Alice Mathews - Gender Roles and the People of God: Rethinking What We Were Taught about Men and Women in the Church

While many books have simply focused on key biblical texts, Gender Roles and the People of God also explores other issues that add to the complexity of the subject, including modern cultural and theological developments that shape the way people read ancient texts and think about God and gender. This book is certain to help many Christians wrestling with gender issues.

R OY E. C IAMPA , manager for biblical scholarship and integrated training, Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship

It is a pleasure to endorse Dr. Alice Mathewss book. It is a tender, compassionate explanation of the teaching of Scripture on this delicate subject. Her desire is to be fair to what our Lord has taught in his Word, not to win an argument. I urge Christs church to center its thinking on this topic with Alices firm base on Scripture rather than numerous alternative routes that are often used to discuss this topic.

W ALTER C. K AISER J R ., president emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

In this book, Dr. Alice Mathews harvests a lifetime of serious scholarship and practical ministry experience in the church and academy to make a cogent casebiblical, historical, theological, and practicalfor the liberation and employment of the spiritual gifts of all Gods gifted and called people, both women and men. I recommend her work with enthusiasm and confidence and would like to see it in the hands of every seminary student in the country.

D R . J OHN J EFFERSON D AVIS , professor of systematic theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

A concise, cogent, and convincing treatment of gender roles for Gods people. Alice Mathews has confidently walked onto the historical turf of biblical theology, looked her opposition straight in the eye, and with grace-filled clarity of heart and mind boldly challenged outdated presuppositions, defended a God-honoring position of gender roles, and walked off the playing field victoriously. I delight in this incredible ezer-kenegdo woman of God.

S TEPHEN A. M ACCHIA , founder and president of Leadership Transformations, director of the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and author of Broken and Whole

Regardless of your position on the gender roles issue, this book will challenge your thinking and provide fresh perspectives on this important issue in the church. Dr. Mathews has inspired countless women to live out their spiritual gifts over the years. For the kingdoms sake, we should read and examine what she so carefully offers in this important book.

E VAN M ORGAN , senior vice president of global ministry efforts, Our Daily Bread Ministries

Alice Mathews helps the entire church rethink the concept of gender and gender roles with fresh biblical, historical, theological, and cultural insights. She releases us from our natural binary impulses to reconsider our God-given human responsibilities as people loved and created by God. This is a timely book for those battling in traditional gender wars.

M ATTHEW D. K IM , assistant professor of preaching and ministry, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and author of Preaching with Cultural Intelligence

Readers of this important book by Dr. Mathews will find it helpful and hopeful. Helpful because in this one volume we have a clear interaction with and integration of the hermeneutical, theological, historical, and sociological issues that have impacted the current debates in some of our Christian communities. Hopeful because we see afresh Gods creation of and call to women and men together to be full participants in the life and mission of God for the sake of the world.

W YNDY C ORBIN R EUSCHLING , professor of ethics and theology, Ashland Theological Seminary

Alice Mathews provides readers with a thorough rethink about gender roles. Her compelling claims help to enhance and enrich the discussion about the practice of men and women in the home and in the ministries of the church.

S COTT M. G IBSON , DPhil, Haddon W. Robinson professor of preaching and ministry, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Dr. Mathewss book is an eye-opening journey from creation, through biblical narratives and debated texts, on to a revealing discussion of church history right up to the present. Gender issues raised in this book (much of them alarming) impact every man and woman in the church and threaten future generations of believers. They tarnish our witness, weaken our relationships, and hinder our mission in the world. This is a vitally important read!

C AROLYN C USTIS J AMES , author of Half the Church and Malestrom, and F RANK A. J AMES III, DPhil, PhD, president, Biblical Theological Seminary, and professor of historical theology

Overcoming the sin of sexismwhat we call in my culture machismois an ongoing struggle in our churches, homes, and communities. Alice Mathews has gifted the church with a biblically sound, theologically sophisticated, historically relevant, and pastorally sensitive book. This is required reading for all who would advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and his reign.

R EV . E LDIN V ILLAFAE , PhD, distinguished professor of Christian social ethics, emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Clear and fair, this is a helpful hard-hitting introduction to questions about gender roles. Alice Mathews draws on her familiarity with the breadth and depth of biblical, theological, and historical scholarship related to these controversial issues to provide an instructive summary, regardless of whether your position is still in process or seemingly settled.

D AVID A. C URRIE , associate professor of pastoral theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Discussions on gender dominate much of our present culture, and not just in the academy or on the extreme fringes of social media. This book refutes simple gender-based hierarchical approaches that have emerged from some parts of the church and provides a richer and more holistic understanding that is faithful to both Scripture and tradition. This model of informed discourse will serve the church for years to come.

G RAYSON C ARTER , associate professor of church history, Fuller Theological Seminary

Alice Mathewss combination of laser-like clarity and loving charity toward the hierarchicalists she disagrees with is enlightening and refreshing. Spanning Scripture, theology, tradition, ecclesiology, and ministry, with a touch of sociology, this is one of the most succinct and yet comprehensive syntheses of the best scholarship youll find on the subject. It is truly a liberating book.

G ORDON P REECE , Revd Dr, director of the Center for Research in Religion and Social Policy, University of Divinity, Melbourne

Dont miss this engaging and well-written book. Read it for its timely and important insights. And read it for its exceptional model of how to study and interpret Scripture. This is a valuable resource for the church, and I will be recommending it often.

M ERI M AC L EOD , PhD, theological educator

Alice Mathews has spent decades assisting Christians to rethink what they have been taught about gender roles. Very few people have thought as long or as carefully about these issues from a biblical perspective. She provides us with a worthwhile and lively summary of a lifetime of experience and teaching from a woman who has walked the talk.

A LISTAIR M ACKENZIE , teaching fellow, Laidlaw College, Christchurch, New Zealand

Engaging, respectful, honest, and biblical, Dr. Mathews avoids strident tones and, as a friend, helps us reread familiar passages and rethink old ideas. If you believe that only Scripture should limit a persons ministry, you should read this book.