However, Kathy Keller, wife to Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, has moved from an egalitarian position to a complementarian one. Keller sought ordination in the PCUSA before questioning and then abandoning her egalitarian views. Interestingly, she is the only one of the three comfortable with being labeled a “complementarian” or “egalitarian”—though her views of what kinds of activity women are permitted to do in the church may make more restrictive complementarians nervous. As she states, whatever a non-ordained man can do in the church, a woman can also do.

Theological conclusions depend more on our biography than most of us admit. We’d like to think we reached our views through an unbiased approach to the biblical text, but self-reflection reveals many complications. The best writers and thinkers understand this influence and use history, community, and prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit for correction.

Thankfully, the three authors (John Dickson, Kathy Keller, and Michael Bird) in Zondervan’s recently released three-book series, Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry, all recognize and confess this dynamic in their own positions. You won’t have to fear while reading these books that emotions and grievances will trump biblical arguments.

John Dickson, senior research fellow in the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and Michael Bird, lecturer in theology and New Testament at Crossway College in Brisbane, Australia, have moved from a complementarian view of women in ministry and preaching toward an egalitarian view—though neither would call himself an “egalitarian.” Dickson doesn’t argue for women’s ordination but merely the ability to fulfill a preaching ministry in the local church. Bird argues for women’s ordination but hesitates to allow women to hold senior roles like bishop or senior pastor. Interestingly, Bird maintains a complementarian view of headship in the home. As he puts it, authority in the home is based on gender, whereas in the church it’s based on calling.

However, Kathy Keller, wife to Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New York City, has moved from an egalitarian position to a complementarian one. Keller sought ordination in the PCUSA before questioning and then abandoning her egalitarian views. Interestingly, she is the only one of the three comfortable with being labeled a “complementarian” or “egalitarian”—though her views of what kinds of activity women are permitted to do in the church may make more restrictive complementarians nervous. As she states, whatever a non-ordained man can do in the church, a woman can also do.

It’s worth noting at the outset that each approach has been deeply affected by the author’s context: Keller, in a highly educated and secular environment; Dickson and Bird, in a seminary and academic one. I’ll address each contribution in turn.

The Gender Issue Is Primarily a Theological—Not Justice—Issue (Kathy Keller)

In Jesus, Justice, and Gender Roles: A Case for Gender Roles in Ministry, Keller approaches the textual questions of 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 not as a critical scholar, but as a theologically trained practitioner up-to-date on both cultural and scholarly debates. She focuses on the inadequacy of William Webb’s redemptive-movement proposal and lucidly argues for a classical complementarian understanding of these texts, answering objections those in her environment commonly face.

If you’re looking for a fresh approach to a complementarian understanding of Scripture, you won’t find it. However, the strength of her book lies in the section addressing the question, “If Paul does indeed prescribe a complementarian understanding of authority in the local church, why?” In other words, she’s responding to the voice that cries, “Gender issues are justice issues! And if the Bible does forbid female ordination and preaching, then isn’t the Bible unjust?”

Keller provides a winsome framework for approaching these objections. She begins by showing that, no, Scripture’s teaching concerning gender is not primarily a justice issue; it’s a theological one. …

A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry (Michael Bird)

In Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry, Michael Bird’s case for equality in ministry is not as equal as egalitarians would like. For one, Bird holds to male headship in the home. And although he believes the Bible allows for women’s ordination and preaching in the local church, he stops short of supporting women in senior roles of bishop or senior pastor.

His arguments concern the following:

Phoebe, Junia, and Households

If Romans was Paul’s magnum opus, so to speak, then why not entrust delivering and reading his letter to one of his male fellow-laborers? Why Phoebe instead? She must have been “a woman of great abilities and good character in Paul’s mind,” Bird concludes. Also, if there were questions about the “righteousness of God” or the identity of the “wretched man” halfway through his letter, “then who do you think would be the first person that [the recipients] would ask?” Bird wonders. …

A Case for Women Preachers (John Dickson)

In Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons, John Dickson says we should rethink whether Paul had our modern understanding of sermon-giving in mind when he forbade women to teach in 1 Timothy 2. He argues that modern evangelicals have inappropriately universalized the biblical word “teaching” to refer to “all kinds of Bible-based talks in the church.”

Dickson suggests that “teaching” has a more particular meaning in the NT, which Paul did indeed forbid women to do. However, he avers, our modern understanding of sermon is closer to the biblical word “exhort” or even “prophesy,” which Paul did not forbid women to do. …

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