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The Full Rights of Sons
This study of the Status of Women as revealed in The Holy Bible takes on all questions and confusion. Find the answers you need
The Full Rights of Sons demonstrates that
long-established principles of the orthodox and reformed Christian faithwidely accepted rules for interpreting the Scriptures,basic Bible knowledge,and a common sense understanding of languageall affirm the equality of men and women in the church, family, and society as a presuppositional, all-pervasive, and overt teaching of The Holy Bible.
★ “A systematic theology of egalitarianism. …From a Biblical standpoint, this book is more thorough than any I’ve ever read on the subject. The author takes the text and makes sense of it, often in ways that seem brilliant. This book would be a great choice for group Bible study, personal study, or a reference work. I highly recommend it!” Greg Hahn
★ “Proves again that a high view of Scripture entails a high view of women.” Gilbert Bilezikian
★ “A truly radical book . . . that gets to ‘the root’ of the matter.” John H. Armstrong
★ “Thought provoking, compelling and logically presented in a warm, personal manner.” Margaret Mowczko
★ “Every thought is drawn from Scripture.” Boni Piper
★ “As a pastor, I highly recommend The Full Rights of Sons.” Bruce Hemphill
The Full Rights of Sons is firmly built upon the historic Christian faith taught by the apostles, prophets, and early church fathers, affirmed by the reformers and those today who hold the Holy Scriptures to be the authoritative and living word of God, all founded upon the chief cornerstone of the church, Christ Jesus Himself. (Eph. 2:20)
Amazon
*Christian Systematic Theology
*Christian Women’s Issues
*Gender and Sexuality in Religious Studies
*Christian Church Leadership
*New Testament Criticism & Interpretation
*Christian Pastoral Resources
*Women’s Spirituality
*Christian New Testament Study
*Paul’s Letters
The Full Rights of Sons demonstrates that
long-established principles of the orthodox and reformed Christian faithwidely accepted rules for interpreting the Scriptures,basic Bible knowledge,and a common sense understanding of languageall affirm the equality of men and women in the church, family, and society as a presuppositional, all-pervasive, and overt teaching of The Holy Bible.
★ “A systematic theology of egalitarianism. …From a Biblical standpoint, this book is more thorough than any I’ve ever read on the subject. The author takes the text and makes sense of it, often in ways that seem brilliant. This book would be a great choice for group Bible study, personal study, or a reference work. I highly recommend it!” Greg Hahn
★ “Proves again that a high view of Scripture entails a high view of women.” Gilbert Bilezikian
★ “A truly radical book . . . that gets to ‘the root’ of the matter.” John H. Armstrong
★ “Thought provoking, compelling and logically presented in a warm, personal manner.” Margaret Mowczko
★ “Every thought is drawn from Scripture.” Boni Piper
★ “As a pastor, I highly recommend The Full Rights of Sons.” Bruce Hemphill
The Full Rights of Sons is firmly built upon the historic Christian faith taught by the apostles, prophets, and early church fathers, affirmed by the reformers and those today who hold the Holy Scriptures to be the authoritative and living word of God, all founded upon the chief cornerstone of the church, Christ Jesus Himself. (Eph. 2:20)
Amazon
*Christian Systematic Theology
*Christian Women’s Issues
*Gender and Sexuality in Religious Studies
*Christian Church Leadership
*New Testament Criticism & Interpretation
*Christian Pastoral Resources
*Women’s Spirituality
*Christian New Testament Study
*Paul’s Letters
375 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 12, 2013
7 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 12, 2015
This book took me a while to get through as I had to read it thoughtfully. It is the best defense of the egalitarian view that I have read. The author is a great teacher, she clearly and logically lays out her case and then concisely sums up what she has covered at the end of each chapter. She tackles all the arguments against her views quite convincingly. I would recommend this book for both egalitarians and complementarians.
"We are confronted with a very complex problem or question. What do the Scriptures teach about the role or status of women? It seems like there are numerous arguments going in as many different directions. How can we possibly find the answer? Well, let’s start at the top. What can we do to make this a slightly simpler problem? We can begin by praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit and for his illumination of the Scriptures. Now what can we do? As a foundation, let’s renew our commitment to the basic tenets of our faith, those things enumerated in the Christian creeds and confessions that have been formulated throughout history. We must remember what the Bible as a whole says about the nature of our triune God and the nature of man. What is the essence of our new life in Christ? How are believers to relate to each other in this new life? What is the nature of the church? How is it to be governed? What do we already know to be true? What do we know to be false? Let’s apply it and move on. What else can we do? We can apply the tried and tested rules for biblical interpretation. Let’s look for one unified teaching that encompasses all of Scripture. We should allow the clear to shine light on the unclear. When we come to words that seem difficult, let’s define them according to their use in Scripture. When something seems very confusing, we can discuss it together, using all the gifts of the body. Let’s apply these rules and see if we can get a slightly simpler question. How will we know that the answers we come up with are right and true? After all, we don’t have a teacher’s edition with the answers all neatly written in the back. Well, not exactly, but we do know what the truth looks like. The truth looks like Jesus. The truth will be permeated through and through with the essence of his coming to us, his grace and loving-kindness. The truth will bring freedom. And finally, after we have summarized what we know to be true and discarded what we know to be false, the very last questions we ask may be, What does 1 Timothy 2: 12 mean? What does it mean in 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35 that “women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak”? But by that time the problem may not seem too complex."
Stegall, K. E. (2013-10-01). The Full Rights of Sons (Kindle Locations 266-284). Dog Ear Publishing. Kindle Edition.
"Yet in all this, we must remember that there is but one God. This oneness seems beyond our understanding, especially when we see these differences. Complementarians may use these differences within the Trinity to support their position. They may assume that because there are differences, there must also be a hierarchy of authority. They say that the Father is the ultimate authority and that the Son and the Spirit are subordinate to the Father. This is a very complex issue and one for which there are no easy proof texts. Yet I do not believe that this is what orthodox Christianity has believed through the centuries about the nature of God. God is one. If the Father is in authority and the Son and Spirit are subordinate, then how can we be talking of just one God. Instead, we begin to think of three Gods. How can Jesus be subordinate to the Father when he himself is God? How can they be equal in power if the Father is in authority over the other two? We begin to see God in our image, rather than ourselves in God’s image. In our efforts to make the Trinity more understandable, we tend to think three become one through authority. This is our human mentality of separation, individualism, and authority rather than his divine mentality of oneness through servanthood. But this is natural for man in his fallen state. Our minds are darkened. We are blind. There is something here that we cannot fully grasp. Only through faith can we begin to perceive the truth. God is one God in three persons."
Stegall, K. E. (2013-10-01). The Full Rights of Sons (Kindle Locations 2022-2033). Dog Ear Publishing. Kindle Edition.
"Trinity in Hierarchy?
But what I hear often today is that the Trinity is a hierarchy of authority with the Father at the apex. It is not my intention here to write a treatise rearguing this aspect of the Trinity. The church has already done this, and it took five hundred years. I will leave that to others. But I do reject the idea that the Trinity is a hierarchy of authority. This is not what the church has believed. This is not what I have been taught. This is not the defined doctrine of orthodox Christianity. Completely apart from the issue of the status of women, the church must either renew its commitment to belief in the Trinity as the church has defined it in the past, or we must again address the question, debate it openly, and change the creeds and confessions if need be. But no fair judgment can be made if the issue of subordination within the Trinity is dealt with at a glance, while our full attention is really with the subordination of women. We cannot allow our beliefs to be eroded through unchallenged statements of assumption just because they are confidently stated numerous times.
Subordination in Trinity?
I have been very hesitant to state my thoughts as boldly as in the preceding paragraphs. Yet I can come to no other conclusion. Subordination within the Trinity is being proclaimed as a given, a tenet of Christianity. I hope that as arguments are put forward to keep women subordinate, the great truths the Christian Church has fought so hard to make clear will not be abandoned. Let’s be careful! We dare not revert to denying Christ’s equality with God as integral to a rationale that denies woman’s equality with man."
Stegall, K. E. (2013-10-01). The Full Rights of Sons (Kindle Locations 2094-2107). Dog Ear Publishing. Kindle Edition.
"We are confronted with a very complex problem or question. What do the Scriptures teach about the role or status of women? It seems like there are numerous arguments going in as many different directions. How can we possibly find the answer? Well, let’s start at the top. What can we do to make this a slightly simpler problem? We can begin by praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit and for his illumination of the Scriptures. Now what can we do? As a foundation, let’s renew our commitment to the basic tenets of our faith, those things enumerated in the Christian creeds and confessions that have been formulated throughout history. We must remember what the Bible as a whole says about the nature of our triune God and the nature of man. What is the essence of our new life in Christ? How are believers to relate to each other in this new life? What is the nature of the church? How is it to be governed? What do we already know to be true? What do we know to be false? Let’s apply it and move on. What else can we do? We can apply the tried and tested rules for biblical interpretation. Let’s look for one unified teaching that encompasses all of Scripture. We should allow the clear to shine light on the unclear. When we come to words that seem difficult, let’s define them according to their use in Scripture. When something seems very confusing, we can discuss it together, using all the gifts of the body. Let’s apply these rules and see if we can get a slightly simpler question. How will we know that the answers we come up with are right and true? After all, we don’t have a teacher’s edition with the answers all neatly written in the back. Well, not exactly, but we do know what the truth looks like. The truth looks like Jesus. The truth will be permeated through and through with the essence of his coming to us, his grace and loving-kindness. The truth will bring freedom. And finally, after we have summarized what we know to be true and discarded what we know to be false, the very last questions we ask may be, What does 1 Timothy 2: 12 mean? What does it mean in 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35 that “women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak”? But by that time the problem may not seem too complex."
Stegall, K. E. (2013-10-01). The Full Rights of Sons (Kindle Locations 266-284). Dog Ear Publishing. Kindle Edition.
"Yet in all this, we must remember that there is but one God. This oneness seems beyond our understanding, especially when we see these differences. Complementarians may use these differences within the Trinity to support their position. They may assume that because there are differences, there must also be a hierarchy of authority. They say that the Father is the ultimate authority and that the Son and the Spirit are subordinate to the Father. This is a very complex issue and one for which there are no easy proof texts. Yet I do not believe that this is what orthodox Christianity has believed through the centuries about the nature of God. God is one. If the Father is in authority and the Son and Spirit are subordinate, then how can we be talking of just one God. Instead, we begin to think of three Gods. How can Jesus be subordinate to the Father when he himself is God? How can they be equal in power if the Father is in authority over the other two? We begin to see God in our image, rather than ourselves in God’s image. In our efforts to make the Trinity more understandable, we tend to think three become one through authority. This is our human mentality of separation, individualism, and authority rather than his divine mentality of oneness through servanthood. But this is natural for man in his fallen state. Our minds are darkened. We are blind. There is something here that we cannot fully grasp. Only through faith can we begin to perceive the truth. God is one God in three persons."
Stegall, K. E. (2013-10-01). The Full Rights of Sons (Kindle Locations 2022-2033). Dog Ear Publishing. Kindle Edition.
"Trinity in Hierarchy?
But what I hear often today is that the Trinity is a hierarchy of authority with the Father at the apex. It is not my intention here to write a treatise rearguing this aspect of the Trinity. The church has already done this, and it took five hundred years. I will leave that to others. But I do reject the idea that the Trinity is a hierarchy of authority. This is not what the church has believed. This is not what I have been taught. This is not the defined doctrine of orthodox Christianity. Completely apart from the issue of the status of women, the church must either renew its commitment to belief in the Trinity as the church has defined it in the past, or we must again address the question, debate it openly, and change the creeds and confessions if need be. But no fair judgment can be made if the issue of subordination within the Trinity is dealt with at a glance, while our full attention is really with the subordination of women. We cannot allow our beliefs to be eroded through unchallenged statements of assumption just because they are confidently stated numerous times.
Subordination in Trinity?
I have been very hesitant to state my thoughts as boldly as in the preceding paragraphs. Yet I can come to no other conclusion. Subordination within the Trinity is being proclaimed as a given, a tenet of Christianity. I hope that as arguments are put forward to keep women subordinate, the great truths the Christian Church has fought so hard to make clear will not be abandoned. Let’s be careful! We dare not revert to denying Christ’s equality with God as integral to a rationale that denies woman’s equality with man."
Stegall, K. E. (2013-10-01). The Full Rights of Sons (Kindle Locations 2094-2107). Dog Ear Publishing. Kindle Edition.
October 29, 2019
Kathy is way beyond my intellectual capacity but for the gist of the book that women can be full participants in the church I am in total agreement. She falls short in homosexuality. Not even examining it as closely she examines other passages. After all God is love. Homosexuality can be live, not just sex. But this has been my experience with all Coveys. She does make some points about the complimentarians. I can see how they view so narrow mindedly.
December 3, 2013
The book, The Full Rights of Sons, speaks to anyone in whom it has been ingrained that men and women have different status in the kingdom of God. Kathryn Stegall carefully examines the biblical texts on which this theology is based. The text digresses from the conventional format of a theological argument because the questions are honestly asked and answered in the language a layperson easily understands. Even though Stegalll is passionate about her thesis, she is always respectful and never becomes condescending in her tone.
Stegail has added personal pictures that not only help to support her argument but also add an unusual element of interest.
Clearly, this has been a personal journey for Stegall, one that she ardently shares with her readers. I highly recommend the The Full Rights of Sons to anyone who has ever questioned the role of women in the church.
Stegail has added personal pictures that not only help to support her argument but also add an unusual element of interest.
Clearly, this has been a personal journey for Stegall, one that she ardently shares with her readers. I highly recommend the The Full Rights of Sons to anyone who has ever questioned the role of women in the church.
July 4, 2015
Laughable. Clearly self-published.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews