Description:
IVP Readers' Choice Award
Does God call women to serve as equal partners in marriage and as leaders in the church?
The answer to this straightforward question is deeply contested. Into the fray, Lucy Peppiatt offers her work on interpretation of the Bible and Christian practice. With careful exegetical work, Peppiatt considers relevant passages in Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Peter, 1 Timothy, and 1 Corinthians. There she finds a story of God releasing women alongside men into all forms of ministry, leadership, work, and service on the basis of character and gifting, rather than biological sex.
Those who see the overturning of male-dominated hierarchy in the Scriptures, she argues, are truly rediscovering an ancient message--a message distorted by those who assumed that a patriarchal world, which they sometimes saw reflected in the Bible, was the one God had ordained.
Brief description:
Lucy Peppiatt (PhD, Otago) is the principal of Westminster Theological Centre. Her research interests are Christ and the Spirit, charismatic theology, discipleship, and 1 Corinthians, and her books include Unveiling Paul's Women and Women and Worship in Corinth.
Review Quotes:
"We are encouraged in this volume to attend afresh to Scripture and to the vision Scripture offers of women and men called and gifted to share equally in the life of the church. Lucy Peppiatt shows that the leadership and witness of women is not merely allowed by Scripture but turns out to be an indispensable part of the biblical story of salvation. The wisdom shared with us in this book provides abundant evidence of the rich benefits that flow from listening to women as they guide us in thereading of God's Word."
Murray Rae, University of Otago