What kind of book thinks so highly of Itself that it requires 2 prefaces?
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has two prefaces and a forward. The first preface we addressed last week. It was written in 2006. They decided to tack this preface from 1991 on next. We will read that with you today.
As I have waded deeper into this book, I realized that Piper did not write it. His name is along side Grudem's on the spine but they found a series of people to help them with their homework.
Piper mentions that he does not expect anyone to read the whole book through and I understand why. I am two prefaces into it already, plus various spot reading because I am curious. Hey, I am a cat after all. I have yet to see a single verse of the Bible. There are multiple references to this being "Biblical" and "God's way". These are purr-suasive to people who have not read the Bible. If I do not begin to see some Biblical reference soon, then I may have to bring some solid theology into this discussion on my own to show God's view of and love for women as recorded in the scriptures. Piper sounds so much like the old people in the south who would argue the righteousness of slavery by not reading the Bible in context or referencing any scripture at all.
If you would like to read along with us, we begin today on page xiv, Preface 2. Please do not buy this book new. Check it out from the library, buy it second hand, or borrow it from an ignorant friend, meow. If the last option is your option put the friend on your prayer list. Excuse me for being a little catty.
Piper begins with the assumption that the controversy around whether women should be subjugated began 20 years ago. This is incorrect. The controversy began when men recognized the Church could be used for political leverage. Even though the letter to the Ephesians says, "We war not against flesh and blood but against the powers, principalities and rulers of this dark age", men in the 3rd century AD decided to league up with Rome and create a church state.
These same 'learned men' took the philosophy of the Greeks and overlaid it on the teachings of Christ. Platonic philosophers believed that all physical matter was evil. Since women gave birth they were material and therefore, evil. Men were more spiritual and therefore good. As a philosophy, this does not stand up to scrutiny, every man extant is born of woman. Evil cannot beget good. Since the men were in charge, this heresy was not well addressed and misogyny infected the church.
Paragraph three continues this fallacy by calling the interpretation of egalitarians 'new'. These interpretation go back to the New Testament and prior.
Paragraph four- Piper does what he does so well, uses words to stir fear. "There is great uncertainty among evangelicals, men and women are simply not sure what their roles should be." When did uncertainty become bad. Is it better to be certain and wrong? Does being certain make you right? If it did, I would like to be certain that jelly beans could cure cancer. If my certainty made something true, I would give every kitten, um child in the oncology wing a bag of jelly beans and let them go play. Life does not work that way, other wise I would stop running into clean glass patio doors. I am alway certain the door is open until I learn it's not.
Paragraph 5- I call foul on use of the word sensing. "But the vast majority of evangelicals have not endorsed the evangelical feminist position, sensing it does not really reflect the pattern of biblical truth." Can a human sense truth like a cat can. The Bible seems to indicate they aren't very good at that. In Judges, people made a mess of their lives and there are multiple references in these sections stating , "And everyone did what was right in their own eyes." Jer 17:9 tells us the heart is deceitful. People cannot follow their heart and end up in a good place. They tend to take a wrong turning. Sensing is not the same thing as knowing. Intelligent beings who are serious about their studies don't sense the answers. They find out the answers. Otherwise I could just sense that 2+2 equals 5. If I sensed that would I be right? Of course not.
Paragraph 6 "We also consider there essential position to be wrong in the light of scripture and ultimately harmful to the family and the church." I notice fear based rhetoric again and a smash and grab approach to the debate. He is grasping for something that will not be provable as I will show as we wade deeper into this morass.
The next few paragraphs go on to paint a halcyon picture of how great humans lives would be if they would follow this prescription but the evidence says otherwise. This hierarchical teaching leads to physical, emotional, financial and other abuses of women and children. It creates a power over dynamic which drowns out love. If you would like to read a case study of how this has played out I recommend, Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife. It's heartbreaking but an informative study on where this false teaching can lead.
In paragraph 13 Piper acknowleges that people have decribed their position has traditionalist, or hierarchical but they prefer the term complementary, likely because it has less baggage. Since he uses feminist instead of egalitarian I will probably use all terms. All of these terms apply plus a few other choice terms and some are better for shedding light on what is happening behind the curtain than other more complementary terms. Also I don't feel like being complementary towards a group of people who have co-opted Christ for their own gain. Yes I will show how later in this blog.
This cat apologizes for the length of this post. It took alot of scratching and digging to get everything covered (*catbox humor). Since the forward is 13 pages I will probably cut it in half to make it easier.
If you would like to get a used copy of this book I have included a link for you. Your challenge is to find one for what it's worth. I think a penny or less would be about right.
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As I have waded deeper into this book, I realized that Piper did not write it. His name is along side Grudem's on the spine but they found a series of people to help them with their homework.
Piper mentions that he does not expect anyone to read the whole book through and I understand why. I am two prefaces into it already, plus various spot reading because I am curious. Hey, I am a cat after all. I have yet to see a single verse of the Bible. There are multiple references to this being "Biblical" and "God's way". These are purr-suasive to people who have not read the Bible. If I do not begin to see some Biblical reference soon, then I may have to bring some solid theology into this discussion on my own to show God's view of and love for women as recorded in the scriptures. Piper sounds so much like the old people in the south who would argue the righteousness of slavery by not reading the Bible in context or referencing any scripture at all.
If you would like to read along with us, we begin today on page xiv, Preface 2. Please do not buy this book new. Check it out from the library, buy it second hand, or borrow it from an ignorant friend, meow. If the last option is your option put the friend on your prayer list. Excuse me for being a little catty.
Piper begins with the assumption that the controversy around whether women should be subjugated began 20 years ago. This is incorrect. The controversy began when men recognized the Church could be used for political leverage. Even though the letter to the Ephesians says, "We war not against flesh and blood but against the powers, principalities and rulers of this dark age", men in the 3rd century AD decided to league up with Rome and create a church state.
These same 'learned men' took the philosophy of the Greeks and overlaid it on the teachings of Christ. Platonic philosophers believed that all physical matter was evil. Since women gave birth they were material and therefore, evil. Men were more spiritual and therefore good. As a philosophy, this does not stand up to scrutiny, every man extant is born of woman. Evil cannot beget good. Since the men were in charge, this heresy was not well addressed and misogyny infected the church.
Paragraph three continues this fallacy by calling the interpretation of egalitarians 'new'. These interpretation go back to the New Testament and prior.
Paragraph four- Piper does what he does so well, uses words to stir fear. "There is great uncertainty among evangelicals, men and women are simply not sure what their roles should be." When did uncertainty become bad. Is it better to be certain and wrong? Does being certain make you right? If it did, I would like to be certain that jelly beans could cure cancer. If my certainty made something true, I would give every kitten, um child in the oncology wing a bag of jelly beans and let them go play. Life does not work that way, other wise I would stop running into clean glass patio doors. I am alway certain the door is open until I learn it's not.
Paragraph 5- I call foul on use of the word sensing. "But the vast majority of evangelicals have not endorsed the evangelical feminist position, sensing it does not really reflect the pattern of biblical truth." Can a human sense truth like a cat can. The Bible seems to indicate they aren't very good at that. In Judges, people made a mess of their lives and there are multiple references in these sections stating , "And everyone did what was right in their own eyes." Jer 17:9 tells us the heart is deceitful. People cannot follow their heart and end up in a good place. They tend to take a wrong turning. Sensing is not the same thing as knowing. Intelligent beings who are serious about their studies don't sense the answers. They find out the answers. Otherwise I could just sense that 2+2 equals 5. If I sensed that would I be right? Of course not.
Paragraph 6 "We also consider there essential position to be wrong in the light of scripture and ultimately harmful to the family and the church." I notice fear based rhetoric again and a smash and grab approach to the debate. He is grasping for something that will not be provable as I will show as we wade deeper into this morass.
The next few paragraphs go on to paint a halcyon picture of how great humans lives would be if they would follow this prescription but the evidence says otherwise. This hierarchical teaching leads to physical, emotional, financial and other abuses of women and children. It creates a power over dynamic which drowns out love. If you would like to read a case study of how this has played out I recommend, Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife. It's heartbreaking but an informative study on where this false teaching can lead.
In paragraph 13 Piper acknowleges that people have decribed their position has traditionalist, or hierarchical but they prefer the term complementary, likely because it has less baggage. Since he uses feminist instead of egalitarian I will probably use all terms. All of these terms apply plus a few other choice terms and some are better for shedding light on what is happening behind the curtain than other more complementary terms. Also I don't feel like being complementary towards a group of people who have co-opted Christ for their own gain. Yes I will show how later in this blog.
This cat apologizes for the length of this post. It took alot of scratching and digging to get everything covered (*catbox humor). Since the forward is 13 pages I will probably cut it in half to make it easier.
If you would like to get a used copy of this book I have included a link for you. Your challenge is to find one for what it's worth. I think a penny or less would be about right.
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