The Junia Project

Advocating for Women's Equality in the Church and Home

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Who was Junia?
  • Contact Us
  • Resources

About Patrick Franklin

(PhD, McMaster Divinity College) is Associate Professor of Theology & Ethics at Providence Theological Seminary in Manitoba, Canada. He is also the Vice President of the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation, the Editor of Dikaskalia, and the Book Review Editor for Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (journal of the American Scientific Affiliation). He and his wife, Elena (a spiritual director), are church planters and serve as bi-vocational pastors at The Gathering, a recent church plant in Steinbach, Manitoba, affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church. Together they parent three wonderful children.

Is God Male?

November 9, 2017 by Patrick Franklin

When I teach about the Trinity in my introductory theology class, the topic of God and gender often comes up. “Is God male?” Let’s think about that.

The Bible often refers to God with masculine personal pronouns. Following this, Christians usually say “He,” “Him, “His,” and “Himself,” when referring to God. Trinitarian language is predominately masculine (“Father” and “Son”) though “Holy Spirit” is more elusive. Many popular Christian books celebrate the more masculine qualities of God (especially books for men and books on ‘leadership’): God is a hero, a conqueror, a warrior, a triumphant king, and so forth.

Even so, I would be extremely hesitant about saying that God IS male; in fact, I would push further to argue that such a notion applied to God, absolutely and without qualification, is both false and misleading.

Filed Under: Difficult Passages, masculinity Tagged With: feminine side of God, masculinity, Patrick Franklin

Why 1 Timothy 2:8-15 Does Not Ban Women from Teaching & Having Authority in the Church

September 30, 2016 by Patrick Franklin

From the mailbox: “Just wanted to say thank you for your article on 1 Timothy 2. It was a great reference for me as my 13 yr old daughter asked me about it when she read it during her devotions. I was not sure how to respond to her until I found your article. Thank you!” God Bless, Brian. As long as 1 Timothy 2 continues to be used to restrict women from fulfilling their call to discipleship we will continue sharing good scholarship on this passage. Today’s “long form” post is by seminary professor Patrick Franklin. In it he identifies 3 general reasons and 6 specific problems with using the passage in this way. This is our most comprehensive post on 1 Timothy 2 to date – be sure to bookmark it for further reference.

Filed Under: Difficult Passages Tagged With: 1 Timothy 2, authentein in the bible, authority in the bible, Patrick Franklin

Reading Scripture as an Egalitarian: The Big Picture

July 21, 2016 by Patrick Franklin

Reading scripture as an egalitarian

In today’s post Patrick Franklin presents egalitarian theology in a nutshell. He writes, “In order to understand difficult passages of Scripture, including the parts of Scripture that seemingly place limitations on the full equality of women in the church and in the home, it’s helpful to consider the “big picture” message of the Bible with respect to the equality of men and women. The following 10 points offer a quick summary of what I understand to be the teaching of Scripture, interpreted in the light of tradition, reason, and experience of God.”
1. Genesis 1–2 teaches that men and women were created to be equal. Both men and women were created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–28) and both were included in the vocational mandate to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over all that God has made…

Filed Under: Biblical Equality Tagged With: egalitarianism, Patrick Franklin

Ephesians 5:21-33: How Paul Turns Headship on Its Head

May 31, 2016 by Patrick Franklin

Ephesians 5

Ephesians 5:21-33 is often cited as a proof text to endorse male leadership in the home.

In this text, wives are instructed to submit to their husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. Pretty clear, right?

Well, perhaps not. As with the other passages, we need to consider the broader context to discern what’s going on.

The most important thing to notice is that the relationship between husbands and wives is not the main theme that Paul is addressing.

Filed Under: Difficult Passages Tagged With: Ephesians 5, headship in the Bible, Patrick Franklin, submission in the bible

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

Categories

Archives

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG

Enter Your Email

Copyright © 2021 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in