Different but Equal: Going Beyond the Complementarian/Egalitarian Debate

by Derek J. Morphew

Different But Equal poses the Can women exercise any leadership role in the church today, including eldership? Derek Morphew explores the dialogue between feminism and theology as one of the issues of our time. He examines both the complementarian position on gender and the alternative, evangelical egalitarianism.

Genres: Theology

200 pages, Paperback

Published December 29, 2008

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read - so much wisdom and balance, thorough coverage of the most pertinent Scriptures and arguments . . .

I'm relieved to find authors such as Derek Morphew who take this subject seriously and don't just dismiss half of the population with a couple of proof texts taken out of their cultural contexts.

Also, thank you to the professor that Morphew mentioned (whose name I've forgotten) who did the groundwork fairly recently (last couple of decades?) for "recovering" the "lost apostle" Junia, a woman (Romans 16:7 - "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was."), an unfortunate mistranslation in history that has caused a lot of misunderstandings (attempts were made to rename her with a male-sounding name that turns out to not even be a name in Greek).

[Nicolas Stagliano · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but disappointing. He goes into great depth to explain the beliefs of various theologians and what he likes or dislikes about them, but he puts very little effort into analysis of his own opinions and beliefs. He seems to think that because he has analyzed other peoples' beliefs and why he does or does not like them, his own beliefs are magically self-evident as a result. They are not self-evident. I want to agree with him, I want to believe what he believes, if he would only just be more thorough!! This book is extremely interesting to read to learn what some people believe, but it is beyond disappointing. I would not really advise reading this if you are looking for anything other than entertainment.

[Stephanie Fosnight Regester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent, cogent text explores the deeper issues underlying the debate on what leadership roles should be open to women, particularly in marriage and ministry. Showing great respect for both Biblical authority and a well reasoned argument, Morphew summarizes the complementarian and egalitarian positions by explaining their relation to Trinititarian theology; Gnosticism and monism; the impact of social forces; liberation theology and radical feminism; and redemptive kingdom theology, seen from an eschatological endpoint. All of these terms are explained and heavily footnoted for the lay reader. Finally, he arrives at the conclusion that one can respect the differences between man and woman and treat both sexes as equal with all areas of life leadership open to women, including in ministry and marriage. While this book was a heavy read at times, requiring my full concentration as I rapidly got up to speed on centuries of theological tradition, it was an affirming, restful experience to find such solid grounding for the only position that makes sense to me. I also appreciate Morphew's injunction that disagreement on this topic not cause division in the church. I wish it were so.