Revolutionary Women
I’m getting ready to hop on a plane tomorrow morning for my bi-annual trek down to Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY. I’ll be teaching an intensive Master’s level course on Feminist Theology. I’ve taught this particular course for many years, at Southern and at other seminaries.
Those of you who know me well know that I have a tendency to get bored quickly. So you would think that the prospect of teaching the same material for the umpteenth time should excite me about as much as running my fingernails down a blackboard. But that’s not the case. I’m eager to go. The reason for my eagerness has little to do with the course content and a lot to do with the revolutionary fervor that this particular course seems to stir up in the students.
The women of the coming generation are radicals! And when God captures their hearts and minds with truth, they are willing to become counter-cultural revolutionaries for the sake of the Kingdom. As John Piper says, “wimpy theology makes wimpy women!” Strong, biblical, back-boned, sink-your-teeth-into-it doctrine and theology, on the other hand, makes women who are beautiful, godly, strong, and mission minded. Whenever I run into past students, I am astonished at their passion and commitment to Biblical Womanhood, and amazed at what a significant impact they are having in their spheres. I believe that God is stirring up a new generation of women to stand against the tide of culture. The Christian counter-revolution of women has truly begun!
The following post is by Erin Straza, a woman who attended the True Woman 08 event. I love her 6 point summary of a radical biblical woman. Erin has been inspired to embrace God’s glorious definition of womanhood and reject the feminist-defined notion of womanhood that is current in popular culture (and also, sadly, often in the church). And she’s inviting her girlfriends to do the same. I’m excited because tomorrow I get to go teach a week of intensive classes (45 teaching hours – yikes!) to a room full of revolutionary women just like her.
Here’s Erin’s Post:
Join a Spiritual Revolution!
Monday, November 17, 2008 — Erin Straza
It’s now been a month since I attended True Woman ‘08, a women’s conference held October 9-11, 2008, in Schaumburg, Illinois. I’ve had a hard time pulling my thoughts together on this one, and I worried that I would not be able to do it justice. But I was asked to write a review for my church newsletter, so I needed to get at it! With many starts and scraps, the Lord helped me develop a summary. [whew!]
Today’s post highlights a portion of that article, containing the conference details and summary; I’ll soon provide the second half of my review, which contains my personal testimony from all I learned. Enjoy!
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Radical Biblical Womanhood: Femininity the Way God Meant It to Be
More than 6,200 women gathered in the Chicago area to attend True Woman ‘08, a Christian women’s conference anchored by Revive Our Hearts Ministries and Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Many noted speakers inspired women to embrace God’s glorious definition of womanhood by rejecting the world’s false notion of feminism. This was no spiritual lightweight conference! And it was a feast for the soul for women of all ages and backgrounds.
If I had to summarize the essence of True Woman in one word, it would be revolution. Webster’s Dictionary defines revolution as “a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something.†This conference was the Christian woman’s clarion call to exact a fundamental change in how we think about and see womanhood, calling us to embrace a radical biblically based view of femininity.
What exactly is that, you may wonder?
Based on what I heard at the conference, I would describe a radical biblical woman as one who:
1) Dives Deep into the Word. John Piper urged women to be steeped in the Word because wimpy theology makes for wimpy women whose god is small and whose faith is weak. God is calling for strong women who live by faith in Him, magnifying His goodness and power to the world.
2) Has a Biblical Worldview. Nancy Leigh DeMoss stressed that radical biblical women are confident that God is always working, always loving, and always in control as He exacts His plan for all creation.
3) Pursues a Countercultural Life. Mary Kassian challenged women to esteem God’s plan for femininity by honoring themselves and the men they encounter with Christ-honoring actions, words, and attitudes.
4) Resists Fear. Karen Loritts called women to resist the lies of the enemy that tempt us to give way to fear in all its forms: worry, control, manipulation, anger, and the like.
5) Trusts God’s Sovereignty. Janet Parshall encouraged women to trust God with the life circumstances in which He has placed us.
6) Endures God’s Refining Fire. Joni Eareckson Tada reminded us that radical biblical women willingly endure God’s loving refining work-even when it is painful and confusing.
If you think that list is a lot to process, imagine how stunning it was to sit under such powerful messages for an entire weekend! It was quite something.
Since the conference, I have gone to the True Woman Web site several times to listen to or read through the messages presented there. Each time, I hear the revolutionary call a bit clearer and grasp a bit more of the excitement for all that it means to be a radical biblical woman.
Hope this review has encouraged you join the revolution! I’d love your company.
This Review was written by Erin Straza. Read her blog here.
Category: Blog, Counter-Revolution, Ministry Note
As a participant in the umpteenth teaching of Feminist Theology at Southern, I thank you!! I am so very glad you came!
I am preparing a paper for another intensive class, this one on world religions, and opted to research and write on paganism. It is astonishing how many women have been led into paganism in the past 30 years through the deceptive slippery slope of feminism.
Thank you, dear professor, for opening my eyes to new questions and new ways of examining my faith. Let glory be given to the God who got you through all 45 intensive hours and who stands steadfast to answer every question and every opponent!
There are as many different types of feminists as there are women, but essentially (and correct me if I am wrong) they believe in equality.
What do you think of the word “equality” being taken out of the mandate for the Status of Women’s Council, and recent moves to take away women’s right to sue for equal pay for equal work in Canada? Obama has long been a champion of pay equity, knowing the cost of the wage gap to the economy. Why is the Canadian government doing the very opposite of Obama with changes in the laws regarding pay equity and the right to sue over discrimination?
“If women received the same salary as men who work the same number of hours, have the same education or union status, are the same age, and live in the same region of the country, then these women’s annual family income would rise by $4,000, and poverty rates would be cut in half.”
National (American) Organization of Women, “Facts about Pay Equity,†2002.
I try to not be a negative person and give the benefit of the doubt when and where I can, but there comes a time when women have to stand up for one another and ask questions. If our mother’s had not, women would not even have the vote today.
Pay equity is a thorny issue. It means that jobs are “rated” by someone (i.e. the government or some special interest group) to determine what each particular job is worth. Thus, a typist’s job might be rated to be worth more than a ditch digger’s job because the typist had to take a typing course to learn to type whereas the digger didn’t need training to learn how to use a shovel. Pay equity goes far beyond “equal pay for equal work.” It dictates salaries based on ideology rather than supply and demand. In my mind, the free market should determine how much a particular job is worth, and not a committee of ideologues.
If pay equity was a myth then women would not have a valid case to take to court and this would all be moot. But why erode women’s right to defend themselves? The Orwellian language in our current budget misses the point and is misleading. If long waits for trials is an issue then that should be addressed, but two wrongs do not make a right. Nor is every woman in a union.
What disturbs me most is that the myth that the wage gap is a myth has been most widely promoted by Warren Farrell (and lately quoted by every blatant misogynist).
Mr. Harper should listen to all Canadian women, and not just those (and with all due respect) whose faith promotes a submissive ideal. He has not. Nor did he listen when estimates showed that national day care could return seven dollars for every dollar invested in our children (not to mention reducing poverty and crime for future generations).
It has has barely been a generation since Nellie McClung the woman who had women legally declared persons, and helped win our right to vote has died. What would she say to Mr. Harper? “Yes Mr. Harper. Nice women do want pay equity” Or as she responded to conservative prime minister Roblin “”By nice women…you probably mean selfish women who have no more thought for the underprivileged, overworked women than a pussycat in a sunny window for the starving kitten in the street. Now in that sense I am not a nice woman for I do care.”