Sex. Now we're talking. Ah, but it's the feminism kind and not the "naughty" kind... you dirty dog, you. I've already wrote a bit about gender inclusive language in response to Harmony's post a couple of weeks back, but the subject bears repeating.
If within cultural studies, sex and gender are held to be social constructions intrinsically implicated in matters of representation, then it is possible the same gender exclusive language within many Christian church denominations have formed their beliefs from matters of culture rather than of of nature.
My beef with churches that exclude women from positions of leadership based on gender comes down to the simple concept of 'calling'. How can one person judge the call of a woman into ministry as not as authentic as the call of a man? Due to Scripture? But then one could also argue that that specific Scripture was meant for a specific context of who it was written for.
Basically, bottom line is that I admit I am a finite being that has limited capacity to judge another and their call into ministry. In other words, I got your back, women. You go, girl...s!
Tuesday, February 5
Reading: Barker [Sex]
Saturday, January 26
Response: Harmony's Blog [Week 3]
Harmony made a strong point this week when she noticed that Bevans made a point to state that God is not necessarily a male but in the church people tend to use the metaphor “father.” She continued in observation that some Fuller faculty fail to use gender inclusive language when speaking in class. I have seen the same behavior and applaud Harmony for calling out those responsible. Some may say its a small thing and doesn't really matter. But each little step towards gender equality is important, especially in a field like the Church where many still hold onto archaic doctrine formed out of cultural bias.
I started my Fuller experience up at the Northwest campus and found the faculty there to follow the gender inclusive line fairly well overall, to the point where some professors would mention when your paper had a "father" or "mankind" that needed to be fixed.
Although the models theory that Bevans is presenting here does go into detail about how individuals can be shaped by there past and further emphasizes the need to study our models of theology and philosophical underpinnings. So basically the particular faculty guilty of not following rules are just following what they have learned.
