A Critique of Egalitarian Hermeneutics and Exegesis on Jesus’ Approach to Women

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The Nature of Hermeneutics

Since proper hermeneutics is foundational to interpretation, and hence also essential for the construction of sound theology, the present investigation seeks to unearth the theological method, including the hermeneutical method, of various schools of interpretation with regard to Jesus’ approach to women. As Simon Maimela and Adrio König (1998: 2) contend in the introduction to their edited volume Initiation into Theology, “[O]ne can only thoroughly understand a specific type of theology if one comes to grips with its hermeneutic.” The discussion of the nature of hermeneutics will commence with a brief sketch of the history of interpretation.

The Goal of Hermeneutics

The objective of hermeneutics according to this writer is to come as close as possible to the actual meaning of the text, that is, to the meaning intended by the biblical writers (Hirsch 1967; Osborne 1991; Erickson 1993; Vanhoozer 1998; for a good summary of the hermeneutic used in the present dissertation see Klein 1998: 319–35; and more fully Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard 1993). As Hirsch (1967: 126) notes, “Validity requires a norm—a meaning that is stable and determinate no matter how broad its range of implication and application. A stable and determinate meaning requires an author’s determining will . . . . All valid interpretation of every sort is founded on the re-cognition of what an author meant.” Klein (1988: 325) likewise equates “the meaning of the text” with “the meaning of the text that the biblical writers or editors intended their readers to understand” (emphasis original). As Klein (1998: 326) explains, “the meaning of the texts themselves,” in turn, is “the meaning the people at the time of the texts’ composition would have been most likely to accept” (emphasis original).

The Major Tasks of Exegesis

Evangelicals are open to all methods that are helpful in ascertaining the true meaning of a given biblical text on the basis of their belief that the Bible is the revealed and inspired Word of God (Klein 1998: 325). Interpretive competency entails skill in performing the following five exegetical tasks: studying (1) literary genre; (2) word meanings; (3) grammatical relationships; (4) literary context; and (5) historical-cultural background (for a helpful concise treatment of each of these tasks see Klein 1988: 327–32; for a helpful discussion of the second, third, and fourth tasks see Cotterell and Turner 1989).

General Hermeneutical Principles

As one attempts to come as close as possible to the actual meaning of the text as intended by the author and as one engages in the exegetical task outlined in the preceding discussion, the following general hermeneutical principles should be kept in mind. First, there is a need for a “listening hermeneutic.” As the German theologian Adolf Schlatter (1997 [1923]: 18) rightly notes, biblical exegesis ought to be based on the perception of what the texts are actually saying rather than the interpreter’s creativity or ingenuity: “It is the historical objective that should govern our conceptual work exclusively and completely, stretching our perceptive faculties to the limit. We turn away decisively from ourselves and our time to what was found in the men through whom the church came into being. Our main interest should be the thought as it was conceived by them and the truth that was valid for them.”

The Difficulty of Reconstructing History

Recent scholarship has increasingly questioned whether history “as it actually happened” (the phrase is that of the German historian von Ranke: wie es eigentlich gewesen ist) can be recovered to any degree of confidence from the available sources (see further on this point the interaction with Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in Chapter 2). Postmodern theorists believe that history is written by the winners, that is, the available sources tell us what those victorious in a given struggle want posterity to believe happened; hence, according to them, history is a function of power rather than truth. History is but a fable agreed upon (for conservative evangelical evaluations of postmodernism see Carson 1996 and Erickson 2001).

Table of Contents :

• Preface
• Summary
• Chapter 1: Introduction: Survey of Feminism, Egalitarianism, and Complementarianism, Nature of Hermeneutics, Relevant New Testament Passages on Jesus and Women
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.1.1 Issue, Relevance, and the Road Ahead
  • 1.1.2 Approach and Presuppositions
  • 1.2 General Survey of Feminism, Egalitarianism, and Complementarianism
    • 1.2.1 Feminism
      • 1.2.1.1 Precursors
      • 1.2.1.2 Radical Feminism
      • 1.2.1.3 Reformist Feminism
    • 1.2.1.4 The New Feminism and Its Precursors
    • 1.2.2 Egalitarianism
      • 1.2.2.1 The First Wave of Egalitarian Works: The 1970s
      • 1.2.2.2 The Polarization of Evangelicalism into Complementarianism and Egalitarianism: The 1980s and 1990s
    • 1.2.3 Complementarianism
  • 1.3 The Nature of Hermeneutics
    • 1.3.1 A Brief Historical Sketch of Hermeneutics
    • 1.3.2 Feminist Hermeneutics
    • 1.3.3 Conservative Evangelical Hermeneutics as Understood in the Present Dissertation
      • 1.3.3.1 The Goal of Hermeneutics
      • 1.3.3.2 The Major Tasks of Exegesis
      • 1.3.3.3 General Hermeneutical Principles
    • 1.3.4 Special Issues in the Hermeneutical Task
      • 1.3.4.1 The Difficulty of Reconstructing History
      • 1.3.4.2 The Role of the Reader, the Movement from Author to Reader in Hermeneutical Research, and in Defense of Authorial Intent
      • 1.3.4.3 Issues Related to Canonicity
• 1.4 Survey of Relevant New Testament Passages
  • 1.4.1 Jesus’ Relationship with His Mother: The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1–12)
  • 1.4.2 Jesus Talks with the Samaritan Woman (John 4:1–42)
  • 1.4.3 Jesus’ Teaching on Adultery and Divorce (Matt. 5:28–32; 19:1–12; Mark 10:1–12; Luke 16:18)
  • 1.4.4 Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14–15; Mark 1:30–31; Luke 4:38–39)
• Chapter 2: A Critique of Feminist Hermeneutics and Exegesis on Jesus’ Approach to Women
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Radical Feminism
    • 2.2.1 Mary Daly
    • 2.2.2 Virginia Ramey Mollenkott
    • 2.2.3 Daphne Hampson
  • 2.3 Reformist Feminism
    • 2.3.1. Letty Russell
    • 2.3.2 Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
    • 2.3.3 Rosemary Radford Ruether
  • 2.4 The New Feminism
    • 2.4.1 Semeia (1983)
    • 2.4.2 Searching the Scriptures
    • 2.4.3 The Feminist Companion to the Gospels
    • 2.4.4 Evaluation of New Feminism
  • 2.5 Summary
• Chapter 3: A Critique of Egalitarian Hermeneutics and Exegesis on Jesus’ Approach to Women
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 The Early Years (1966–1986)
    • 3.2.1 Definition of Egalitarianism
    • 3.2.2 Krister Stendahl, The Bible and the Role of Women
    • 3.2.3 Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty, All We’re Meant to Be
    • 3.2.4 Paul Jewett, Man as Male and Female
    • 3.2.5 Mary Evans, Woman in the Bible
    • 3.2.6 Ben Witherington, Women in the Ministry of Jesus
    • 3.2.7 Gilbert Bilezikian, Beyond Sex Roles
    • 3.2.8 Aida Besancon Spencer, Beyond the Curse
    • 3.2.9 Richard Longenecker in Alvera Mickelsen, ed., Women, Authority & the Bible
    • 3.2.10 The Early Years: Summary and Preliminary Assessment
  • 3.3 The Maturing Movement (1987–1999)
    • 3.3.1 Grant Osborne, “Women in Jesus’ Ministry”
    • 3.3.2 Ruth Tucker, Daughters of the Church and Women in the Maze
    • 3.3.3 R. T. France, Women in the Church’s Ministry
    • 3.3.4 Stanley Grenz, Women in the Church
    • 3.3.5 The Maturing Movement: Summary and Preliminary Assessment
  • 3.4 Recent Contributions (2000–2004)
    • 3.4.1 Linda Belleville, Women Leaders and the Church, Two Views on Women in Ministry
    • 3.4.2 William Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals
    • 3.4.3 Douglas Groothuis, “What Jesus Thought About Women”
• Chapter 4: Conclusion: A Comparison of Feminist and Egalitarian Hermeneutics and Exegesis on Jesus’ Approach to Women
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Select Exegetical Insights from an Original Study of New Testament Passages on Jesus’ Approach to Women
  • 4.3 Comparison of Feminist and Egalitarian Hermeneutics and Exegesis on Jesus and Women
  • 4.4 Toward a Proper Hermeneutic and Exegesis on Jesus’ Approach to Women
  • 4.5 Summary of Findings and Overall Contribution
• Bibliography

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A CRITIQUE OF FEMINIST AND EGALITARIAN +HERMENEUTICS AND EXEGESIS: WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON JESUS’ APPROACH TO WOMEN