Because We Have Made God Too Small: A Baylor Professor’s Apology to Kaitlin Curtice
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Because We Have Made God Too Small: A Baylor Professor’s Apology to Kaitlin Curtice

ByBeth Allison Barr

The chair scraped next to me. It was 2:30 on Friday afternoon—time for our scheduled break. For three years I have been writing every Friday afternoon with a group of faculty women, blocking our calendars and ignoring emails. For three years I break with them for 15 minutes, pulling our chairs into a small circle….

Because Global Christian History Disrupts Christian Patriarchy Too–Evidence from Medieval Ethiopia
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Because Global Christian History Disrupts Christian Patriarchy Too–Evidence from Medieval Ethiopia

ByBeth Allison Barr

Today I am pleased to welcome Anna Wells to the Anxious Bench. Anna is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Religion department at Baylor University working with Dr. Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi. Her research focuses on the way culture influences the development of Christianity and looks specifically at female hagiographies from medieval Europe and Ethiopia through a…

Pride and Preaching: A Medieval Perspective on John MacArthur
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Pride and Preaching: A Medieval Perspective on John MacArthur

ByBeth Allison Barr

I almost didn’t write this post. After all, what more could I say? Sarah Bessey already voiced my outrage. The scoffing laughter of John MacArthur’s audience echoed in my head as I read her words. “It’s a sin to quench the work of the Holy Spirit in and through the lives of women. Repent, the…

Because Jesus Choosing Male Disciples Doesn’t Mean What We Think….
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Because Jesus Choosing Male Disciples Doesn’t Mean What We Think….

ByBeth Allison Barr

In fifteenth-century England, a (probably Franciscan) friar lived on the east coast near the cathedral city of Ely. Like many other medieval sermon authors, he included in his Lenten series a narrative from Matthew 15: the story of the Woman of Canaan. I have talked about this story before, and I am sure many of…

Sorry, John Piper, (Medieval) Christianity Doesn’t Have A Masculine Feel
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Sorry, John Piper, (Medieval) Christianity Doesn’t Have A Masculine Feel

ByBeth Allison Barr

A carved image, about two feet tall, stands alone in a glass case in the Cluny Museum in Paris. At first it seems a typical image of the Madonna and Child. Both look straight ahead, holding the gaze of the viewer. Their matching golden robes fade so easily into the golden background that it is…

Paige Patterson Is My Fault, Too
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Paige Patterson Is My Fault, Too

ByBeth Allison Barr

For years, I attended complementarian churches. I kept telling myself that maybe things would change. I kept telling myself that I, as a woman who taught and had a career, set a positive example. I kept telling myself that complementarianism wasn’t misogyny. I kept telling myself that no church was perfect. I kept telling myself…