Chapter 4

Jesus and Women

It is surely a fact of inexhaustible significance that "when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4), entirely without the participation of a man — that is, if we take the doctrine of the Virgin Birth seriously.¹ God created the first Adam out of the dust of the earth but brought forth the Second Adam out of the living flesh of the woman (Romans 5:12-21). The curse upon Eve and her daughters was lifted through the obedience of Mary and her Son. The seed of the woman, Eve, had come to smash the head of the serpent and deliver all humankind from the tyranny of the law of sin and death. No race or class of human beings have ever been more enslaved by the Law than women.

   Luke celebrates the birth of Christ as a cosmic event of epic importance, a divine act of historic magnitude. The angel Gabriel revealed himself to a humble Jewish peasant maiden with this salutation, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you . . . for you have found favor with God" (Luke 1:28, 30). Her cousin Elizabeth echoed the angel's word when she greeted Mary, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (v. 42). Mary anticipated the new status that this gracious intervention of God bestowed upon her as a woman, and by extension upon all women, by exclaiming in the Magnificat:

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"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed" (vv. 46-48, emphasis added).

   If all women are bound under Eve's curse, why then are not all released under Mary's blessing? How could we ever imagine that God would trust to a woman the birth, care, and nurture of His only begotten Son and yet deny her full freedom to proclaim the gospel of that very same Son?

   In His first sermon delivered in the synagogue of His hometown, Nazareth, Jesus was handed a scroll. It was the Book of Isaiah. He turned until He found exactly the right passage for His keynote address. It was to become His "Emancipation Proclamation," which would unleash the greatest spiritual and social revolution in the history of humankind. The freedom it announced and envisioned for all peoples had dawned with His coming but is yet to be realized in all its fullness. Nevertheless, its impact is just now being felt in full measure, particularly in reference to the release of women from bondage to inferiority and servility. Jesus took the scroll and read: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19).

   Luke records that "the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him" (4:20). No wonder! Clearly, something new was at hand that would be dangerous to the old. On the one hand, there was promise in the gospel of liberation that would set all captives free. At last all of God's children would stand on level ground before Him and in relation to one another.

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   On the other hand, there was also a threat inherent in such a revolutionary program: namely, all hierarchies depend, in some measure, upon having someone to rule or to dominate. If the poor suddenly realize they, too , are fellow heirs of all the privileges and benefits of the kingdom of God, and begin to claim their rightful share in it now, what alarming social upheaval might occur? If the ignorant masses, accustomed to unquestioning passivity before the "authorities," suddenly experience a recovery of spiritual sight and intellectual independence, how long could existing repressive political and religious structures survive? If all captives are suddenly set free, what would it mean to the economic interests of those who depend upon an enslaved peoples for their sustenance? If the sleeping giant of oppressed peoples were to awaken and stir to life, would tyrants and despots be able to maintain their lock upon power and privilege? And if women so long bound by chains of subordination and servitude, should suddenly claim equal rights with men granted to them by God in creation, what would become of man's control over marriage, the home, the family, the workplace, and the nation? What dislocation and disruption might occur if this "theology of liberation" were to be taken seriously?

    The male listeners in that Nazareth synagogue found their initial enthusiasm for Jesus' sermon blunted considerably when He eulogized — horror of horrors! — a woman (Luke 4:25-26). Furthermore, the woman at Zarephath was a widow: a woman without a husband, a virtual nonperson, someone not worth mentioning in public, much less in a sermon. And if that wasn't scandal enough, the particular woman Jesus chose to use, as an illustration of the magnanimity of God's grace, was a non-Israelite, a pagan Sidonian! To top it off, Jesus suggested that God's love and tender healing mercies extend not only to Jews but also to Gentiles, even Naaman the leper (v. 27), whose repulsive

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disease was itself regarded as a curse from God. That was the last straw! The righteous citizens of Jesus' hometown seized Him and dragged Him to the brow of the hill on which Nazareth was built. And they would have thrown Him off the cliff to His death if He had not somehow "passed through their midst" (v.30, NASB).

   We are not surprised to learn that very early in His ministry "the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him" (Mark 3:6, NASB). They perceived, correctly, that Jesus of Nazareth — this untutored and unordained, self-proclaimed prophet — represented a threat of grave magnitude to the status quo. He cut across the grain — and dangerously so. If this new wine of liberation and equality got out of hand, it might destroy the old wineskins of established social structures and cherished religious traditions.

   Their fears were well-founded. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than in how Jesus challenged, in precept and by example, institutions that devalued and oppressed women. We do not find in Him any expression whatsoever of the demeaning and shabby way in which Jewish males treated women in His day. To the contrary, He always treated women with utmost dignity and respect. He neither ignored nor patronized them. He did not deal with them as females but as human beings. Unlike the "bleeding Pharisees," so named because they closed their eyes at the approach of a woman and thus kept bumping into things, Jesus conversed and socialized as naturally with women as with men. He taught that they were choice and chosen daughters of the most high God. Women were locked out of the synagogue, but they were welcome wherever Jesus was and whenever He taught. He was as sensitive to the needs of an abhorrent, hemorrhaging woman who touched the hem of His garment as to those of a prestigious synagogue ruler

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whose daughter was sick unto death. Women were among His closest friends and most devoted followers. He and the disciples depended upon them largely for their support. Women were the last at the Cross and the first to the Tomb. That a rabbi, a teacher, would welcome women disciples and followers was unheard of in His day.

   According to both Mark and Luke's chronology of Jesus' ministry, His second sermon, preached at Capernaum, was interrupted by a man with a demon who cried out, "Ha! What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?" (Luke 4:34, NASB). As the miracle story unfolds, the answer is an unequivocable "Yes!" Jesus came to break the chains of demonic oppression and set the captives free (see vv. 31-36 and Mark 1:21-28). This is immediately followed by Jesus doing something unprecedented in proper Jewish society. He, a Jewish male, went into the inner chamber of a house where a woman, Peter's mother-in-law, lay sick with a fever. He rebuked the fever: "And she immediately arose and waited on them" (Luke 4:39, NASB). The Greek word for "wait" is diakonia, a verb form of the noun diakonos, "servant."

   In an astonishing reversal of all accepted social norms, Jesus rejected all titles that in any way suggested rule, dominance, or authority and deliberately chose, instead, diakonos, "servant" (Mark 10:42-45; cf. Phil. 2:5-9). In so doing He elevated "servant," minister, as the loftiest and most exalted title that any of His followers could ever claim. And so in these two opening miracles in the ministry of Jesus, we see something deeper is going on. By violating social convention, Jesus demonstrates that He intends to challenge and break the chains that bind people to demonic spirits and oppressive social structures. A woman, even as a man, can be "raised up" by Jesus and set free to become a diakonos, a "servant," a "minister" unto Him and for Him.

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   According to John's chronology, Jesus' ministry begins in Cana of Galilee at a wedding feast where Jesus turns water into wine (2:1-11). Little did those celebrants realize what kind of new wine Jesus would pour into marriage and family life, destroying the old hierarchy of dominion and subordination and introducing a whole new estimate of relationships built upon mutual submission and self-giving love. Jesus would begin the process in many ways, including His penetrating critique of divorce laws, which were especially unjust and damaging in their disposal of wives. Paul would finish it in his revolutionary exposition of Kingdom relationships and how they are to work within the marriage union (Eph. 5:18-33). John notes: "This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him" (2:11, NASB). It is hard to imagine how the disciples could have seen much "glory" under the old system of domination and subservience in marriage. The disciples must have seen something new in the way Jesus approached marriage that day, which excited their imaginations and won their hearts.

   Jesus not only violated rabbinic tradition but offended Martha's sense of propriety when He permitted Mary to hear the Word. When Martha complained that Mary was not fulfilling her proper domestic role in the kitchen, He defended her: "Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42, NASB). In so doing, Jesus affirmed the right of women to hear God's Word! In His gentle rebuke, Jesus was stating a new principle that would break the autocracy of women's culturally and socially imposed role: namely, it is more important for women to attend to the Word of God than it is to fulfill household duties. A woman is greater than what she does. She has worth and dignity apart from childbearing. Her status is not dependent on her relationship to a man but is

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dependent on her relationship to God. She is adam, anthropos, a human being in her own right, worthy of the Master's full and undivided attention.

   Jesus scandalized His own disciples by spending a lunch hour talking to a woman, a despised Samaritan woman, and a morally disreputable woman at that! No self-respecting rabbi would stoop to speak with any woman in public, much less talk theology! Yet it was to this most unlikely of all women that Jesus first disclosed himself as the Messiah of God. He spoke of truth vast and profound, such as woman's ears never before heard from the lips of a man. He taught her that God is a Spirit and that He is no respecter of persons or national boundaries. It is ironic — and wonderful — that it was not a Jew, not even a man, but a Gentile woman who became the first preacher of the gospel. Through this woman's witness, Samaria was opened up to the ministry of Jesus, which, in turn, prepared the way for a great revival under the post-Pentecost preaching of Philip, Peter, and John (Acts 8:12-17).

   Jesus enjoyed a special friendship with Mary and Martha and their brother, Lazarus. It was to Martha, a disciple and special friend, that Jesus disclosed himself as "the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live" (John 11:25). John's Gospel does not record Peter's confession of faith but rather Martha's: "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son the God" (v.27).

   Jesus accommodated His teaching to women by referring to objects and situations with which they were most familiar, such as wedding feasts, lost coins, grinding corn, putting yeast in bread, bearing children. By taking children into His arms and blessing them, He was assuming more of a maternal than a paternal role as it was practiced in that day.

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   Jesus broke protocol by freely conversing with women. His healing touch brought release to a woman crippled for 18 years. In a religious culture where Jewish males were regularly identified as "sons of Abraham," Jesus calls her a "daughter of Abraham," much to the indignation of the synagogue official (Luke 13:10-17). Jesus did not recoil in horror when a ceremonially unclean woman touched the hem of His garment. On another occasion He shocked His host, a Pharisee, and the other male guests by allowing a woman of disrepute to anoint His feet with perfume and wipe them with her hair. Rather than rebuke her, Jesus turned the occasion into an opportunity to teach a wonderful lesson about the grace of God. The miracle-story concludes with Jesus saying to this woman what He also said to the woman who touched the hem of His garment, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (7:50; see vv. 36-50). Women, even the immoral and ritually unclean, are capable of exercising saving faith and receiving the unconditional forgiveness of Christ. In so doing, He broke the chains of social isolation that had cut them off from respectable society, and He gave back to them dignity and respect as "children of God," a right that was theirs by election, creation, and redemption.

   Nowhere is Jesus' concern for women more powerfully portrayed than in His strong and uncompromising teaching on divorce. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus states: "But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery" (Matthew 5:32). How is it that a man, by divorcing his wife, forces her into a life of immorality? The answer lies in reminding ourselves of the handicaps a woman faced in that culture. What was a woman to do to support herself when turned out of house and home, especially considering she was illiterate and untrained for anything except domestic duties? To keep body and soul together

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and support her daughters who were often expelled with her, there were only tow options open to her: one was to sell her body as a prostitute and the other was to bind herself into someone else's household as a bondslave, which amounted to the same thing since masters had absolute rights over the bodies of their female servants.

   So when Jesus warned that "whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her" (Mark 10:11), He was striking a mighty blow on behalf of women's rights. No longer would two sets of standards apply. If the husband forced his wife into immorality, he was likewise guilty of an immoral act for which he would be held accountable. Women were not to be used, abused, and cast aside. Women were not to be treated as objects!

   Likewise, Jesus confronts the devaluation and depersonalization of women head-on when He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28). The "lustful look" is synonymous with "coveting," which is forbidden in the 10th commandment (Exodus 20:17), because it dehumanizes a woman and turns her into an object to be toyed with and possessed for men's selfish gratification. How should men treat women? The answer is found in the 5th commandment, "Honor your father and your mother" (v.12). Even as a man holds his mother in the highest esteem and regards her with the utmost respect, so should all women be treated (see Mark 7:10; 10:19). Women are no longer to be used, abused, and discarded but must be accorded all of the dignity and honor that befits daughters of the most high God.

   In the case of the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-11), Jesus set himself against not only the male chauvinists of His day but the law of Moses itself. The law to which the Pharisees referred called for stoning both the man and the woman

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caught in an adulterous act (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22-27). That only the woman was brought to Him reveals the double standard operative in Jesus' day: namely, men were exempted but women were expendable. By saving this woman's life, Jesus laid down the radically new principle that women are more important than the Mosaic law! When Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you" (John 8:11), He set her free from the double curse of being born a daughter of Eve and the guilt of being drawn into immoral behavior. Furthermore, when He said, "Go, and sin no more" (v. 11, KJV), He thereby declared that she had the potential of living a holy life and of fully reflecting the beautiful face of God in whose image she was created. "She whom the Son sets free shall be free indeed" (John 8:32, paraphrased).

   While one disciple betrayed Him, another denied Him, and the rest fled into the darkness leaving Jesus to walk the last mile of His earthly journey alone, women followed Him to the Cross and beyond. They were not ashamed to identify themselves with one who was condemned as a religious heretic and crucified as a political subversive. They did not shrink from putting themselves in harm's way by staying at the Cross until the bitter end. They loved Him with a devotion that knew no bounds.

   Luke, who is the only Gentile to author biblical books, must have been especially impressed by Jesus' extraordinary attitude toward, and treatment of, women. As he writes his Gospel, he demonstrates the impartiality by which Jesus dealt with both men and women by consistently linking stories about men with stories about women. Such pairings can be found in almost every chapter of his Gospel and the Book of Acts. His Gospel opens with angelic announcements both to Zechariah and to Mary (1:5-38). He records both mary's and Zechariah's songs of praise (vv.46-79). Both Simeon and Anna bless the Christ child (2:25-38).

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In His first sermon Jesus refers to two Gentiles: a Sidonian widow and Naaman the leper. Likewise, Jesus' first two miracles involve a man and a woman: the demoniac and Peter's mother-in-law (4:31-39). Luke names not only the male disciples but the female as well (6:12-19; 8:1-3).

   Jesus' healing of the centurion's servant and raising up the widow's son are linked (7:1-17). Jesus pronounces the Word of forgiveness on behalf of both the paralytic and the prostitute (5:18-26; 7:36-50). After exorcising the Gerasene demoniac, Jesus heals the hemorrhaging woman and raises Jairus' daughter (*:26-56). The parable of the good Samaritan is followed by Jesus being entertained in the home of Mary and Martha (10:29-42). Jesus fields three questions about discipleship, including one from a woman (10:25-11:13). Those who will rise to accuse Israel include both the Ninevites and the queen of the south (11:29-36). Jesus straightens a bent-over woman and heals a man with dropsy (13:10-17; 14:1-6).

   Luke relates two of Jesus' parables, one about a man who plants a mustard seed and another about a woman hiding leaven (13:18-21). he places two more of Jesus' parables side by side, one about a man searching for his lost sheep and another about a woman searching for her lost coin (15:1-10). Jesus talks about two men sleeping and two women grinding corn (17:32-35). He relates two examples of prayer: one involving a widow, and the other a Pharisee and a publican (18:1-14). After His warning against the hypocrisy of the scribes, Jesus draws attention to the widow who gave her all (20:45-21:4). On His way to the Cross, Jesus is assisted by Simon of Cyrene and lamented by women (23:26-31). Joseph of Arimathea begs for the body of Jesus, and the women from Galilee follow as it is laid in the tomb (vv.50-56). Women are among those who stand at the foot of the Cross (v.49). After His resurrection Jesus appears to women as well as to men (chap.24).

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   Luke carries on that sensitivity to the role and importance of women in his account of the Early Church, where he often links women together with men. Women waited with the men in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12-14). Peter proclaims that the promised Spirit will be poured out upon men and women and that both shall prophesy (2:17-18). The tragic story of Ananias's and Sapphira's deception is told, with the husband succumbing to the same judgment as his wife (5:1-11). Luke is careful to point out that great numbers of both men and women were being constantly added to the Church (v.14).

   Women must have been effective evangelists, for Luke records that Saul of Tarsus pursued and persecuted both "men and women" (Acts 8:3; 9:2). Philip baptized men and women believers in Samaria (8:12). Peter cured a lame man and then raised up a woman (9:32-43). When Paul preached at Antioch in Asia Minor, not only did leading men of the city rise up to throw him out, but devout Jewish women did as well (13:50). Paul began his ministry in Lystra by healing a lame man, and in Philippi by curing a demon-possessed girl (14:8-18; 16:16-34). In Thessalonica, a great number of the Greek men and leading women were persuaded to join Paul (17:1-4). Likewise, in Berea, both Greek men and women examined the Scriptures daily to see whether Paul's message was true, and they became believers (vv.10-12). In Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris were among the believers (v.34). Aquila, and his wife, Priscilla, became his hosts and coworkers at Corinth (18:1-4). Not only is Agabus the prophet mentioned, but also mentioned are Philip's four daughters who were prophetesses (21:9-10). Luke is careful to note that after his imprisonment, Paul makes his defense and shares his testimony with both Felix and Drusilla, and

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later with both Agrippa and Bernice (24:24; 25:13,23; 26:30).

   Luke makes it abundantly clear that, because of Christ, all walls separating race, social class, and gender are being torn down within the Body of Christ. Women, as well as men, are recipients of the grace of God and equally share in all aspects of life together in the church. So when Paul wrote that "there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), he was not envisioning an age yet to come but was describing what was already the case in the earliest Church as it lived out the teachings and example of Jesus.

   Clearly, women have never had a greater champion, a mightier "liberationist," than Jesus of Nazareth. In word and deed, Jesus struck the chains that had for so long bound women in a demeaning state of depersonalized and dehumanized subordination and set them free to claim their inheritance as choice and chosen daughters of the most high God.

   The release of the captives, promised by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:18), is powerfully dramatized at the close of His ministry in the Temple-cleansing incident (Matthew 21:12-16). Herod's Great Temple was built theologically: that is, it was designed in such a way that the unclean would not desecrate the holy of holies, wherein dwelt the living presence of God. To prevent this from happening, a series of four courts were built around it to protect it. The outer court was called the Court of the Gentiles, where sacrificial animals were sold and money was changed. Then came the Court of the Women, beyond which women could not go. Only Jewish males, in good health and having no deformities, could proceed to the Court of the Israelites to present sacrifices to the priests, who alone were allowed in the holy place. No one, however,

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was permitted behind the veil except the high priest on the Day of Atonement, and only after going through elaborate rituals of purification.

   In the most dramatic move of His ministry, Jesus invaded the Temple, cast out those who were conducting business, and in the process tore down those walls that had for so long locked people out of experiencing the immediate presence of God. First, He invited Gentiles into the innermost courts of the Temple, citing Isaiah 56:7, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations" (NIV, emphasis added). Then He welcomed "the blind and the lame" (Matthew 21:14) into the Temple, those unfortunates who had been barred from any part of the Temple precincts because of the curse of their affliction (Lev. 21:17-23), and He healed them. Then He threw open the gates to children who began to sing, "Hosanna to the Son of David." Where there are children there are bound to be mothers close by. From this we are justified in assuming that Jesus opened the gates to the innermost courts of the Temple to women.

   On the Cross, Jesus attacked the final barrier separating a holy God from His people, the great curtain protecting the holy of holies, which was approximately 60 feet long and 30 feet high, weighing as much as a ton. For when Jesus died, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom" (Matthew 27:51, NASB). The author of Hebrews exults, "Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, . . . Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:14, 16). Everyone now has immediate access to God through Christ: Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female. Human hierarchies evaporate before His nondiscriminatory love and mercy. All are

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equally welcome. At last, all stand on level ground before Him.

   Given the lowly status of women in Jesus' day, it is surely ironic that the first Christian preachers of the Resurrection were not men, but women! It was to the women who had come to the tomb early on that historic first day of the week that the angels first appeared. it was these women who first heard the good news, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said" (Matthew 28:5-6). It was to these same women that the first expression of the Great Commission was given: "Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead: "Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead" (28:7, NASB). The disciples responded with disbelief at first and wrote the Resurrection Proclamation off as "an idle tale" (Luke 24:11). Not so the women: they no only believed without doubting but immediately began to broadcast the good news of Christ alive (Matthew 28:8). Three of the Gospels specifically mention that Jesus appeared, first of all, to women.

   Since it would have been just as easy for the divine messengers to announce Christ's resurrection to the male disciples, huddled behind locked doors. We can only conclude that these post-Resurrection events, which focus so pointedly upon women, were by divine ordination. After centuries of being denied access to the Word of God, and being locked out of full access to the worship of God in Temple and synagogue, it is almost as if God were saying, "These are my beloved daughters, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to them!"

   We conclude, therefore, that the time-worn practice of treating women as subhuman, relegating them to subservient roles, and denying them opportunity to preach, finds no support whatsoever in the example or teachings of Jesus. If we accept the Christological Principle of interpretation,

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the question of women's right to preach is settled right here in the affirmative.

   One more objection to women preachers must be addressed: Why, then, did Jesus choose and send out on preaching missions only male apostles? The answer is apparent in what we now know about the limitations women faced in the first-century world. There was little chance that female apostles could have spearheaded the Great Commission, given the narrow social conventions of that day. For one thing, having been denied and education and access to the Hebrew Scriptures, it would have crippled their effort to prove that Jesus was the Messiah of God to unbelieving Jews. Furthermore, they would have been barred from preaching Christ in synagogues and would undoubtedly have been unable to gain a hearing in any public forum, especially from men. They would also have been unable to travel freely. Therefore, the predominance of male leaders in the disciple community had nothing to do with an eternally fixed divine decree but represented God's gracious accommodation of himself to the social structures and conventions of the world into which the gospel originally came.

   Thanks to the seeds of liberation planted by Jesus and cultivated by Paul (as we shall see in the next chapter), women are increasingly enjoying the mature fruit of emancipation from gender discrimination and now enjoy an acceptance and freedom of movement never before known. Women today are as well educated as men. They have access to the best in biblical and theological training. They not only are accepted on an equal par with men in most public forums but are acknowledged leaders in all segments of the human enterprise as well. There is, therefore, no longer any justification for binding women under ancient cultural constraints that no longer apply. To do so is sheer prejudice and sexism.

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   In the same letter where Paul issued his revolutionary "emancipation proclamation" (Galatians 3:28), he also writes: "For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (5:1).

Chapter 5  ||  Table of Contents

1. See Constance F. Parvey, "The Theology and Leadership of Women in the New Testament," Religion and Sexism, Rosemary Radford Ruether, ed. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974), 139-46; Mary Rose D'Angelo, "Women in Luke-Acts," Journal of Biblical Literature, 109/3 (1990), 441-61; Letha Scanzoni and Nancy Hardesty, All We're Meant to Be (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1974), 215-16. [BACK]