Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says about a Woman's Place in Church and Family

by Gilbert Bilezikian

This first rate biblical and theological study offers an accessible examination of the key texts of Scripture pertinent to understanding female roles, affirming full equality of the sexes in family and church. The third edition has been revised throughout. Gilbert Bilezikian avoids using scholarly jargon and complex argumentation in the main text of the book to encourage readers to interact with the biblical research. The aim is for non-specialized readers to be able to follow his discussion step by step, evaluate arguments, consider alternative views, and arrive at independent conclusions. The study guide format of the book is designed for either individual investigation or group work. Pastors, church leaders, students, and those interested in issues relating to gender and church life will value this classic work on the egalitarian viewpoint.

Genres: Theology, Womens, Christian, Religion, Christianity, Spirituality, Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1985

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a game-changer for me. In the sometimes pitched battle between so-called "egalitarians" and "complementarians" this book was a major salvo in response to the early backlash generated by the latter camp toward the former. Complementarians, in short, hold that the Bible mandates a superior and authoritative role for men over women in both the life of the church and the life of the home. Egalitarians, such as Bilezikian, hold that a careful and scholarly reading of the Bible reveals otherwise. In this book the author makes his point very convincingly. The argument may be summarized as follows: Men and women were initially created to function as equals, without any hierarchy between them. The Fall resulted in the establishment of such a hierarchy, reflecting the brokenness of the relationship between humankind and God. Finally, the new covenant, established by Jesus, was, among other things, intended to rectify this state of affairs and restore gender (as well as every other sort of) equality.

As is well-known, there is no short supply of fundamentalists, especially within evangelical camps, who have espoused male dominance, sometimes to a misogynistic extreme. They typically claim biblical authority, but do so (as is often the case when discrimination occurs within a Christian context) by cherry-picking, or "proof-texting," various verses out of context, and without reference to the historical meaning of the original language. Bilezikian deftly picks apart many such arguments, whether it's the old saw about Eve being inferior because she was formed from Adam's rib; the blame which is falsely attributed to her alone for eating of the forbidden fruit; right up to the admittedly bewildering prohibitions found in the New Testament Epistles. I will admit that in each of these cases, and many more besides, I went into this book somewhat skeptical that the author could convince me that the Bible itself was not hopelessly antiquated and tone-deaf without simply caving in to contemporary sensibilities and "conforming to the culture," as the saying goes. Quite to the contrary, Bilezikian forced me to recalibrate my understanding of the Bible, and particularly rehabilitated the writings of Paul in my esteem.

What is perhaps most interesting about egalitarianism, in general, and this book, in particular, is that once you start tugging on the thread of gender equality, many other related threads start to come loose. You can't, to take the most obvious example, advocate for gender equality without advocating for racial equality. It is this recipe -- this mandate -- for diversity ( which, for Christians, carries with it the full weight of Scripture) which threatens to create a schism within the church-writ-large. And we are now seeing direct evidence that this conflict is coming to a head, with the emergence of such polarizing documents as the Nashville Statement. It appears that what began as a squabble four decades ago has become a theological line in the sand. When combined with the social turmoil currently playing out in the United States and many other nations, we appear to be at a turning point in the history of Christianity. "Beyond Sex Roles" may have been written more than 30 years ago, but its message has been gaining volume and force continually since then. Anyone who is tired of, disgusted by, or incapable of accepting a faith which is steeped in exclusion, division, and, all too often, bald hatred, needs to read this book. It may just save your faith.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic coverage of all the biblical passages dealing with women. The Appendix in the 2nd Edition is worth the price of the book..on "Kephale/Headship". This book has excellent scholarship, plenty of footnotes if you care to follow up, and generally very strong exegesis of the biblical texts. I was disappointed in how he deals with Gen. 2-3 and 1 Tim. 2, which unfortunately are two of the most pivotal texts, but otherwise a very strong book overall.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for class, super interesting!

[Kate Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly helpful and persuasive, but written a bit dryly. He frequently starts paragraphs with "Lesson:" and every time I think of Dwight Schrute. Also, he can get a little technical for most people. The first chapter, when he's speaking of Genesis, the detail-orientation is really helpful, but after that it's tedious. As a woman, I still have some questions and issues in regards to how I fit into "leadership" with my church, but it definitely gave me a good start in the right direction. More helpful was "Finally Feminist" by Stackhouse, which is highly academic but a bit more concise.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting arguments, well thought out, but lacking evidence throughout his sections on Gen 2-3 and 1 Tim. 2, which seem to be two of the most crucial texts on the subject, but otherwise a very strong book overall.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't agree with his conclusions, but I think this is one of the better books on representing the egalatarian viewpoint. He makes some good points, even if I ultimately disagree.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A BIBLICALLY-BASED, SUPPORTIVE VIEW OF WOMEN AS ELDERS, ETC.

Gilbert Bilezikian is a theological leader of the Willow Creek Community Church (Bill Hybels' "megachurch"), and has written other books such as 'Christianity 101' and 'Community 101: Reclaiming the Local Church as Community of Oneness.'

He wrote in the Preface to this 1985 book, "we realize how effectively God had used the female members of the original team from the pioneer days of the church... who seemed to have been providentially prepared for the challenges of leadership. But is it biblically legitimate to appoint women as elders?... There followed a period of three years devoted to the individual and corporate study of the biblical data... supported with practically every book and article written on the subject... Some of the result of that long inquiry is contained in this book."

He begins by noting that in Genesis 1:26, the term "man" refers to both male and female. "Both man and woman are God's image-bearers. There is no basis in Genesis 1 for confining the image of God to males alone." (Pg. 22)

He observes that although in the 1st century culture where women were to be neither seen nor heard, "Jesus presented them as models of faith." (Pg. 85) He adds, "This overt participation of women in the latter part of the ministry of Jesus established an audacious precedent" in the world at that time. (Pg. 96)

In discussing the possibility of women "apostles" in the New Testament period, he notes the similarity of the term "co-worker," which Paul gives to several women, such as Priscilla (Rom 16:3), and Euodia and Syntiche (Phil 4:2-3), and refers to the husband and wife team of Andronicus and Junias as "outstanding among the apostles" (Rom 16:7). (Pg. 197-198) Women were also "appointed to teach... There is no restriction mentioned in the numerous references to teachers and teaching in the Epistles except in 1 Timothy 2:12, where it is required that learning precede teaching." (Pg. 200)

Although it may not convince every evangelical, this book is a sober, carefully-reasoned biblical study of this important issue.

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the best, well-researched, and well-argued books written from the Egalitarian approach. One of the greatest assets of this book is that Bilezikian traces the role of men and women from Creation to the New Creation ultimately arriving at the conclusion that both genders are intended to compliment one another. Being a theologian, I can attest to the fact that his writing has profound historical validity as well as Scriptural significance. My only disappointment with this book is that it is rather tough sloughing to get through. The arguments are good, but his presentation is quite dry and at times boring (not unlike many other heavy theological books one could read). I found myself only able to digest a few pages at a time (this despite my high level of education). Nevertheless, I am still recommending this book to any serious student grappling with the issue of male and female roles. I am sure you will find it enlightening and helpful on your journey.

For a more comprehensive book review, check out my blog: https://debdebbarak.wordpress.com/201...

[Michael King · Rating 2 out of 5]

"BSR" argues that men and women are both God's image bearers and therefore there should not exist any form of headship/submission dynamic between them based on sex whether in the church or the family.

Bilezikian is articulate, clear and seeks to cover all the main passages on the topic. However, his exegesis is poor and therefore his conclusions unhelpful.

Would not recommend unless looking to get an insight into a more "egalitarian" perspective.

[Jenifer DeCastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hermeneutical approach to a women place in the church and family was new to me. I appreciated the intellectual research and conclusions. This book encouraged me as a women in ministry and will remain on my shelf to be referred to frequently.

[Lauren Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough look at scripture with freeing and empowering conclusions. Dense- took a while to get through it.

[Morgan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broke down verses in the bible and helped me to understand some of the more complex ones/ form my own opinion about them

[Simon Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not often that reading a book makes me think of Marmite–but this one certainly did. Readers will probably either love it or loathe it. In the third edition of his book (originally published in 1985) Gilbert Bilezikian tackles the whole question of the place of women in the church and the family. His starting point is a creation-fall-redemption model for understanding scripture, not in itself controversial and a helpful one in this instance, I think. Despite coming from the Academic side of Baker’s publishing the book is aimed at a general audience with many of the exegetical and other issues discussed in lengthy endnotes. Bilezikian's basic premise is that the Bible teaches equality between the sexes as the situation pertaining to pre-Fall creation and to the new creation as manifested in the church. Much of his argument is aimed at disproving any notion of ‘hierarchy’ in male-female relationships and he does this (especially in the notes) by engaging at some length with a book written from a very different viewpoint, Man and Woman in Biblical Perspective by James Hurley (1981, Leicester: IVP, reprinted by Wipf & Stock, 2002). If you have read the Hurley book, the notes will make more sense; but reading it is not necessary to understand and follow Bilezikian’s thoughts.
Much of Bilezikian’s argument is persuasive, especially his exegesis of Genesis 1-3 and comments on the pre-Fall relationship between man and woman and how the post-Fall situation was different. His exegesis of the ‘problem’ passages in Paul, especially 1 Corinthians, is very helpful; though some of his comments around the situation in Ephesus at the time of Paul’s writing to Timothy are less than totally convincing.
Part of the issue I have with the book is the polemic nature of his argument. Bilezikian’s tone suggests that anyone who disagrees with him must be, not only wrong, but probably deliberately and bloody-mindedly so. Some of his exegetical statements appear sweeping, such as his contention that ‘kephale’ (head) never has the meaning of authority in the NT. It seems unnecessary to make such a statement; in order to prove his contention in 1 Corinthians that it means ‘source’ he surely only has to do it in that context without the generalisation which may or may not be true. His criticism of Hurley for glossing over statements or passages which do not fit with his thesis rings a little hollow when in his discussion of Priscilla as author of Hebrews he omits to mention the use of diegomenon (masculine singular) to refer to the writer in Hebrews 11:32.
Having said all of that, the book raises a number of issues and gives some interesting answers and is deserving of careful attention.

[Scott Ristau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this book was a fascinating experience. Never have I had so many things I wanted to affirm and reject in such rapid succession.

Bilezikian's work here represents the standard egalitarian argument for gender roles. In its third edition for over ten years already, many have heard the egalitarian narrative from second-hand sources. However, this is a great book for students interested in how those who reject meaningful gender roles understand Scripture. Bilezikian helpfully takes a biblical-theological approach and walks through Scripture, starting in Genesis and finishing in the New Testament.

While I was glad to read this interpretive perspective first-hand, I cannot recommend the book due to the author's unreliable exegesis and troubling conclusions. I was surprised both by how often I completely agreed with the authors concerns and affirmations, only to find some of his reasoning sentences later more alarming than I expected. I can summarize my concerns in two areas. First, the author repeatedly does not do justice to the biblical text. While I appreciate his articulation of the importance of grounding our beliefs in God's word, Bilezikian spoils that priority by undermining the biblical text through repeatedly finding ways to explain away the clear meaning of the text and ignore context. Secondly, the author seems to misunderstand his theological and interpretive opponents (I admit my perspective here may be due to improvements over the last 30 years). But, so often he seemed to be arguing against a kind of make superiority that the complementarians I know would also reject.

This book is for pastors and theological students, but I would not recommend for the average lay-person.

[Jenny T · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took several years, but I finally finished this book. While I appreciate the women-friendly sentiments of the author, sadly I'm not convinced by his content that Paul favored women's equality. Included in the book is an exhaustive appendix examining the meaning of "headship," arguing that man is only the fountainhead from which the woman emerged, not the ruler of her autonomy. The author claims that Paul was actually saying "Rubbish" and that his statements about women were rhetorical when it comes to women speaking in church or covering their heads. I'm not so sure.

The author also attempts to refute biases against women from other author's, not just Paul, by attacking their logic and claiming fallacies in their arguments.

Though it does seem like the author grasped at straws at times, I believe that women are clearly equal in the eyes of my Father and Christ Jesus. There are many respectable and knowledgeable women in the kingdom, and they should be treated with dignity.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best book I've found SO FAR that walks through the Bible and discusses all the relevant passages from an egalitarian point of view. Sometimes I think he goes too far to make his case. And I've had to review parts of it multiple times as I've read and gotten used to this issue/debate/idea. Still, I have found his perspective very helpful in trying to figure out the best interpretation of Scripture.

[Kristiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most helpful, comprehensive defense of Biblical egalitarianism that I've read. Very thorough, so don't bother if you want easy answers. This is heavy stuff, but it gets to the root of things. Must be read with an open mind.

[Tom Wideman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful for me as I sought to make my way through the gender issue of the church. Scot McKnight's "Blue Parakeet" was even more helpful.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch analysis and discussion on roles in the church.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pivotal in reconciling my faith with my identity. It helped answer questions that I've had growing up and corrected some falsehoods that other writers had imposed on others.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may challenge your thinking about women's roles.