A Change of Mind and Heart: An Article by John Stackhouse

I just came across an article by Regent College professor John Stackhouse, Jr on his blog. It's an excerpt from a new book entitled "How I Changed My Mind About Women In Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals," which includes personal stories of people such as Bill and Lynne Hybels, I. Howard Marshall and others regarding their conversions to egalitarianism. I was intrigued by his reasons for the change, as some of them are quite similar to the ones mentioned in my last post. He ends with suggestions on how women and men can work towards change. It's worth a read in its entirety, but if you're unconvinced or short on time, here are a few quotes to chew upon:

"So let’s recognize immediately that any deep change in us, such as the change from patriarchalism to egalitarianism, results only from the transformative power of the Holy Spirit of God."

"But this important breakthrough for me in my thinking about gender resulted also as a general theological principle: our task as theologians—and, indeed, the task of any responsible Christian—is to do the best we can to understand the Word of God in its multifarious complexity, even as that will sometimes result in an interpretation that does not fit every piece of the puzzle together without strain, leaving no pieces on the table, and certainly not pocketing the inconvenient ones, hoping no one will notice! No, all we can do is what we can do, namely, to submit to the Word of God as we understand it while remaining open to improvement of our interpretation later on."

"I needed to feel something of the pain of patriarchy: of being interrupted or ignored in conversation; of being passed over for recognition and promotion; of receiving condescension or suspicion instead of welcome partnership. And I needed to be confronted with their anger, with their refusal to be treated this way anymore."

Incidentally, the comments are also well worth reading, where differening views are eloquently expressed.

~B