As this book gives a good explanation of God's design in terms of "the complementarian perspective", I decided to translate the book into Dutch in the hope that many Christians would recognize the dangerous shift.
Kathy writes about her discovery that the Bible is the reliable Word of God. "No one among my family or friends believed that; so it wasn't a view I was raised to hold, and it brought with it massive consequences. For instance; now I trusted God's Word as truth, written to aid my flourishing and not to diminish it, my choices needed to be submitted to Scripture. When my choices and God's commands clashed, he won."
Around the same time we were listening to Franchis Chan on a youtube clip where he expressed his willingness to surrender all to Jesus and to obey God's Word, even where it didn't make sense to him. He said something like, "If the Bible would tell me to stand on my head, and it seemed foolish to me, I would still do my best to stand on my head... in faithful and loving submission to God!"
In a lecture by D.A. Carson entitled "Subtle Ways to Abandon the Autority of Scripture", he suggests that throughout the centuries the Church has been tested to see whether or not she would continue to submit to the authority of the Word of God. Sometimes the issues appear trivial and insignificant, until you recognize it to be another scheme of Satan to drive a wedge between the Church and her God. Carson suggests that issues like "women in church leadership" and "homosexual lifestyles in the church" are of this calibre.
6 "Men and women are equal."
Jordan Peterson, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Toronto has angered feminists by insisting that men and women are not equal. If we give them true freedom to choose -research shows- women will be much more likely (about 20 : 1 in Scandinavia) to choose to be a nurse, where men will be much more likely to choose to be an engineer.
We all know that men and women are created differently, and we know that form and function are closely related in God's created order. People of all times and places have known this to be true.
If we read in Genesis about the world before the Great Flood, we see how men became violent and abusive to women. Throughout history men have abused women for their own service and pleasure. Yet, to dismiss or ignore the male-female differences is not going to solve this problem!
If we look at Jesus and the apostles, we note that men and women are equally valuable in the Church of Christ. Christ has shed his blood for men and women alike. And although a husband and his wife must submit to eachother, this does not make the relationship symmetric. Jesus and his apostles maintain unique roles for men and women, and they did not do so for fear that the church was not yet ready for what it really ought to be (as some have slanderously suggested).
I have heard the slogan "men and women are equal" many times. Usually it started with the equal value, but a few sentences later the same slogan shifted to mean that also in the church the roles for men and women ought to be the same.
Ernst Leeftink, a GKv pastor who has thought and written a fair bit about the issue of "women in office" also reviewed Kathy Keller her book. He valued her insights, but in the end he was disappointed that she could not answer the question 'Why God had decided to assign the offices of elder and preacher only to qualified men'. Actually, Leeftink paraphrases Kathy her question in this way "Why Jewish tradition and the practice in the early Christian church restricted the guarding of the truth to the men." (waarom in de joodse traditie en dus ook in de eerste christelijke gemeente de taak van het bewaken van de gezonde bijbelse leer alleen bij mannen is neergelegd) Her failure to answer this question, according to Leeftink, proves that Kathy her argument has no objective basis and may therefore be dismissed. Notice the shift from "God's will" to "Jewish tradition and early Christian practice". Contrast Leeftink's conclusion with the voluntary submission to the biblical authority that we found expressed by Kathy Keller and Francis Chan!
Schemes of the Devil
What are the most effective ways to spread spiritual viruses in the churches?
A key position of strategic importance would be the training school for the ministry. I realized this when I studied for the ministry at Heritage Theological Seminary. Professor Webb was promoting his progressive redemptive hermeneutic, whereby essentially our modern perception of "the way things ought to be" (according to the godless culture around us) is presupposed to be superior to Paul's perception (as influenced by the primitive culture of his time, rather than inspired by the Holy Spirit). Dr. Webb was a clever academic and the year I was a full-time student there I heard hardly any objections against his teaching from faculty or students. I realized that, if this virus continued to infest the churches, the damage could be horrendous.
Another powerful agent is the press. When I grew up in the GKv, the churches found much unity and strength in their national daily newspaper, the "Reformed Family Paper". Over the years, however, the nature of this paper changed a lot. In 1967 the name was changed to "Dutch daily" to reflect a desire for a greater audience. Twenty-five years later the editorial staff opened up to any self-professing Christian, and over time the paper sought to present a broad scope of ideas and opninions from all who called themselves Christians. Many or most of the older members remained faithful in their subscriptions as the paper remained a source of church news and family announcements.
7 "Living in Faithfulness and Love"
Whenever we visited our families in Holland, we would inevitable read the "Dutch Daily" to familiarize ourselves with the developments. We noticed in this paper a growing preference for articles that promoted the idea that all churches are equally good, that there is nothing wrong with sex outside marriage (even with unbelievers), and homosexual practice is not condemned by God's Word if it happens "in faithfulness and love", which usually implies that it is practised with one exclusive partner.
Although the Bible has no passage condoning "men sleeping together" but consistently calling it an abomination, the virus has done its work. Even before synod has come to a conclusion, they are advised not to keep homosexual couples from the Lord's Supper.
"How could God be so cruel not to give a fulfilled life to our children whom he has given a homexual inclination? How could a church be so unloving not to accept these covenant children as brothers and sisters in the flock.
Four years ago, I wrote in a post:
Behind Dr. Webb's views I now see a world-wide web, woven by the Evil One. It entangles many church leaders and teachers, and in its deception the Enemy seeks to destroy the church. According to Dr. J. van Bruggen, the new hermeneutics is now making strong inroads in the Reformed churches in The Netherlands. This brings many pastors and elders to re-interpret Paul, for instance on the matter of female pastors and elders in the church. Such a change has not yet been accepted, but the momentum exists and the common opinion seems to be that the acceptance of ‘women in office’ is just a matter of time. However, it’s not the acceptance of women in office that will be the turning point. If the new hermeneutic is already embraced, the Horse of Troy is within the walls!
The gates are wide open to the enemy; time will tell for those who keep their eyes wide open and stand strong in the armor of God!
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