Neil H. Williams - The Maleness of Jesus: Is It Good News for Women?

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The Maleness of Jesus: Is It Good News for Women?

Neil H. Williams

THE MALENESS OF JESUS

Is It Good News for Women?

Copyright 2011 Neil H. Williams. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, W. th Ave., Suite , Eugene, OR 97401 .

Cascade Books

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

isbn 13: 978-1-60899-893-7

eisbn 13: 978-1-62189-888-7

Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked niv are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cataloging-in-Publication data:

Williams, Neil H.

The maleness of Jesus : is it good news for women? / Neil H. Williams.

xiv + 190p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 13: 978-1-60899-893-7

1. Women in Christianity. 2. Feminist theology. 3. Jesus ChristPerson and offices.
I. Title.

BT83.55 W60 2010

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

Questions concerning the maleness of Jesus and the implications of this for women have been the subject of interesting theological conversation. Is Jesus male personhood central to his meaning as the Christ or not? In this welcome volume Neil Williams provides a thorough discussion of this significant theological question and carefully draws out its implications for the church and the world demonstrating that the advent of Jesus is good news for all people.

John R. Franke

Clemens Professor of Missional Theology, Biblical Seminary, Hatfield, PA

This book is highly informativebut even more soa mind opener. You will surely have to stretch your mind, whatever your present views are. Williams deals with the vast field of the problem in a very responsible and innovative way.

Adrio Knig

Head of Department of Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics (retired)

University of South Africa

In this provocative and carefully nuanced book, Neil Williams tackles one of the most controversial issues among conservative Christians. His exploration of the theoretical and practical relevance of the maleness of Jesus balances serious theological analysis with a sensitivity to the pastoral challenges that surround this debate. Williams shows the similarities between the hermeneutical trajectory that characterizes arguments on this topic and other biblical themes, such as slavery and the Sabbath. Moreover, his attention to the larger matrix of theological issuesincluding the Incarnation and the Trinitymakes an important contribution that ought to be appreciated by all of those involved in this ongoing evangelical dialogue.

F. LeRon Shults

Professor of Theology and Philosophy, University of Agder, Norway

At first glance, it might seem that the question of the necessity of the maleness of Christ to the incarnation is an abstract theological issue. Williams shows just how important the issue is, not just for our understanding of redemption but also for our understanding of gender relationships. His book not only deftly addresses the question of Jesus gender, but is a model for how to think through important theological and ethical issues with intelligence and civility.

Tremper Longman III

Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies , Westmont College

This is a breathtaking book. Williams offers not only an invaluable excursus on the Sonship of Jesus and its implications for gender, role differentiation, marriage, and patriarchy, but it also offers a way of doing theology that invites many disparate voices and theological debates to the table. And rather than increasing cacophony, Williams judiciously draws out the competing views of each voice/view to a stunning symphonic shalom. For some, this work will be spurned as an accommodation to cultures shifting sandsbut if so, Williams counters with a steady and gracious critique of all positions, including his own. There is no one path that is problem free. The way forward in this conversation on gender is with the kind of scholarship, wisdom, and grace offered by this courageous labor.

Dan B. Allender, Ph.D.

Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding President, Mars Hill Graduate School

Author, Sabbath and The Wounded Heart

Williams combines uncommon common-sense and interdisciplinary synthesis to address a perennial challenge for some quarters of Evangelicalism: how male-centered modes of expression that characterize both Scripture and much of the history of the church must be in conversation with the social and scientific paradigms that have demonstrated clear explanatory power in recent generations. Williams is both courageous and careful in outlining his argument, steering clear of the anxious belligerence that often characterizes discussions on this topic. There is no other book I know of that combines such clear respect for Scripture, a participants understanding of Evangelical concerns, and a dialogical temperament with important contemporary paradigms of thought. Williams truly raises the bar on the discussion of the womens issue and sets a new agenda for Evangelical treatments.

Peter Enns

Senior Fellow, BioLogos

Author, Inspiration and Incarnation

For Lori

Introduction

At the center of Christianity is Jesus of Nazarethwhose maleness is used by many to justify male rule, to exclude women from leadership, and to tell us about the character of God. The maleness of Jesus is used to define God, deny women ordination, and support a so-called created order of male headship. Some of the largest denominations in Christianity use Jesus maleness to secure the subordination of women and to emphasize that men represent Jesus better than women do.

This raises a number of questions that are the subject of this book. What is the meaning or significance of Jesus maleness? Is it revelational of the character of God? Is it foundational for the gospel? Is Jesus maleness associated with an ongoing created order of male priority? Or to ask these questions in another way, What would happen to our understanding of God, the gospel, or the created order if God were embodied female? What would change, and would it be for the better? Is revelation and salvation possible apart from a male redeemer? In a different time and culture, could there be a female incarnation?

These questions are essential for many, and for some the fundamental division is not between those who are Christian and those who are not, but between those who believe that Jesus male personhood is of the essence of his meaning as the Christ and those who do not.

Although a contemporary theological debate, the question of whether Jesus could have been born a woman is not entirely new. For example, it was raised in the twelfth century by Peter Lombard and later by numerous commentaries on Lombards work. According to Lombard, Christ could have been a woman, but he took on the male sex because it is more honorable. Later, Thomas Aquinas made the more radical claimbased on Aristotelian biologythat Jesus maleness was a necessity because women are misbegotten males. Today, none would claim that women are inferior in their being or nature. Nevertheless, in the church there are significant divisions over the meaning of Jesus maleness, and many derive a variety of theological conclusions from his maleness, which makes it an important topic for contemporary theology.

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