An Ordinary Preaching Woman in a Texas Baptist Church, c. 1930
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An Ordinary Preaching Woman in a Texas Baptist Church, c. 1930

ByBeth Allison Barr

In a 2006 interview, Wayne Grudem argued that female leaders in the church (especially pastors) are disobeying God’s word and thus open to “the withdrawal of God’s hand of protection and blessing.” As Grudem explained: “A woman who serves as a pastor, preaching to both men and women, is disobeying the word of God. There…

The Medieval Counsel of Biblical Womanhood
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The Medieval Counsel of Biblical Womanhood

ByBeth Allison Barr

The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood exploded my twitter feed last week. As a Texan with both friends and family in Houston, I really just wanted to see the update on Hurricane Harvey. But the Nashville Statement dominated my news feed. I confess after scrolling through headline after headline I mostly just felt tired….

Should Women Rule? Netflix’s The Crown and Complementarian Theology
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Should Women Rule? Netflix’s The Crown and Complementarian Theology

ByBeth Allison Barr

Riding the London Eye is deceptively peaceful. The city that slowly unfolds below seems a different place from the noise and heat of the crowded South Bank. I always look first for Cleopatra’s Needle, the 3500 year-old Egyptian obelisk shipped to England in the nineteenth-century and hoisted along the Victorian Embankment Gardens. The startling incongruity…

Wonder Woman and Complementarianism
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Wonder Woman and Complementarianism

ByBeth Allison Barr

It probably doesn’t surprise you that I have always loved Wonder Woman. My mother will testify that it is one show my little sister and I refused to miss. It is also my first clear memory of watching TV. The story of Wonder Woman, however, didn’t begin in 1975 with Lynda Carter as Diana Prince….

Lysa TerKeurst, Bible Gateway, and Fides ex Auditu: the Biblical Heart of Medieval Faith
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Lysa TerKeurst, Bible Gateway, and Fides ex Auditu: the Biblical Heart of Medieval Faith

ByBeth Allison Barr

Several months ago I heard a catchy phrase preached in a sermon. But it wasn’t until recently, when I began to compare popular medieval Bible verses with popular modern bible verses (thanks Bible Gateway!), that I began to think about the phrase more critically. So what is the phrase? “Information does not equal transformation.” Not…

Are Women Human in Christian Academia?
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Are Women Human in Christian Academia?

ByBeth Allison Barr

Recently, Karen Swallow Prior spoke out against the “Billy Graham rule”–married men distancing themselves from women to avoid temptation and the appearance of evil. For those of you who missed Prior’s article, she eloquently argued that good moral character is better than rigid behavioral rules. As she writes, “Virtue ethics relies on moral character that…