Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 34:3 (Summer 2020)
Article: Book Review "Men And Women In Christ: Fresh Light From The Biblical Texts" By Andrew Bartlett (Intervarsity, 2019)
Author: Laura Spicer Martin

PP 34:3 (Summer 2020) p. 29

Book Review
Men And Women In Christ: Fresh Light From The Biblical Texts By Andrew Bartlett (Intervarsity, 2019)

Laura Spicer Martin

Laura Spicer Martin holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. Visit her blog at LightEnough.wordpress.com.

Andrew Bartlett’s Men and Women in Christ is a tremendously helpful contribution to the debate that rages in evangelicalism over the “roles” of women. Bartlett is concerned that the sharp divide between complementarian and egalitarian viewpoints has harmed the unity and witness of the church. He has a degree in theology, but his career has been in the field of law and his specialty has become arbitration. A judge or arbitrator is different from a lawyer. A lawyer represents one side, but an arbitrator seeks to be neutral, listens to both sides, and must go where the evidence leads. Most books are written more like a lawyer defending one side, but Bartlett has stepped back, assessed both sides as neutrally or objectively as possible, and shared his conclusions. That is what makes the book unique.

Bartlett interacts a lot with the writings of Wayne Grudem on the complementarian side and those of Philip Payne on the egalitarian side, since these individuals are prominent representatives of their respective positions. However, Bartlett focuses less on their disagreements with each other and more on whether their proposed interpretations accurately reflect Scripture. He uses what he calls seven tools to properly interpret Scripture: primacy of Scripture over tradition, paying appropriate attention to culture, going back to the source language in context, coherence, a Christ-centered canonical approach, spiritual openness, and practical wisdom (see Appendix 1).

No one should accuse Bartlett of not being thorough. Some key passages (1 Cor 11, 1 Cor 14, Eph 5) receive two chapters or even three (1 Tim 2). Whereas a lawyer approach would tend to gloss over certain evidence, his arbitrator approach leaves no stone unturned. For example, in ch. 2 he notes: “Despite the prominence of 1 Corinthians 7 as the longest discussion of marriage in the New Testament . . . complementarian analyses have tended to overlook it or downplay it” (29). A deserved criticism! Maybe complementarians tend to do so because “the hammer of 1 Corinthians 7 breaks into pieces the rock of marital hierarchy” (28). Bartlett is not willing to overlook or downplay passages.

Neither should anyone accuse B...