 94, 156–57
11:3ff—66
11:3–5—68n89
11:3–16—67n85, 76, 138
11:4—57
11:4–5—66
11:4–6—57n44
11:5—57, 64
11:6—48, 57, 59, 66
11:7—57–58, 78
11:7–9—58n45, 60n57
11:7–12—56n37
11:8—xx, 48, 49n3, 63, 78, 124, 130–31, 140
11:8–9—48, 58–60, 61n62, 63, 66, 76, 78, 103–4, 116n4, 120, 156, 158–59
11:9—59, 78, 142n104
11:10—59, 163
11:11—60
11:11–12—xxin9, 2, 3, 56n37, 59–61, 63, 78, 101, 103
11:12—61, 102, 104
12:13—xx, 7, 39, 97, 131, 133
14—63–64, 66–67, 69, 71, 76n9, 78–79, 98, 142
14:21—65
14:23—105n74
14:28—64
14:29—64
14:30—64
14:33—64n71
14:33–35—47–48, 143, 163
14:33–36—143n106, 146n118
14:34—xx, 48, 64–66, 76–77, 79, 156
14:34f—xviiin4, 140
14:34–35—63n70, 64, 66, 141–42
14:35—64, 66
14:35–36—142n103
14:35–37—142n103
15—139
15:21–22—51
16:20—106n78
2 Corinthians
4:16—42n91
4:17—97n43
5:17—143n106
7:8—42n91
11:3—55
13:12—106n78
Galatians
2:5—99n52
2:11–14—99
2:14—99
3:16—144
3:26—144–45
3:26–29—101
3:28—xviiin4, xx, 2–5, 7, 12, 39, 60, 97–101, 130–31, 133, 135, 140–42, 143n106, 144–47, 149, 151, 159
3:29—144–45
4:4—63
4:22–23—63
5—139
5:11—99n52
6:17—99n52
Ephesians
1:10—135
2:14–16—100
2:15—7, 131, 133
4:22–24—131, 133–35
4:32—86n3
5—31, 56n39, 57, 67–68, 74, 77–78, 88–90, 92–94, 98, 113, 138–39, 142, 157, 159
5–6—9n30, 80
5:12—66
5:21—48, 67
5:21–33—10n34
5:21–6:9—140
5:22—48, 67–68, 73
5:22–33—47, 67, 77, 143, 152, 156–57
5:22–24—143n106
5:22–6:9—79n15, 80n16, 81
5:23—xx, 48
5:23–24—68n89
5:24—68
5:25—68
5:31—48n3, 68, 77–78, 140, 156
5:32—69
6—79
6:2–3—82n27
6:4—81n25, 173n13
6:5—xx, 27, 73
6:5–8—27, 29, 67
6:5–9—28, 31, 56, 86, 157
6:6—74
6:8—xx, 28–29, 79, 156
6:9—29, 95
Philippians
2:1–11—67, 90
Colossians
1:15–18—86n7
1:20—135
2:5—42n91
2:8—x
3—80, 139, 142
3:1—xx
3:10—140
3:9–10—135
3:9–11—135
3:11—7, 39, 97, 131, 133, 135
3:18—xx, 48, 69–70, 73–74, 138, 143n106
3:18–19—10n34, 47, 77
3:18–4:1—79n15, 81, 140
3:20—69–70
3:22—xx, 27, 70, 73
3:22–24—68
3:22–25—30
3:22–4:1—27, 28n24, 31, 56, 86, 157
3:24—xx, 28–29, 74, 156
3:24–25—79
4:1—15, 29, 95
1 Thessalonians
4:9–12—105n74
5:26—106n78
1 Timothy
1:1—xx
1:10—16, 19, 39–40, 95
2—8, 11, 49, 52n18, 58, 64, 66, 69, 72, 78–79, 98, 128, 139, 141–42, 145–46, 159,
163–64
2:8—49n6
2:8–15—79n15, 141, 143n106, 146n118
2:9–10—49n6
2:9–12—49n6
2:9–15—12n41, 12n42, 47–48, 49n4, 50n7
2:11—48–49, 66
2:11f—xviiin4, 140
2:11–12—49–50, 53n26, 56, 66, 78, 124, 141n98, 142n103, 144n110
2:11–15—138, 143, 153
2:12—4n13, 8, 11, 48–49, 51, 66, 79, 110, 145, 152, 166
2:12–13—124
2:12–14—77, 127–28
2:13—xx, 8, 48, 49n3, 50–51, 59, 66n84, 76, 78, 116n4, 120, 124–31, 137n80, 140, 145,
153, 156, 158–59
2:13–14—48, 49n3, 50n10, 51, 56, 66, 67n85, 75, 145
2:14—49n3, 51–52, 55n36, 78
3:2—117n7
3:11—47n1
3:12—117n7
3:13—50n9
4:1–7—53n26
4:5—50n9
4:7—52
4:8—50n9
4:16—50n9
5:1—55
5:4—50n9
5:9—117n7
5:9–16—47n1
5:11—50n9
5:11–13—53n26
5:15—50n9
5:18—162
6:1—xx, 27, 32, 74, 77, 104, 105n74, 107, 156
6:1–2—32, 79n15
6:2—32
6:15—86, 93
2 Timothy
1:5—55
1:7—50n9
2:7—50n9
2:16—50n9
3:6—50n9, 53n26, 55
3:15—55
4:3—50n9
4:6—50n9
4:10—50n9
4:11—50n9
4:15—50n9
Titus
1:6—117n7
1:10—50n9
1:11—66
2—74, 105
2:1–10—79n15
2:2–10—34
2:3–5—47–48
2:4—48, 164
2:4–5—77, 105, 156
2:5—xx, 15n57, 35, 48, 71, 75, 105n74
2:7–8—35
2:8—75
2:9—27
2:9–10—27, 77, 104, 105n74, 107–8
2:10—xx, 32, 35, 74, 156
2:11—50n9
3:3—50n9
3:9—50n9
3:12—50n9
Philemon
11–21—164
14—38
15—37
15–16—97
16—39
17—38
18–19—37
21—38
Hebrews
1:6—86n7
10:34—31
1 Peter
1:3–5—29n29
1:4—113n104
1:11—30
1:16—86n3
2—74, 88, 107n82
2–3—75
2:12—111
2:13—112
2:13–15—107
2:16—27n21, 30n35, 108n87
2:17—109
2:18—27, 73
2:18–21—xx
2:18–25—27, 29–31, 56, 68n88, 86, 157
2:18–3:7—79n15
2:19—29, 30, 79
2:19–20—xx, 29n27, 156
2:20—29–30, 79
2:21–25—30
2:23—30
3—71, 75, 87, 98, 110, 113, 158
3:1—xx, 15n57, 35, 48, 71, 73, 77, 156
3:1–2—105
3:1–6—143n106
3:1–7—15n57, 47, 143
3:5–6—28n22
3:7—113
3:9—30n35
3:13–22—30
3:14—30, 31, 87
3:15–16—31, 87
3:16—111
3:17—30, 31, 87
3:18—30, 31, 87
4:1—30
4:13—30
4:15—30
4:19—30
5:1—30
5:9—30
5:10—30
5:14—106n78
1 John
4:11—86n3
Revelation
17:14—86, 93
19:16—86, 93
Index of Subjects
and Names
abstraction, ladder of 52, 108–110, 148–49
Barnes, Albert 14, 17–19, 80, 177
Bartchy, S. Scott 2, 24–27, 38, 43, 177
Belleville, Linda 65
Best, Ernest 68, 70
Blomberg, Craig 81, 97, 125, 148, 166, 177
Bruce, F. F. xiii, xviii, 4–5, 12, 37–38, 53, 56, 58, 60, 64–66, 70, 97, 135, 140, 183
Carson, D. A. 55, 64, 66, 76, 100
complementarianism xvii–xix, 8, 11, 13, 49, 81, 98, 101, 120, 124, 126–28, 131, 136, 141, 145–46, 150, 158, 163–64, 166
Copan, Paul 175, 177
corporal punishment 163, 167–69, 171–74, 176
Cranfield, C. E. B. 122–23
creation order xix, 2, 3, 8, 11–13, 49, 51, 56, 60, 66–67, 75–76, 78, 85, 104, 115, 120–22, 124–28, 130–33, 135, 137–38, 149, 152, 158
creation versus redemption 5, 85, 115, 131–36, 138, 153, 158
Davids, Peter H. 15, 25, 71, 111–13
divorce 8, 12, 44–45, 91, 95, 115–16, 120, 123
Dobson, James 168
Doriani, Daniel 52, 161–66, 171
egalitarianism xvii, 4, 6, 8, 17, 50, 56, 67, 81, 89, 98, 102, 110, 120, 124, 126, 130, 136, 143–46, 151, 156, 159, 161, 163–67, 183
embryology xxi, 61–62, 101–4, 183
Fall (into sin) 67, 75–76, 136, 179
Fee, Gordon 2, 34, 41–42, 49, 57, 59–60, 63, 142, 145
France, R. T. xvii, 3, 4–5, 10, 50, 120, 125, 140–41, 175, 178
Garland, David 2, 38, 41–44, 59, 60, 65
Garrett, Duane 91
Giles, Kevin xvii, xix–xx, 8–10, 12–13, 23–24, 29, 31, 43, 45–46, 48, 67, 73–74, 75–82, 175, 178, 181–82
Groothuis, Rebecca xvii, 6, 71, 82, 111, 136, 144, 178, 180, 184
ground for obedience xx, 28, 48, 75, 87
Grudem, Wayne xvii–xviii, xxi, 11, 31, 57–58, 64, 67, 76, 80, 92, 94, 106, 113, 116, 119, 121, 125, 129–30, 136, 138, 143–44, 146, 150, 168, 178, 180–81, 183–84
Gundry-Volf, Judith 4, 57, 59, 62–63, 101–2, 181
Harrill, J. Albert 9, 14–16, 25, 40–41, 149, 178, 182
Harris, Murray J. 24–26, 37, 39–40, 44, 145, 178
Hays, Richard 122, 178
Hodge, Charles xviii, 20, 80, 177, 180–81
Hoehner, Harold W. 28, 69, 83
homosexuality 5–7, 12, 95, 121–24, 133–34, 150–52, 158–59, 162, 166, 176, 180, 184
Hosea 67, 90–92
Household Codes xx, 9, 67, 73–75, 77, 79–83, 96, 132
Hove, Richard 98, 100–101, 139, 141, 144–45, 178
Jewett, Paul xviii, 15, 60, 65–66, 142, 177, 179
Josephus 26, 43
Kaiser, Walter 63, 65, 161–67, 170–71
Knight, George 27, 32–34, 51, 55, 80–81, 179
Köstenberger, Andreas xiii, 12, 48–49, 52, 54, 69, 80, 118, 126, 141, 144, 146, 168, 170–71, 179, 181–82
Law 2, 15–16, 18, 25, 38–39, 63–66, 76, 79, 90, 107, 109, 116, 149, 156, 164, 171, 173, 174
Lightfoot, J. B. 38, 44
Lincoln, Andrew 28–29, 37, 135
Longenecker, Richard xviii, 4, 5, 60, 132–34, 137, 139, 140, 179, 182
Lowance, Mason xviii, 16, 179
male headship 7–9, 12, 18, 45, 56–63, 67–69, 73, 76, 78, 82, 88–89, 98, 100, 103, 105, 114, 121, 128–30, 136–38, 147, 150, 152–53
Marshall, I. Howard xvii, xx, 10, 27, 29–30, 32–34, 49, 54, 81–82, 123, 175, 179, 183
Mohler, Albert 118, 168
Mollenkott, Virginia 150–51, 179–80
monarchy 56, 86, 88–89, 92–93, 108, 156
Moo, Douglas 50, 51, 123, 182
Mounce, William xx, 27, 32–33, 51, 54
Noll, Mark 14, 20, 148, 182
Onesimus 3, 37, 38, 39, 183
Philemon xx, 2, 19, 37, 38, 44, 69, 70, 82, 97, 135, 164–65
Piper, John xiii, 57, 64, 76, 80, 113, 121, 125, 143, 144, 150, 180
polygamy 15, 45, 116
preliminary movement xxi, 13, 40, 85, 94–96, 104, 113, 157
primogeniture xxi, 8, 11, 56, 85–86, 88–89, 92–93, 110, 115, 121, 124–30, 137, 153, 156, 158
procreation 62, 102–4, 118–19
purpose/intent statements xxi, 36, 85, 106, 108, 110, 114, 148, 157
purpose of obedience 32, 71, 73, 75
racism 19–21, 98
right-handedness 56, 86, 88–89, 92–93, 156
Sabbath xviii, 17, 19, 35, 105, 117–18, 180
Scanzoni, Letha 150–51, 180
Scholer, David 50, 141, 144–45, 183
Schreiner, Thomas xi, xiii, xxi, 11, 12, 27, 29, 44, 49–55, 57, 68, 81, 99, 112, 116, 120, 123, 126–27, 145, 174, 179, 183–84
seed ideas xxi, 7, 13, 39, 42, 61, 63, 85, 95–98, 103–4, 113, 157
singleness 118–19
slavery
abolition xvii–xviii, 1, 3, 6–7, 9–11, 13–20, 26–27, 38, 43, 80, 138, 147, 149, 155, 163, 165, 169, 179
manumission 38, 42–43
nineteenth-century debate xix, 1, 13, 16–17, 21, 80, 147, 155
why NT does not condemn it 33, 43, 97, 155
Sparks, Kenton 174–75, 180
specific instructions versus general principles xvii, xxi, 2, 3, 5, 7, 13–15, 17, 19, 21, 85, 115, 140–41, 146–53, 155, 159, 162
Stendahl, Krister xvii, 1–3, 12, 21, 60–61, 63, 65, 131–33, 135, 137, 180, 183
Swartley, Willard xviii, 17–19, 35, 105, 180
theological analogy xxi, 31, 56, 67–69, 77–79, 85–90, 92–94, 113, 156–57
Thompson, David xvii, 5, 6, 13, 183
Towner, Philip H. 27, 32–35, 40, 49, 53, 55
Vanhoozer, Kevin 123, 161–62, 175, 183
Ware, Bruce xiii, 58, 183
Webb, William xvii, xx, 5–8, 10–13, 15, 21, 31–32, 35–36, 39–40, 42, 49–50, 52–56, 58, 61–62, 67–68, 71, 85–131, 133–34, 136–37, 146–52, 156–59, 161, 163–68, 169–76, 180–81, 183
Wegner, Paul 168, 172, 174
Witherington, Ben 50, 54, 64, 135, 180, 184
Wolters, Al 135, 162, 166, 171, 180
Yarbrough, Robert 12–13
1 . In 2004, two significant books on this topic were published. From the egalitarian position came Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, eds., Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004). From the complementarian position came Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More Than 100 Disputed Questions (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004). More recently, Grudem has published another book on this subject, Evangelical Feminism: A New Path to Liberalism? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006).
2 . Most notably, William Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001). Also R. T. France, Women in the Church’s Ministry: A Test Case for Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995); David L. Thompson, “Women, Men, Slaves, and the Bible: Hermeneutical Inquiries,” CSR 25 (1996): 326–49; I. Howard Marshall, “Mutual Love and Submission in Marriage: Colossians 3:18–19 and Ephesians 5:21–33,” in Discovering Biblical Equality , ed. Pierce and Groothuis, 186–204; idem., Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004). Prior to these evangelical feminist writings, a similar line of argumentation is found in Krister Stendahl, The Bible and the Role of Women: A Case Study in Hermeneutics , trans. Emilie T. Sander (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1966).
3 . For example, Kevin Giles, The Trinity and Subordinationism: The Doctrine of God and the Contemporary Gender Debate (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), devotes an entire chapter to this, “The Parallel Exhortations to Slaves and Women to Be Subordinate,” 251–58. Also, one of David Thompson’s three major theses is as follows: “The church’s experience in discerning the will of God regarding slavery provides a hermeneutical paradigm sufficiently parallel to instruct its processing of the biblical material on the relationship between men and women” (Thompson, “Women, Men, Slaves, and the Bible,” 327).
4 . The verse most commonly cited is Gal. 3:28. F. F. Bruce, Commentary on Galatians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 190, comments, “Paul states the basic principle here; if restrictions on it are found elsewhere in the Pauline corpus, as in 1 Cor. 14:34f. . . . or 1 Tim. 2:11f., they are to be understood in relation to Gal. 3:28, and not vice versa ” (italics original). Similarly, Paul Jewett, Man as Male and Female: A Study in Sexual Relationships from a Theological Point of View (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 148, says, “Had the church, through the centuries, interpreted ‘neither slave nor free’ in Galatians 3:28 in terms of the explicit implementation in the New Testament, the institution of slavery would never have been abolished. The same is true of women’s liberation.” Also see Richard Longenecker, New Testament Social Ethics for Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), who deals with the cultural (Jew/Gentile), social (slave/free), and sexual (male/female) aspects of Gal. 3:28.
5 . See Willard M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War and Women: Case Issues in Biblical Interpretation (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1983), 31–64. A notable defender of slavery was Charles Hodge. See his essay, “The Bible Argument on Slavery,” in Cotton Is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartwright on This Important Subject , ed. E. N. Elliot (1860; reprint, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969), 841–77. Also see Allen C. Guelzo, “Charles Hodge’s Antislavery Moment,” in Charles Hodge Revisited: A Critical Appraisal of His Life and Work , ed. John W. Stewart and James H. Moorhead (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 299–325.
6 . Wayne Grudem does not think a redemptive-movement hermeneutic is needed in order to oppose slavery from the Bible. The abolitionists, he asserts, “ did not advocate modifying or nullifying any biblical teaching , or moving ‘beyond’ the New Testament to a better ethic. They taught the abolition of slavery from the Bible itself” (italics original) (Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth , 614). He cites Theodore Weld, The Bible Against Slavery , 4th ed. (New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1838), and Mason Lowance, ed., Against Slavery: An Abolitionist Reader (New York: Penguin Books, 2000). I agree with Grudem that we do not need to move “ ‘beyond’ the New Testament to a better ethic.” However, I am open to learning from trajectory egalitarians as they have wrestled with the complex biblical and historical data on slavery.
7 . Giles, Trinity and Subordinationism , 257.
8 . Marshall, Beyond the Bible , points to the difference between his own commentary on the Pastorals and William D. Mounce’s commentary on the Pastorals, even though the two scholars share “much the same exegetical environment.” He then states, “Something more than exegesis is at work” (36).
9 . William J. Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals ; idem, “A Redemptive-Movement Model” in Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology , ed. Gary T. Meadors (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 215–48; idem, “Balancing Paul’s Original-Creation and Pro-Creation Arguments: 1 Corinthians 11:11–12 in Light of Modern Embryology,” WTJ 66 (2004): 275–89; idem, “Bashing Babies against the Rocks: A Redemptive-Movement Approach to the Imprecatory Psalms” (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Atlanta, November 20, 2003); idem, “The Limits of a Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: A Focused Response to T. R. Schreiner,” EQ 75 (2003): 327–42; idem, “A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: Encouraging Dialogue Among Four Evangelical Views,” JETS 48 (2005): 331–49; idem, “A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: Responding to Grudem’s Concerns” (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Antonio, November 17, 2004).
10 . I will use the phrase “the issue of women’s roles” to refer to the group of issues that come under one umbrella in biblical teaching, namely, husband-wife role relationships and the question of women teaching or having authority over men in the context of the church.
11 . Krister Stendahl, The Bible and the Role of Women: A Case Study in Hermeneutics , trans. Emilie T. Sander (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1966). Originally published in Swedish in 1958.
12 . Ibid., 8.
13 . Ibid., 32, 35.
14 . Ibid., 34.
15 . Ibid. Earlier, he stated, “It should be noted that [Gal. 3:28] is directed against what we call the order of creation, and consequently it creates a tension with those biblical passages—Pauline and non-Pauline—by which this order of creation maintains its place in the fundamental view of the New Testament concerning the subordination of women” (32).
16 . Ibid., 35–36: “[The ‘realistic interpretation’] does not see that the correct description of first-century Christianity is not automatically the authoritative and intended standard for the church through the ages. . . . [B]y making their description normative, they neutralize the power of the new and contribute to a permanent ‘holding minus x minutes’ in the drama of the launching of the kingdom.”
17 . Ibid., 33. Stendahl makes reference to the two renderings of the verse given in the New English Bible. The one he favors is found in a footnote of that Bible. For a full discussion of the difficulties here, see S. Scott Bartchy, MALLON CHRESAI: First Century Slavery and the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21 (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1973). He does not think this verse makes a judgment one way or the other on slavery. He translates the verse this way: “Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t worry about it. But if, indeed, you become manumitted, by all means [as a freedman] live according to [God’s calling]” (183). For a defense of the view that Paul is encouraging emancipation, see Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians , NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 315–18. So also David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians , BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 307–14.
18 . Stendahl, The Bible and the Role of Women , 33.
19 . Ibid., 34.
20 . Ibid.
21 . R. T. France, Women in the Church’s Ministry: A Test Case for Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 16–17.
22 . Ibid., 36.
23 . F. F. Bruce, Commentary on Galatians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 190. Luke Timothy Johnson, commenting on 1 Tim. 2:12, expresses the same sentiment: “I find the statements [in 1 Tim. 2] to be in sharp tension with other Pauline declarations of a more egalitarian character, above all Gal. 3:28. . . . I agree that our growth in understanding of the human person, partly guided by the Holy Spirit, and partly driven by the resistance of brave women to these strictures, makes it impossible to regard the statements disqualifying women from public speech and roles of leadership as either true or normative.” Luke Timothy Johnson, The First and Second Letters to Timothy , AB (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 208–9. On the other hand, Judith Gundry-Volf, in an essay dealing with Gal. 3:28, writes, “In Paul we are witnessing a model of thought in which equality does not presuppose all-out sameness (dissolution of femininity or/and masculinity) but sameness in some respects —with respect to sin and with respect to the way of salvation” (italics original). Judith M. Gundry-Volf, “Christ and Gender: A Study of Difference and Equality in Gal. 3, 28,” in Jesus Christus als die Mitte der Schrift , ed. C. Landmesser et al., BZNW 86 (New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1997), 476.
24 . France, Women in the Church’s Ministry , 94–95.
25 . Richard Longenecker, New Testament Social Ethics for Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), 27. Idem, Galatians (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1990), 156–59.
26 . Longenecker, New Testament Social Ethics for Today , 84. A similar sentiment is shared by J. A. Ziesler, Pauline Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983), 121: “So, the state and society remain, but the theological realities of the New Age are already undermining their inequitable, discriminatory, and hierarchical foundations. To change the metaphor, within the old society is a new one, built on quite different foundations of love, equality, and unity ” (emphasis added).
27 . Longenecker, New Testament Social Ethics for Today , 92.
28 . Ibid.
29 . David L. Thompson, “Women, Men, Slaves, and the Bible: Hermeneutical Inquiries,” CSR 25 (1996): 326–49.
30 . Ibid., 332.
31 . Ibid., 344.
32 . William J. Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001); idem, “The Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic: The Slavery Analogy,” in Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy , ed. Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2004), 382–400; idem, “Gender Equality and Homosexuality,” in Discovering Biblical Equality , 401–13; idem, “A Redemptive-Movement Model,” in Four Views on Moving Beyond the Bible to Theology , ed. Gary T. Meadors (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009), 215–48.
33 . Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 87.
34 . Ibid., 248.
35 . Ibid., 123.
36 . Ibid., 130–31.
37 . Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 145.
38 . Ibid.
39 . Giles’s overall emphasis is slightly different from Webb’s. Whereas Webb stresses the redemptive movement in the Bible, Giles stresses the difference between our culture and the ancient cultures represented in the Bible. Giles comments on Webb’s claim concerning the redemptive movement anticipated in the Bible, “There is much in Webb’s book with which I would agree, but to prove his point he would have to show that the moderating comments on slavery and women in Scripture were unique to the Bible. . . . In any case, I cannot see how this argument really helps on its own. The primary question is, why did Christians not see this redemptive motif in Scripture on slavery for eighteen centuries and on women for twenty centuries? Was it not a change in culture that allowed Christians to see in Scripture what had hitherto been hidden to them? The redemptive motif did not bring the change, it was the change that brought to light the redemptive motif.” Kevin Giles, The Trinity and Subordinationism: The Doctrine of God and the Contemporary Gender Debate (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 244n29. Giles has also written “The Subordination of Christ and the Subordination of Women,” in Discovering Biblical Equality , 334–52.
40 . Giles, The Trinity and Subordinationism , 230. Craig S. Keener also discusses the relevance of the slavery issue in his book, Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992). Concerning Ephesians 5–6 he writes, “Those who wish to save this passage’s power structure in the home regarding wives and children but not regarding slaves will have a difficult time. It is true that the Bible enjoins children’s obedience more clearly than it does that of slaves; but it also enjoins the submission of slaves more clearly than it does that of wives ” (italics original) (Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives , 188). Keener also writes, “Those who today will admit that slavery is wrong but still maintain that husbands must have authority over their wives are inconsistent. If they were consistent with their method of interpretation, which does not take enough account of cultural differences, it is likely that, had they lived one hundred fifty years ago, they would have had to have opposed the abolitionists as subverters of the moral order—as many Bible-quoting white slave owners and their allies did” (Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives , 207–8). In a similar way, J. Albert Harrill, in his Epilogue, criticizes the Southern Baptist Convention for the inconsistency between its “Resolution on Racial Reconciliation” and the article on the family in The Baptist Faith and Message , which says, “A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband.” Harrill writes, “This amendment on women, which explicitly affirms the inerrant and timeless truth of the household duty codes, contradicts the resolution on slavery, which implicitly denies their moral relevance today. The contradiction exposes the specious argument present in the amendment” (J. Albert Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions [Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006], 195).
41 . Giles, The Trinity and Subordinationism , 253.
42 . Ibid., 256. Giles bases his comparison on the tables found in David C. Verner, The Household of God: The Social World of the Pastoral Epistles (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981), 88.
43 . I. Howard Marshall, Beyond the Bible: Moving from Scripture to Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), 38. Marshall also refers to the hermeneutical principles set forth in C. H. Cosgrove, Appealing to Scripture in Moral Debate: Five Hermeneutical Rules (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002). And, interestingly, he states, “The idea of a ‘redemptive trajectory’ is not original with Webb” (Marshall, Beyond the Bible , 38n7), and references R. T. France, Women in the Church’s Ministry .
44 . I. Howard Marshall, “Mutual Love and Submission in Marriage: Colossians 3:18–19 and Ephesians 5:21–33,” in Discovering Biblical Equality , 195.
45 . Wayne Grudem, “Should We Move Beyond the New Testament to a Better Ethic? An Analysis of William J. Webb, Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis ,” JETS 47 (2004): 313.
46 . Grudem concludes, “Once we remove his claim that the Bible condones slavery, Webb’s Exhibit A is gone, and he has lost his primary means of supporting the claim that we need his ‘redemptive-movement hermeneutic’ to move beyond the ethic of the Bible itself,” ibid., 314.
47 . Thomas R. Schreiner, “Review of Slaves, Women and Homosexuals ,” JBMW 7 (2002): 46.
48 . Ibid., 48.
49 . Ibid., 49.
50 . Ibid.
51 . Robert W. Yarbrough, “Progressive and Historic: The Hermeneutics of 1 Timothy 2:9–15,” in Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 , ed. Andreas Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005), 121–48.
52 . Robert W. Yarbrough, “The Hermeneutics of 1 Timothy 2:9–15,” in Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of 1 Timothy 2:9–15 , ed. Andreas Köstenberger, Thomas R. Schreiner, and H. Scott Baldwin, 1st ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 155–96.
53 . Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 35 (including both footnotes); 256n3.
54 . Yarbrough, “Progressive and Historic,” 122.
55 . Ibid., 123.
56 . Ibid., 139.
57 . Ibid., 141.
58 . In various places, Webb points to ways in which the abolitionist arguments are similar to his, and how the pro-slavery arguments are similar to a “static hermeneutic.” For instance, in his discussion of specific instructions and general principles, he writes, “Slave owners in the United States valued the concession-based specifics of Scripture and argued their case primarily from those verses. . . . Abolitionists, on the contrary, began with the broad principles of Scripture and showed that slavery should be repealed on the basis of love and the ethics of equality in God’s kingdom and in Jesus’ new community” ( Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 180). Also see pages 33–34, 91, 104, 186. The quote above from David Thompson is another example of this. More recently, Carl Sanders has written a paper titled, “The 19th Century Slave Debate: An Example of Proto-Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutics?” He seeks to show that there are many parallels between the abolitionist arguments of the nineteenth century and Webb’s hermeneutical criteria. Sanders provides examples of the following criteria found in Webb’s book: preliminary movement, seed ideas, breakouts, specific instructions versus general principles, competing options, penal code, closely related issues, contextual comparisons, appeal to the Old Testament, and opposition to original culture (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, San Antonio, November 18, 2004).
59 . Mark A. Noll, “The Bible and Slavery,” in Religion and the American Civil War , ed. Randall M. Miller, Harry S. Stout, and Charles Reagan Wilson (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 43.
60 . Ibid., 44.
61 . Ibid. Interestingly, Noll later notes, “This move led directly or indirectly to the theological liberalism of the last third of the twentieth century” (Noll, “The Bible and Slavery,” 51). Harrill also makes this observation: “The antislavery and abolitionist interpretations of the New Testament during the American slave controversy also pushed biblical exegetes toward a critical hermeneutics, preparing the way in the United States for the eventual reception of German higher criticism” (Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament , 166).
62 . So Albert Barnes, An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery (Philadelphia: Perkins and Purves, 1846), 242–49.
63 . Harrill quotes from a debate in which it was said, “ If they were slaves, the translators of our Bible would have called them so ” (emphasis in original; Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament , 167, quoted from J. Blanchard and N. L. Rice, A Debate on Slavery Held in the City of Cincinnati, on the First, Second, Third, and Sixth Days of October, 1845, upon the Question: Is Slave-Holding in Itself Sinful, and the Relation between Master and Slave, a Sinful Relation? [Cincinnati: Wm. H. Moore, 1846], 336).
64 . Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament , 167. George Cheever wrote, “It is averred that Christ’s own silence on the subject of this sin gives consent to it. Christ was silent in regard to the sin of sodomy, in regard to infanticide, in regard to idolatry; and by this method of reasoning, not only is the law of God against these crimes abolished, and the crimes themselves made innocent by such silence, but he that speaks against them, when Christ did not, is himself guilty of a presumptuous sin, and may think himself happy if he is not struck with some divine judgment” (George Cheever, The Guilt of Slavery and the Crime of Slaveholding: Demonstrated from the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures [Boston: John P. Jewett, 1860], 332–33).
65 . Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament , 169–70.
66 . Ibid., 172–73.
67 . Ibid., 173. He says that William Ellery Channing was the main proponent of this view. Channing was professor of theology at Harvard Divinity School and was a Unitarian. This argument is similar to that used by trajectory advocates today who appeal to evangelism as the apostle’s reason for teaching wifely submission. Webb cites Titus 2:5, “that the word of God may not be reviled,” and 1 Peter 3:1, “so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,” demonstrating the purpose for wifely submission. He goes on to say that a wife’s submissive spirit may no longer serve those same purposes in our culture ( Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 107–8). Peter H. Davids also takes this approach in his chapter, “A Silent Witness in Marriage: 1 Peter 3:1–7,” in Discovering Biblical Equality . He writes, “Ironically, interpretations that focus on the unilateral obedience or submission of wives to husbands, regardless of cultural context, achieve the opposite of Peter’s intention. Rather than promoting harmony with culture, they set Christian marriage partners at odds with culture and thus heighten the tension, and Christianity is perceived as undermining culture in a retrogressive way. That is precisely what 1 Peter is seeking to minimize” (Davids, “A Silent Witness,” 236).
68 . William E. Channing, Slavery , 2nd ed. (Boston: James Munroe, 1836), 122.
69 . Harrill, Slaves in the New Testament , 173.
70 . The meaning of 1 Cor. 7:21 is debated, as discussed above.
71 . Harrill points to the Second Great Awakening and the moral philosophy of Common Sense Realism as two forces that brought rise to this hermeneutic of moral intuition. William Lloyd Garrison took this position to its extreme, for he thought the Bible should not even play a role in moral debates (Harrill, Slavery in the New Testament , 175–76).
72 . Mason Lowance, ed., Against Slavery: An Abolitionist Reader (New York: Penguin Books, 2000), 49.
73 . Ibid., 73, writing of McLeod’s sermon, “The Practice of Holding Men in Perpetual Slavery Condemned.”
74 . Willard Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women: Case Issues in Biblical Interpretation (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1983), 61.
75 . See Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women , 49, 52. This was not true of all abolitionists. Theodore Weld was an abolitionist as well as an egalitarian and saw some parallels between the two issues. See Donald W. Dayton, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 32–33. Also Robert H. Abzug, Passionate Liberator: Theodore Weld and the Dilemma of Reform (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), 175–78.
76 . Barnes, Inquiry , 276.
77 . Ibid., 276–77.
78 . George D. Armstrong, The Christian Doctrine of Slavery (1857; reprint, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969), 57.
79 . Stephen Charles Mott, review of Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women: Case Issues in Biblical Interpretation , by Willard M. Swartley, Horizons in Biblical Theology 7 (1985): 120.
80 . Barnes writes, “The principles laid down in this epistle to Philemon, therefore, would lead to the universal abolition of slavery. If all those who are now slaves were to become Christians, and their masters were to treat them ‘not as slaves, but as brethren beloved,’ the period would not be far distant when slavery would cease” ( Inquiry , 330, quoted in Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women , 46).
81 . Noll, “The Bible and Slavery,” 61.
82 . Ibid., 63.
83 . Ibid., 64. It should be noted, however, that Hodge advocated gradual emancipation of slaves. “In a series of learned works, he conceded the biblical grounding for slavery as an institution, but argued that a proper understanding of Scripture, as well as a right judgment on American circumstances, should move toward the amelioration of slavery and then its effacement. Unfortunately for Hodge’s later reputation, his attack on the biblical exegesis of abolitionists has been remembered more clearly than his defense of gradual emancipation” (Noll, “The Bible and Slavery,” 59–60). See Charles Hodge’s essay, “Slavery,” Princeton Review 7 (1835), reprinted in Hodge’s Essays and Reviews (New York: R. Carter, 1857), 573–611; idem, “The Bible Argument on Slavery,” in Cotton Is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartwright on This Important Subject , ed. E. N. Elliot (1860; reprint, New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969), 841–77. Also cf. Allen C. Guelzo, “Charles Hodge’s Antislavery Moment,” in Charles Hodge Revisited: A Critical Appraisal of His Life and Work , ed. John W. Stewart and James H. Moorhead (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 299–325.
84 . Kevin Giles, The Trinity and Subordinationism: The Doctrine of God and the Contemporary Gender Debate (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002), 230.
85 . “How much better it is to have a good master than to live a free man in sordid humiliation!” Menander, Fragments 1093 (LCL 132 [1921]: 534). See also S. Scott Bartchy, MALLON CHRESAI: First Century Slavery and the Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7:21 (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1973), 75n264.
86 . Epictetus, Discourse 4.1.33 (LCL 218 [1928]: 253).
87 . Ibid., 4.1.37–38 (255).
88 . Bartchy, MALLON CHRESAI , 75–77.
89 . Seneca, De Ira 3.40.2 (LCL 214 [1928]: 347–49).
90 . Tacitus, Annals 14.42–45 (LCL 322 [1937]: 174–81). There were some who protested the execution, but those advocating it prevailed.
91 . S. Scott Bartchy, “Slavery (New Testament),” in ABD , ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 69. Murray J. Harris, Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001), 25, defines a slave as “someone whose person and service belong wholly to another.” See also Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982), 13. He defines slavery as “the permanent, violent domination of natally alienated and generally dishonored persons.”
92 . J. A. Harrill, “Slavery,” in Dictionary of New Testament Background , ed. Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2000), 1125.
93 . Ibid.
94 . Harris, Slave of Christ , 44.
95 . S. Scott Bartchy, “Slave, Slavery,” in DLNTD , ed. Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1997), 1098, notes the five cultures that have relied heavily on slavery as part of their economic systems: the Greeks and Romans in ancient history, and Brazil, the Caribbean, and the United States in modern history.
96 . Bartchy, “Slavery,” in ABD , 67. Further, A. A. Rupprecht, “Slave, Slavery,” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters , ed. Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1993), 881: “Estimates are that 85–90 percent of the inhabitants of Rome and peninsula Italy were slaves or of slave origin in the first and second centuries A.D.”
97 . Tenney Frank, “The Sacred Treasure and the Rate of Manumission,” American Journal of Philology 53 (1932): 363. He comes to this estimate by studying the amount of money in Rome’s sacred treasury, based on the fact that there was a 5 percent tax on each slave who was manumitted. This article is cited by Harris, Slave of Christ , 40, and A. A. Rupprecht, “Slave, Slavery,” in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible , vol. 5, ed. Merrill C. Tenney and Steven Barabas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 458. Rupprecht adds, “These figures are all the more startling when one learns that the total population of Rome in 5 B.C. has been estimated at about 870,000.”
98 . Bartchy, “Slavery,” 70.
99 . Harris, Slave of Christ , 62. He makes the further observation that “when rebel slaves were successful in gaining their freedom, they promptly embraced the ideals and pursuits of their former owners and so perpetuated the status quo !” (emphasis original).
100 . See Harris, Slave of Christ , 61n41. Also, Bartchy, “Slavery,” 69.
101 . Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.21 (LCL 433 [1965]: 19). See also Philo, Every Good Man Is Free 79 (LCL 363 [1941]: 57).
102 . Philo, On the Contemplative Life 70 (LCL 363 [1941]: 157).
103 . Bartchy, MALLON CHRESAI , 87.
104 . Oiketēs literally means “member of the household.” It specifically refers to a “house slave, domestic,” or can mean “slave” in a generic sense (BDAG, 2000), s.v. “ oiketēs .” J. R. Michaels, 1 Peter , WBC (Waco: Word, 1998), 138, observes a reason for Peter’s choice of this term: “The other NT examples of the household duty code address Christian slaves as douloi (Col. 3:22; Eph. 6:5), but because Peter has just referred to all his readers as theou douloi (v. 16), he switches to oiketai in order to focus on household servants as a particular social group (the same group, presumably, as the douloi of Colossians and Ephesians). NT and LXX usage suggests no discernable difference in meaning.” Paul J. Achtemeier, 1 Peter , Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), 194, agrees that oiketai refers to slaves in general, but adds, “That is not to ignore the force of this term, however; it was most likely chosen to emphasize that slaves also belong to the Christian community as members of the household of God.”
105 . It appears as a participle in 1 Peter 2:18 and as an infinitive in Titus 2:9. The participle in 1 Peter 2:18 should most likely be taken as imperatival. See J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude , Thornapple Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 116; Michaels, 1 Peter , 138; Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude , NAC, vol. 37 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 137. Contra Achtemeier, 1 Peter , 194, who interprets this participle as an “adverbial participle of means,” modifying the imperatives of v. 17. The infinitive in Titus 2:9 probably modifies the imperative of v. 6. See William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles , WBC, vol. 46 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 415; I. Howard Marshall and Philip H. Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles , ICC (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999), 259. George Knight III, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text , NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 313, “This section (vv. 9–10) assumes an unstated finite verb and therefore harks back either to v. 1 or to parakalei in v. 6.” On the difference between hypotassō and hypakouō , Mounce says, “Any differentiation . . . seems overly subtle” ( Pastoral Epistles , 415). He cites 1 Peter 3:5–6, where the two verbs are used in the same context, and seem to carry very similar meaning.
106 . Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians , WBC, vol. 42 (Dallas: Word, 1990), 424.
107 . Ibid., 413. He has a helpful comparison of the Greek text of Eph. 6:5–9 and Col. 3:22–4:1 on page 412.
108 . Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), 811: “Slaves are motivated to obey because they know that their Master in heaven is going to reward them.”
109 . Lincoln, Ephesians , 426.
110 . Cf. Luke 6:32, 33, 34, where charis is used in the same way. See Michaels, 1 Peter , 135; Achtemeier, 1 Peter , 196n98; I. Howard Marshall, 1 Peter , IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1991), 89n2:19 (In this commentary, Marshall’s footnotes are numbered according to the Scripture verses); Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude , 140. Also BDAG, “ charis ” 2b, “by metonymy that which brings someone (God’s) favor or wins a favorable response fr. God 1 Pt 2:19, 20.”
111 . So Michaels, 1 Peter , 142; Achtemeier, 1 Peter , 196; Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude , 138.
112 . Schreiner suggests that this charis is probably referring to “the reception of the future inheritance described in such detail in 1:3–5,” ( 1, 2 Peter, Jude , 139).
113 . Giles, The Trinity and Subordinationism , 256–57.
114 . Ibid., 256.
115 . Marshall, 1 Peter , 89n2:19.
116 . Ibid., 91.
117 . Ibid.
118 . Michaels, 1 Peter , 135: “Although v 20 has domestic servants particularly in mind, neither it nor anything that follows is limited to them. Their experience, whether actual or hypothetical, becomes a paradigm for the experience of all Christians everywhere in the empire.” Similarly, Karen H. Jobes, 1 Peter , BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 191: “Peter claims that slaves, and by extension all Christians (3:9), are called both to suffer unjustly and to continue to do right as they follow the example of Jesus Christ in his passion. Although this call is embedded in instructions addressed to slaves, Peter has previously referred to all Christians as slaves of God (2:16) and restates the principle explicitly for all his readers in 3:9.”
119 . The same observation is made by Wayne Grudem, citing Heb. 10:34, “Should We Move Beyond the New Testament to a Better Ethic? An Analysis of William J. Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis ,” JETS 47 (2004): 314: “The Bible does not approve or command slavery any more than it approves or commands persecution of Christians. When the author of Hebrews commends his readers by saying, ‘You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one’ (Heb. 10:34), that does not mean the Bible supports the plundering of Christians’ property, or that it commands theft ! It only means that if Christians find themselves in a situation where their property is taken through persecution, they should still rejoice because of their heavenly treasure, which cannot be stolen” (italics original).
120 . William J. Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2001), 186.
121 . Webb points to these passages (among others) in his discussion of criterion number 4: “Purpose/Intent Statements,” in Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 105–10. I will interact with Webb on this issue in chapter 5.
122 . There are various interpretations of the situation of these slaves. C. K. Barrett, The Pastoral Epistles , New Clarendon Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963), 82, argues that 1 Timothy 6:1–2 is connected to the discussion at the end of chapter 5 and is therefore addressing slaves who are elders. Others assert that verse 1 addresses slaves with unbelieving masters, in contrast with verse 2, which explicitly addresses those who have believing masters; e.g., Knight, Pastoral Epistles , 244; Philip H. Towner, The Goal of Our Instruction: The Structure of Theology and Ethics in the Pastoral Epistles , JSNTSup 34 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), 176. Mounce rejects this view, stating, “The two verses are to be seen as moving from a general statement about slaves (v. 1) to the more specific situation of a slave’s relationship to a Christian master (v. 2)” ( Pastoral Epistles , 326). Also Philip H. Towner, The Letters to Timothy and Titus , NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 380–81, although he still acknowledges the possibility of the other view (381n9).
123 . There is an echo here of Isa. 52:5 (quoted in Rom. 2:24). See Towner, Timothy and Titus , 382; Mounce, Pastoral Epistles , 327; Marshall, Pastoral Epistles , 630.
124 . Mounce, Pastoral Epistles , 327.
125 . I will discuss this further at the end of this chapter, in the section, “Why Does the New Testament Not Condemn the Institution of Slavery?”
126 . See Mounce, Pastoral Epistles , 325, 328; Towner, Timothy and Titus , 383.
127 . The phrase “that they are brothers” is ambiguous. Marshall, Pastoral Epistles , 631, demonstrates the alternative ways it could be read. On the one hand, it could mean “slaves should not show less respect to their masters on the grounds that they are [merely] brothers [and so not superior to them].” Or it could mean “the reason why slaves should respect their masters is because they are brothers [and therefore to be treated with love].” Marshall then states, “On the whole, the former interpretation seems more probable, but even when taken this way the sentence may well imply the corollary that if the masters are brothers (with all that this description implies), this should rather be a basis for even better service.”
128 . Knight, Pastoral Epistles , 246: “Both halves of the verse follow the same pattern: imperative with slaves as subject, followed by hoti clause with masters as the subject.”
129 . Donald Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary , TNTC, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 122: “ Those who benefit from their service may refer to the masters or to the slaves. . . . Perhaps the ambiguity was intentional to remind both master and slaves that the benefit which would accrue if both were ‘faithful and beloved’ was mutual” (italics original).
130 . BDAG, s.v. “ antilambanō ,” 2; BDF, 170 (3).
131 . Reggie M. Kidd, Wealth and Beneficence in the Pastoral Epistles: A “Bourgeois” Form of Early Christianity? SBLDS 122 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990), 140–56, offers a detailed discussion of the “slaves-as-benefactors” reading versus the “masters-as-benefactors” reading, siding with the latter.
132 . David C. Verner, The Household of God: The Social World of the Pastoral Epistles (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981), 144. Verner still opts for this view, but says, “The author would be arguing that masters should be served diligently, ‘because they are “faithful” and “beloved,” (people) who devote themselves to works of beneficence.’ However, that all Christian masters are devoted to beneficent works is a questionable assumption that surely would not have strengthened the author’s case from the slave’s perspective.”
133 . BDAG, s.v. “ antilambanō ,” 4.
134 . Marshall, Pastoral Epistles , 633; Towner, Timothy and Titus , 387; Knight, Pastoral Epistles , 247; Gordon D. Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus , NIBC (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1984), 139.
135 . Towner, Timothy and Titus , 390: “Paul has turned the tables. The slaves serve, but in God’s surprising oikonomia they do so from a position of power; nobility and honor, the rewards of benefaction, are accorded here implicitly to the slaves.”
136 . Towner, Timothy and Titus , 738: “Logically, any of the hina clauses could apply to all of the instructions. In the case of the closing purpose, what is most noticeable, in comparison with the previous two, is the climactic effect achieved by its placement at the end, by its language, and by its missiological thrust.”
137 . Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin Jr., 1, 2 Timothy, Titus , NAC, vol. 34 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992), 308: “Surely the gospel’s transforming power in the lives of those who had every reason to be bitter would stand out clearer and brighter than in those who lived in freedom and dignity unknown to slaves.”
138 . Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 105.
139 . Ibid., 106.
140 . Ibid.
141 . Ibid., 107–8. Also see Willard M. Swartley, Slavery, Sabbath, War and Women: Case Issues in Biblical Interpretation (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1983), 202. I will discuss the issue of purpose/intent statements briefly again in the next chapter, and then in more detail in chapter 5.
142 . Webb, Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 107.
143 . Webb acknowledges that a command may have more than one purpose. “Perhaps unilateral, patriarchy-type submission should be viewed as transcultural based on other purposes. Such a possibility clearly exists.” But he maintains that, based on the explicit evangelistic purpose given for a wife’s submission, “we must take the underlying transcultural principle—showing deference and respect tends to win people to a cause—and utilize an alternative form of that principle in our setting” ( Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals , 108).
144 . Lincoln, Ephesians , 426: “What strikes most modern readers about this part of the code is its reinforcement of the subordination of slaves within the household. But perhaps most striking to contemporary readers in a setting where there was no questioning of such social structures was the writer’s address to slaves as full members of the Christian community who are seen as equally responsible with their masters to their common Lord.” There were, in fact, those who promoted the humane treatment of slaves, but the New Testament is distinct in the way it instructs both masters and slaves to fulfill their respective roles as moral agents responsible before God. See Harris, Slave of Christ , 54. Seneca is an example of one who encouraged civility in the relationship between slaves and masters. See, for example, Epistles 47:18–19 (LCL 75 [1917]: 311–13), quoted in part by Harris, Slave of Christ , 41.
145 . F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Ephesians: A Verse-by-Verse Exposition (Westwood, NJ: Revell, 1961), 125: “The slave was legally a member of the master’s household or family, and if a Christian master took seriously Paul’s injunction to masters, his slaves would be members of his family in more than a merely legal sense, and have more real protection than they might have if manumitted . But slavery under the best conditions is slavery none the less, and it could not survive where the gospel had free course” (emphasis added).
146 . John Knox, Philemon among the Letters of Paul: A New View of Its Place and Importance , rev. ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935; New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1959), proposes that Archippus, not Philemon, was the master of Onesimus, and thus the recipient of this letter. For a critique of this position, see Eduard Lohse, Colossians and Philemon , Hermeneia, trans. William R. Poehlmann and Robert J. Karris (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), 186–87; C. F. D. Moule, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon , CGTC (Cambridge: University Press, 1957), 14–18.
147 . For discussion, see F. F. Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians , NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), 193–96, who finds the arguments for Rome to outweigh those for Ephesus.