Slippery Slopes, the Blogosphere, and Women

Susan Wise Bauer, in her article “On Slippery Slopes, the Blogosphere, and (oh, yes) Women,” takes a brave step when she reviews John Stackhouse’s book, Finally Feminist, in Books & Culture, January/February 2007, pages 28-29. Stackhouse has thoroughly researched the issue of women and their role in the church and tries to present a balanced view, neither feminist nor patriarchal. In doing so he has opened himself up to severe criticism from both sides, but especially from conservative Christians. The biggest fear patriarchal Christians have is that by giving in to the feminists not only does Stackhouse reject biblical authority but also opens the door for homosexuals, sending the church down a “slippery slope”. Bauer takes issue with this fear in her review and clearly demonstrates that such fears are unfounded and counterproductive. She feels that Stackhouse does not give in to feminists, nor does he open up the door for homosexuals. Instead, by offering a biblically sound argument for a centrist position, Stackhouse has laid a solid foundation for the study and application of biblical truth to the role of women in the church.

Stackhouse’s main argument is that God revealed himself to man within particular cultural contexts. While not condoning sinful or unjust social practices or institutions, God often let them be and allowed the revealed truth to work and transform those practices and institutions over time. Some examples would be polygamy and slavery. While Christianity today clearly teaches that these two cultural practices are wrong, God allowed men in the past to practice both without any condemnation. However, as the truth permeated the culture, these practices were slowly abandoned.

The New Testament clearly teaches that slaves should obey their masters, not run away or seek to be free. However, the New Testament also teaches that masters should treat their slaves with respect and justice. When the abolitionist movement began using Scripture to condemn slavery, there were many Christians who defended slavery with Scripture. However, the sinful and unjust institution of slavery was abandoned in favor of equality and freedom. Few Christians today would argue for a return to slavery and defend their position with Scripture.

In the same way, Stackhouse sees patriarchal cultural institutions and practices in the same way. There are verses in the New Testament that teach that women should remain silent and not have authority over men. However, the New Testament also teaches that women have a valuable role to play in the church and includes many women who taught and held positions of authority. Just as slavery has been abandoned because its basic premises are unbiblical, so too, Stackhouse holds, patriarchal attitudes and practices should be abandoned because its basic premises are also unbiblical.

Here are some quotes from the article that I found helpful:

“But while the church is striving not to cause unnecessary offense to the unbelievers around it, another dynamic is unfolding, at least within Christian homes and the church: "kingdom values at work overcoming oppression, eliminating inequality, binding disparate people together in love and mutual respect, and the like." And this, of course, is central to Stackhouse's understanding of the "difficult passages" having to do with gender. There is tension between the message of the gospel and the particular commands to the churches. "Paul means just what he says about gender," Stackhouse writes, "everything he says about gender, not just the favorite passages cited by one side or another… . He believes that women should keep silent in church and that they should pray and prophesy. How can they do both? By being silent at the right times, and by praying and prophesying at the right times."”

“Many evangelicals are clinging to patriarchy as God's perfect plan for his people, rather than recognizing it as a sinful and temporary cultural phenomenon. In this way, Stackhouse suggests, we are doing exactly what Paul was trying to prevent: we are hindering the gospel, driving away unbelievers who might otherwise hear the truth of Christ's deliverance and be redeemed.”

“Let me be clear: I am not accusing complementarians of being racists. I am criticizing the slippery slope argument itself, not the motivations of those who make it. The theologians who insist that the commands restricting women are obvious and universal—and if you don't think so, that's your problem—have to do some fancy footwork if they're going to assert that the equally "clear" passages on slavery suddenly became no longer applicable sometime in the 19th century.”

“Stackhouse finds, in the church's changing attitude toward slavery, a proper model for the church's changing attitude toward women. He points out that while women and homosexuals are never linked in the restrictive passages of the New Testament, women and slaves are. Women and slaves in the early church, freed in Christ, were nevertheless encouraged to observe cultural norms to keep the gospel from disrepute.”

“The abolition model is much more useful than the slippery slope. "Slippery slope" is actually the name of a logical fallacy, described by Aristotle, in which a series of events is traced back to an earlier event without any proven causation. I can't possibly be the only evangelical who thinks that it's odd that a logical fallacy should become the chosen metaphor of evangelicals whose primary concern is to see the world as God sees not, not as "the culture" sees it.”


You can read the article at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/001/8.28.html.