Concluding my interactions with Andrew Bartlett and his book “Men and Women in Christ”

I’ve decided that this is as good a place as any to conclude the debate/conversation I’ve been having with Andrew Bartlett.  It’s not a conversation that continue indefinitely and I am at a stage where I need to give my time to other matters that are more my priority here on Faithroots, specifically I’ve got some more work to do on Jesus and the Gospels/Luke and on the Doctrine of Humanity which I keep meaning to get back to.

I think too that we’ve come far enough in that we’ve identified where there is agreement and where the main points of disagreement are.  There are significant areas of agreement because Andrew’s form of egalitarianism that recognises distinction between men and women/husbands and wives sits close on the spectrum to my soft/narrow complementarianism.  

In the end, our differences boil down to that long running debate about the words kephale and hupotasso.  Having engaged in in depth studies of those words as part of my study of Ephesians 5 15 years ago and having continued to keep an eye on the discussion which means my own understanding of them has developed, I’m not convinced that Andrew does offer fresh light on the texts that matter.  I doubt though that at this stage I am anymore likely to change his mind than he mine.

I’ve enjoyed reading his book which clearly sets out one form of egalitarianism and engages with some other approaches to complementarianism and egalitarianism.  I’ve appreciated too his willingness to engage with me here and hope that it has been helpful to you.