Call Me Blessed - Table of Contents

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix Acknowledgments

Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction: Awareness

The church is comfortable with little girls--but what can it do with women! Gifted speakers, administrators, teachers, or women of any talent that would break the traditional silence of women are a problem. A woman who does not leave these talents at the church door risks having her obedience to God questioned.: Awareness; Christian Feminism and Church Response; Brothers and Sisters; The Auxiliary; Change; Woman: Can She Be Defined?

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Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix
Chapter 1: The Cornerstone

Some readers may be astonished to learn that the church has not always granted women full membership in the human race. Woman's struggle to establish her spiritual worth has been mostly forgotten. In the exciting days following the ascension of Christ, women were freely active in church life. By the second century, women were held in low esteem. The fathers of the church actually taught that women did not bear the image of God. We could ignore this unpleasant history if it were not for the fact that the same early fathers who did not believe women were created in the image of God were the first declare women ineligible for positions of authority in the church. This means that the current practice of excluding women from authority was established during the period of time when its leaders questioned the spiritual worth of women--even though the heresy that women are not image bearers of God has been abandoned by all branches of the Christian church.: Boundaries; Woman's Cornerstone; The Early Fathers; The Middle Ages; The Reformation; The Twentieth Century

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Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix
Chapter 2: Male Authority

The principle of male authority, at one time so unanimously agreed upon by society, is now in dispute. American law no longer demands that adult women submit to the authority of their husbands. But traditional church teaching holds that for a family to be in harmony with God's plan, the husband must be "in authority" over his wife. This chapter examines the roots of male authority and finds that it has its basis in pagan systems--not scripture.: In the Army; The Three Obediences; God's Law; The New Testament and Civil Authority; Misapplication; Culture, Common Law, and the Church; Point of View

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Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix
Chapter 3: Sorrow

Violence against women is not just a shadowy threat--it is a reality.: Violence; Old Testament Men and Their Women; Jesus and the Patriarchy; Satan's Work

Chapter 4: Male and Female

It is popular today to refer to men and women as being complementary, and in a reproductive sense, this is a satisfactory description of the relationship. But the complementary approach to defining the roles of men and women is based on the belief that men and women are fundamentally different--a teaching that cannot be found in scripture.: Tiffany; Woman's "Different" Image; Roles; Men and Women as Complements; Hormone Theology

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Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix Chapter 5: God in Our Image

Historically the church has been committed to an understanding of God that is completely non-sexual. Anti-feminist theologians are now declaring that God is in some sense "male." A masculine God has devastating consequences for women--besides being unscriptural.: The Man Upstairs; Fabrications; Joint Heirs

Chapter 6: Women in Authority

Deborah, ancient judge of Israel, shatters every notion that women have been taught that God wants for them. Called by God to lead the nation of Israel out of trouble in a time of crisis, she was judge and prophet.: Deborah; The Queen Mother; Women in Prominent Households; The Ordinary Woman; Women Leaders

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Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix
Chapter 7: Paul and the Authority of Women

First century women were active in Christianity to a degree that is unthinkable for conservative Christian women today. They worked side by side with the apostle Paul.: Authenteo; Making a Clean Break; False Teachers; Examining 1 Timothy 2; New Testament Principles for Women

Chapter 8: Call Me Blessed

Does Christ offer a special relationship to men that he does not offer to women? He does not. In Jesus Christ there is neither male nor female; we are all one in Christ.: Fatherhood; 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 - Interpreting Words and Phrases; 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 - Understanding Paul's Message; Children of God

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Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Appendix Appendix: Mystical Masculinity

The idea of God having a sex is totally absent from creeds of virtually all Christian denominations. However, one now finds assertions regarding a special connection between God and maleness in the works of evangelical theologians. So it is entirely proper that we strive for a precise understanding of what is meant by this claim and what it implies about the nature of God and the place of women.