Preface
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights" (James 1:17, NIV). The truth of this verse has been validated in my experience in that I cannot imagine myself having written this kind of book even a decade ago.
Like Moses, whose attention was seized by a bush that burned without being consumed, I found myself taken quite by surprise in regard to the question of women in professional ministry. Through strange and wonderful providence, this issue has broken in upon my consciousness with a compelling force that will not let me go. One cannot easily shrug off that kind of divine inheritance.
Even so, I doubt that this book would have been written had not Dr. Wesley Tracy, editor of the Herald of Holiness, taken the initiative to forward a paper I had written to the Book Committee of the Church of the Nazarene, "Paul's Attitude Toward Women in Ministry." The committee, in turn, encouraged me to continue research and present in book form a biblical defense of women in ministry. It was their invitation that spurred me to pursue it. The project became, for me, an incredible journey into the joy of discovery.
I soon became aware, as I began my research, that the issues addressed have a far wider scope than the Church of the Nazarene. The place of women in the church continues to be one of the most debated, and divisive, questions in the greater church world today, particularly among Evangelicals. Though my personal context and point of departure is from within the Wesleyan theological tradition, my
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mission is to challenge those who take seriously the inspiration and authority of the Bible as the Word of God, to rework their exegesis and rethink their interpretation of scriptural teaching regarding the status of women, particularly those who are "in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
I would like to thank my wife, Marge, and my children, for their unfailing encouragement and helpful critique. Also, my colleagues in the Division of Philosophy and Religion at Northwest Nazarene College have afforded me invaluable support and insights. I am deeply indebted to Bonnie Perry and Linda Quanstrom for their enthusiasm for the book and for their rigorous editing. I must also pay tribute to a vast community of biblical scholars, past and present, from whose work I have freely drawn.
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