33: Warrior, Mother, Creator: Biblical Metaphors for God in Scripture with Ron Pierce

Hi Split Frame Fam!

We are delighted to have Dr. Ron Pierce (Ph.D, Fuller Theological Seminary) as our guest today to talk about biblical metaphors for God. Dr. Pierce is Professor of Old Testament at Biola University and has written and edited numerous books and articles on the topic of women in ministry and the evangelical gender debate. Ron is also a personal friend of ours and we are just over the moon that we could have him on our podcast!

In addition to being the editor of the upcoming 3rd edition of Discovering Biblical Equality (see the second edition here), Dr. Pierce has written extensively for Christians for Biblical Equality (his author page is here). Of special note is his excellent article on Deborah in Judges 4, Women Prophets and the Feminine Voice of God, and his game-changing work on 1 Corinthians 7 and marriage - I (Nick) cite it in my book The Perfection of Our Faithful Wills: it is that good! Dr. Pierce has also written a commentary on the Book of Daniel and an accessible work on marriage and ministry partnership.

Dr. Pierce also teaches an exceptional class on Theology of Gender at Biola, and the playlist on YouTube can be found here. It was first in Dr. Pierce’s class that both of us became convinced of the biblical veracity of egalitarianism and changed our minds based on what Scripture teaches.

If you like what we re doing, please consider supporting us on Patreon! Thank you, especially those who write to us whether egalitarian or complementarian, and our current patrons. You are a great blessing to us! No gift is too small.

Nick & Allison & Nolan Quient

32: The History & Future of Egalitarianism with Mimi Haddad

In this episode, Nick and Allison talk with Dr. Mimi Haddad, president of Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE). Dr. Haddad is a personal friend of ours and we are so excited to welcome her onto our small podcast! We talk about the history of egalitarianism and the future of egalitarianism: where we’ve come from, and where we are going.

Dr. Haddad has written extensively on how Humanity Flourishes when We Invest in Girl's Education, Women Church Planters, Ending Abuse, and especially how Egalitarianism is not a new path to liberalism. Join us in our conversation with Mimi! We hope you love it! You can follow Mimi on Twitter here.

If you like what we are doing, consider participating with us on creating the greatest egalitarian podcast on earth by becoming a monthly supporter on Patreon! Please share, rate (5 stars, please), and tell your friends about this podcast. Thank you for listening and supporting us!

31: Women and Old Testament Law with Mary Conway

In this episode, Nick and Allison talk with Dr. Mary Conway, a contributor to the upcoming and highly anticipated third edition of Discovering Biblical Equality (DBE3). Dr. Conway is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Specifically, Dr. Conway is writing on the following in DBE3:

•  “Gender in Creation: Genesis 1–3.” In Discovering Biblical Equality, edited by Cynthia Long Westfall and Ronald W. Pierce. 3rd edition. Grand Rapids, MI: InterVarsity, forthcoming.

•  “The Treatment of Women under the Mosaic Law.” In Discovering Biblical Equality, edited by Cynthia Long Westfall and Ronald W. Pierce. 3rd edition. Grand Rapids, MI: InterVarsity, forthcoming.

Dr. Conway has also done extensive linguistic and theological work in Judges, as you can see on her personal page at McMaster.

If you like what we are doing, consider participating with us on creating the greatest egalitarian podcast on earth by becoming a monthly supporter on Patreon! Please share, rate (5 stars, please), and tell your friends about this podcast. Thank you for listening and supporting us!

30: Kate Wallace Nunneley of The Junia Project

Kate is the Lead Pastor at Wellspring Free Methodist Church in Bakersfield, California & Co-Founder of The Junia Project. As a Christian & feminist, Kate enjoys writing & speaking at the intersection of theology & gender. She loves living in Bakersfield with her husband Leif & their 2 dogs. Kate is currently pursuing her Masters of Divinity at Azusa Pacific Seminary & holds a Master of Science from the London School of Economics & a Bachelor of Arts from Azusa Pacific University. She joins us to talk about the genesis of The Junia Project, pastoral ministry, motherhood, and the power of theology and ministry as a life lived in holy love for God and others. We're so happy she joined us!

NQ

29: N.T. Wright on The New Testament in its World and Women in Leadership

Yes. You read that correctly. N.T. Wright stopped by for a few minutes to talk about his new mammoth masterpiece (co-written with Mike Bird) The New Testament in its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians. It is a wonderful work that both Allison and I will be using in our future (hopeful) teaching careers. We talked with Tom for a while about the project (warning: sporadic usage of the phrase ‘Bird Magic’ does appear) and then we asked him a few questions about women in ministry, and about how the New Testament encourages women in leadership.

Much thanks to Jana and others for their work in making this possible, and a hearty thank to Tom for kindly stopping by! Tom of course has written numerous works mentioned in the podcast, but here is a video on his thoughts on women in ministry as well as an article that spells out his thoughts.

NQ

26: CBE Conference #2 and Our Texas Road Trip

Hi everyone! We made it around the Texas triangle (Houston - San Antonio - Austin - Waco - DFW - Houston) and during this trip we talked about our time at the Christians for Biblical Equality conference in Houston and answered listener questions.

25: Huldah and Hermeneutics

Howdy! In this episode Nick and Allison have a long-overdue treat for you! If you are in Texas or want to be in Texas during the beginning of August, we have a discount code for the Christians for Biblical Equality Conference that can be found ONLY at the end of this episode.

Nick and Allison talk about the Prophet Huldah and about basic hermeneutics as they relate to the evangelical gender debate. Much could be said but we limited ourselves to the discussion simply to make things a bit breezy.

Excellent resources on Huldah include the articles by Christine Marchetti, Ron Pierce from Biola University, and Brenda Griffin Warren. These works demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that God’s empowering placement of Huldah is a shattering blow to the paradigm of complementarianism.

We hope you enjoy, and we hope to see you in Houston, Texas (Aug 2-4)!

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24: Deborah and #MeToo

It has been a while! Hello! We’re back. Sort of.

In this episode we tackle the prophet Deborah in Judges ch.4-5 and get into some deeper questions from our twitter followers and friends. We hope you enjoy! For more research on this topic, see the excellent article by Ron Pierce, where he goes through the story of Deborah and Jael in great detail. Arthur H. Lewis makes several additional theological and linguistic points about her son in Judges ch.5. For a more historical survey of Deborah in church history, see J.G. Brown. Much is often asserted about the nature of priesthood in the First Testament, and Christina Campbell has some interesting points to make about that question.

Also, finally, for those who desire an answer to who Nick was compared to….see Episode 16 of The Sinnergists Podcast. You should go follow them on twitter, too.

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23: Genesis 3 and the Fall

We’re back at it again! Nick is in the midst of pastoral ministry AND Advent, so that has taken up a lot of his already limited free time. Allison is in the midst of taking over the world, one theological argument at a time. This episode, we tackle Genesis 3 and the notion of the Fall, especially as it relates to male and female relationships. No easy task!

Allison argues (rightly, duh) that

God, the source of life, desires for humankind to live interdependently with each other in worshipful connection to him. This is the picture painted by Genesis 3:16. Gender hierarchy is a result of the fall, when a man and woman who once faced one another as equals become separated from God. Without a savior, their relationship with God and one another will continue to be one of separation.

Thank you for listening, and to our two new patrons!

Nick and Allison

22: The Incarnation & the Iconoclast

Here is a re-recording of Allison’s conference paper at the CATA conference in Toronto, CA!

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21: In the Image of God: Gender, Genesis and Creation

Welp, we’re back! In this episode we tackle complementarian readings of Genesis 1-3, focusing specifically on Gen 1:25-28, 2:15-25 and 3:1-7. We interact with Ray Ortlund’s article in RBMW (Nick gets mildly sassy a few times) as well as Denny Burk’s article in The Gospel Coalition. Needless to say, we found their arguments/ assertions lackluster and unbiblical.

For those who are interested in further resources on this topic, see Marg Mowczko’s excellent and accessible scholarship and Richard Hess’ article on Genesis 1-3 in Discovering Biblical Equality. For those interested in more hermeneutical work, see the articles by Kevin Giles, Jasmine Obeyesekere Fernando, and John Jefferson Davis in Priscilla Papers. As it is clear, we do not believe Genesis provides complementarianism any ground to stand upon, and instead points toward an egalitarian reading that is consistent with all Scripture.

Tune in next time as Nick and Allison discuss the Fall and the impact this event has for our understanding of gender and mutuality!

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20: Jesus, Coffee & Gender with Michael Bird

Well we are back! Sort of!

It has been a busy few months with the new job transition for Nick, but thank God we are finally on some sort of schedule. This week we talk with Dr. Michael F. Bird, who is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College in Australia about Jesus and his view of gender. Mike is a former complementarian who has recently changed his mind on the bible's view of women and we talk about many things in this episode.

Among these things discussed are Jesus and divorce, coffee, Mike's poor taste in drinks, the genderedness of Jesus and soteriology, the issue of sexism and gender dynamics in the classroom, and so on and so forth. It was lively!

We apologize for the audio quality, as we are still working on figuring out how to properly record people who are technically in the future.

For Mike's books, we recommend his The Gospel of the Lord, Evangelical Theology, and his new commentary on Romans.

We hope you enjoy!

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19: Gender Myths, Friendship & Stray Cats?

So, it has been an odd journey since last we spoke! Nick and Allison have both had a few major life changes (you'll have to listen to the episode to find out what exactly all that is!), but today our topic concerns different so-called "gender myths" in relation to friendship and the church. We tackle three so-called "gender myths" in this episode.

Gender Myth 1: sexual love/marriage is the highest form of love.

Gender myth 2: men and women cannot be 'just' friends (Nick makes a comment about the Billy Graham 'rule' which is #savage).

Gender Myth 3: To be fulfilled/fully human is to have a sexual relationship/ be married.

A recommended resource that has shaped a lot of our thinking on this subject, and various gender myths, belongs to New Testament scholars Wesley Hill and his book Spiritual Friendship. The church has drunk deeply from the cultural well, where sexualization has eclipsed the message of Jesus.

And we may have an epic guest on for next time!

NQ

18: Junia

ἀσπάσασθε Ἀνδρόνικον καὶ Ἰουνίαν τοὺς συγγενεῖς μου καὶ συναιχμαλώτους μου, οἵτινές εἰσιν ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις, οἳ καὶ πρὸ ἐμοῦ γέγοναν ἐν Χριστῷ

"Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinspeople and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding/prominent among the apostles, and who were in Christ before me."

"Oh how great is the devotion of this woman Junia that she should be even counted worthy of the appellation of apostle!” -John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans.

In this episode, Nick and Allison tackle the issue of whether or Junia is a woman or a man, and her status among the Apostles. As we shall see, both the grammar and nature of the language itself supports the standard conclusion that Junia was a woman and was indeed counted among the apostles (contra the ESV and some modern scholars). We also speculate about her role in the early formation of the church of Rome, and Nick suggests some ideas about her status and relationship to a certain Joanna of Luke's Gospel (8:1-3 and 24:9-11).

There are a wealth of resources about this woman. Of specific prominence among them (see what I did there?) are the excellent books by Eldon Jay Epp (Junia: The First Woman Apostle) and Richard Bauckham (Gospel Women). Other commentators that have accepted the fact that Junia is an apostle in Romans 16:7 include James Dunn, Robert Jewett, Ben Witherington, Grant Osborne, Stanley Porter, and Richard Longenecker among others. One can fairly say that this conclusion is essentially the standard view in New Testament evangelical scholarship.

Ben Reynolds has a really good blog post with specific citations that is worth your time if you want to see how all of this flows together. Other New Testament experts like Scot McKnight and The Junia Project and Christians for Biblical Equality have written on the subject. Similarly, see Philip Payne's broad case for women in ministry and Mark Reasoner's explorations of Romans 16 as a whole in Priscilla Papers.

We've also started a PATREON PAGE for those who are interested in helping us!

In Christ,

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17: Women in and beyond Romans 16

Well it is a new year!

We both hope you all had a happy holiday (or Xmas for those who get mad at the word 'holiday'). Now that Nick has graduated, some interesting life changes have happened and we talk a bit about those events and potential events in this episode. We apologize for the delay, but we think you will understand more once you hear what we have to say.

For an excellent work on women in Romans 16, see the academic work of Mark Reasoner on Romans 16 in general, J. David Miller on the various interpretive options surrounding Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2, Clayton Croy on translational bias in Romans 16, Philip Payne on the equal standing of women in Scripture and on the "titles" of women in Scripture and Robert Hull on the women mentioned in Philippians 4:2-3. For excellent and practical scholarship and wisdom, we commend The Junia Project, Christians for Biblical Equality and Marg Mowczko to you.

If you are interested in learning more about Apphia in Philemon 1:2, see Nick's peer-reviewed article published with Priscilla Papers.

If you like what you hear, please give us an honest five star review on iTunes and follow and connect with both of us on twitter (Nick and Allison)!

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16: Hope, Suffering and Gender in Romans 5

Welp, this is our second recording of this difficult portion of Scripture! Allison took the lead on this one, walking us through multiple exegetical and theological issues within Romans 5, especially as it relates to gender.

Does Romans 5 say anything about gender?

The answer may surprise you. Or it won't.

For Allison's paper on Romans 5:12-21 and universalism, see right here. For her post on resisting evil on Tim Fall's blog, see right here. For her presentation on Eve Christology, see here and here for her further explorations.

If you want to help us out in any way, feel free to 1) share this post on social media, 2) follow us on twitter (Nick, Allison), and giving us an honest 5 star review on iTunes! Thank you to all who are new listeners!

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