Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul

by Craig Keener

Publisher:

Hendrickson

, 1992

Overview

Paul’s letters stand at the center of the dispute over women, the church, and the home, with each side championing passages from the Apostle. Now, in a challenging new attempt to wrestle with these thorny texts, Craig Keener delves as deeply into the world of Paul and the apostles as anyone thus far. Acknowledging that we must take the biblical text seriously and recognizing that Paul’s letters arose in a specific time and place for a specific purpose, Keener mines the historical, lexical, cultural, and exegetical details behind Paul’s words about women in the home and ministry to give us one of the most insightful expositions of the key Pauline passages in years.

The Logos Bible Software edition of this volume is designed to encourage and stimulate your study and understanding of Scripture. Biblical passages link directly to your English translations and original-language texts, and important theological concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. In addition, you can perform powerful searches by topic and find what other authors, scholars, and theologians have to say about the Word of God.

Key Features

• Examines Paul’s teachings on women’s roles
• Utilizes historical and cultural details in making arguments
• Aims to help Christian spouses serve

Contents

• Part 1: The Roles of Women in the Church
  • Head Coverings in 1 Corinthians 11:1–16
  • Questions about Questions—1 Corinthians 14:34–35
  • Learning in Silence—1 Timothy 2:9–15
• Part 2: Women’s Roles in the Family
  • Why Paul Told Wives to Submit—The Social Situation of Ephesians 5:18–33
  • Mutual Submission in Ephesians 5:18–33
  • A Model for Interpreting Wives’ Submission: Slaves in Ephesians 6:5–9
  • Closing Words

Praise for the Print Edition

This book can be of great help to any person seriously interested in examining why Paul said some of the things he did about women in marriage and women in ministry.

—Alvera Mickelsen, board member, Christians for Biblical Equality

For those comfortable with traditional Pauline ‘arguments’ concerning the subordination of women in the church and home, Keener presents more than they ever wanted to know about Paul’s intended meaning. But for those struggling to understand Paul’s full purpose for women, in his time and ours, Paul, Women, and Wives will prove to be ‘must’ reading. Keener’s comprehensive bibliography and literature review are alone worth the price of the book.

—Robert K. Johnston, professor of theology and culture, Fuller Theological Seminary

This book closely examines Paul’s teaching on women. Written by top-notch biblical scholar Craig S. Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives sets each passage in its historical cultural setting, and then interprets the passage in a way that draws out both the historical meaning and God’s word for today.

—Worship Leader

Product Details

• Title: Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul
• Author: Craig S. Keener
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Publication Date: 1992
• Pages: 368

About Craig S. Keener

Craig S. Keener is a professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is the author of many books, including The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels, Gift and Giver, and commentaries on Acts, Matthew, John, Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, and Revelation.

Contents

Top Highlights

“It would be surprising if an issue that would exclude at least half the body of Christ from a ministry of teaching would be addressed in only one text, unless that text really addressed only a specific historical situation rather than setting forth a universal prohibition.” (Page 101)

“The context, which helps us reconstruct the situation, suggests that Paul may here be warning against a domineering use of authority, rather than merely any use of authority.” (Page 109)

“In other words, ‘leader’ is not a very common meaning for the Greek word for ‘head.’” (Page 32)

“By arguing not only for their human equality but for something like mutual submission between slaves and slaveholders (Eph. 6:9), Paul was easily among the more progressive voices of his day.” (Page vii)

“might be interpreted as sexually enticing in our culture” (Page 47)

Product Details

• Title: Paul, Women & Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul
• Author: Craig Keener
• Publisher: Hendrickson
• Print Publication Date: 1992
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Theology; Women in the Bible; Women in Christianity › Biblical teaching; Marriage › Biblical teaching; Women in Christianity › History--Early church, ca. 30-600
• ISBNs: 9781441252814, 9780943575964, 9780801046766, 1441252819, 0943575966, 0801046769
• Resource ID: LLS:PAULWOMWIVES
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:10:28Z

About Craig Keener

Dr. Craig S. Keener (PhD, Duke University) is professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary, and is the author of 17 books, four of which have won book awards in Christianity Today. One, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, has sold more than half a million copies. He has authored scholarly commentaries on Matthew, John (two volumes), Acts (four volumes), and more briefly on Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Revelation. Dr. Keener is married to Dr. Médine Moussounga Keener, who spent 18 months as a refugee in her nation of Congo before their marriage.