Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Jan/95

Contributor - John Moerman(Elder)

Title - Now ... A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing!!!

Topic - Feminism

THE apostle Peter warns the church that, just as there had been false prophets in the past, so false teachers would come amongst them (II Peter 2:1). Furthermore, their entrance is not a sudden bold attack, but rather a "secret" introduction of heresy ... a "slipping in" amongst us (IT Peter 2:1 and Jude vs.4).

This warning, issued almost 2,000 years ago, has never been removed and remains a divine, and compelling instruction to the church today. The elders, in particular, have been given the charge to watch over, protect, and nurture the flock of Jesus Christ (I Peter 5:1-3, Ez. 34). We, who are elders, need to keep our spiritual senses sharp and be prepared to protect and defend the church from heresy, false teachings, and their ultimate destructive influences.

I would submit to you that a false teacher has "slipped in" amongst us and is teaching false doctrines ... the end of which will bring shipwreck to the faith of some.

The false teacher is the Church Herald. One of its false doctrines, as brought forward in the Nov.'94 issue is feminism, or more specifically, "Biblical Feminism".

The reason false teaching is often insidious in that it has the appearance of good sense, and often makes very accurate observations. Put in other words, it is "secret" in nature because what is stated on the surface appears acceptable. Initially, what is false is not so much what is there, but what has been left out, either by accident or design.

I would take you now to Rev. Dr. Lynn Japinga's article 'Feminism: the Sacred and the Secular" (The Church Herald. Nov.'94).

Who is opposed to equality?

Firstly, who would argue against the stated '. . . commitment to the humanity, dignity, and equality of all persons" and further, the ". . . ultimate goal is a social order in which women and men of all races and classes can live together injustice and harmony"? What is absolutely missing in such a statement, and in the whole article, is the commitment to frame the strategy to achieve such a social order in a solidly Biblical context. Refusing to do so leaves one with the right or prerogative to define a woman's role and worth in her own way. "Feminism asserts that woman's worth is of such a nature that it gives her the right to discern, judge, and govern that truth herself. It infuses women with the idea that God's teaching about the role of women must line up with their own perception and definition of equality and/or liberation.'

When a person takes on this freedom to define the worth and role of women, a misinterpretation of, or a complete ignoring of the Bible's teaching on equality and hierarchy is the result and GONE is the Authority of Scripture. The feminists so undermine the only means by which such equality can be achieved. It is only when we understand that there is no incompatibility with equality and hierarchical roles of men and women that the framework for achieving their social order goal can be established. Understanding even superficially the nature of the Godhead, where the three persons of the Trinity are seen to have hierarchical roles but their mutual equality is not in question, frees us to view human social orders in the same light; i.e. differing roles for individuals within a social order (families, church, government) have nothing to do with equality or lack of it.

Wrong Conclusions

Secondly, Dr. Japinga is guilty of drawing wrong conclusions from accurate observations. She accurately observes, for example, that women are more likely than men to live in poverty, make less money, and be restricted business-wise. And to what does she attribute this?? ... but to her own view of the fall of Adam and Eve. Japinga sees, as a consequence of their sin, that men would "dominate" and "subordinate" women. What she understands "dominate" to mean and what the Bible means with the word "rule" are a world apart. I would suggest that the consequences of feminist thought in the areas of independence of self, and easy divorce, have had to do more to do with women's poverty than the Biblical idea of "rule". In fact, to rule in the Biblical sense and to do so favourably before God is to be servant ... caring for the needs of, and protecting, those under rulership. Again this concept is true in government, church and home.

Much (and perhaps all) of society's injustices can ultimately be traced to someone's failure to Biblically rule and/or someone's failure to Biblically submit. I will leave it to others to develop those two themes more fully.

Good Role Models

Thirdly, Dr. Japinga's article is further found deficient when she speaks of the (perceived) failure to promote stories of prominent women. Has she perhaps's missed the stories of Augustine's mother? How about Suzannah Wesley; Fanny Crosby; Jonie Erickson Tada?? The list is endless and their places in history are appropriately lauded.

Fatal flaws of Feminism

We could go on and talk further of Japinga's scriptural misconceptions (. . . women should not teach or seize authority ... ) or her undue emphasis on admittedly naive stereotyping and assumptions of women. She is ultimately wrong in her assertion that ". . . church and society are functioning on only half power", implying that the feminist movement will correct that. I would argue that in a general sense, we are operating closer to zero power as neither men nor women are applying their Biblical roles. Feminism, and Biblical Feminism actually turn the equation into a negative one as it serves as a destructive force upon society and Christianity.

In order to see, even superficially, that feminism is a destructive force to Christianity, we must attempt to understand that where one begins with feminist ideology, is generally not where one stays.

First of all, we should recognize that there are genuine believers who indeed hold to some portion of feminist theology. They may be inclined to emphasize some maternal or feminine characteristic of God, or they may fall in line with the concept of "female rule". This certainly does not, in and of itself, condemn one to hell. What is condemning is that there are always those who will push the boundaries of questionable thought and belief to the point of outright apostasy. Because of the ultimate end of feminist logic, its appearance must be dealt with as soon as it is recognized!

Feminism is truly a watershed issue of the church today. Not to recognize it as such, ignore it and hope it will go away, or to embrace it, will lead to the same inevitable conclusion ... for some in this generation, and for others in the next. "Some evangelical leaders, in fact, have changed their views about inerrancy as a direct consequence of trying to come to terms with feminism.... It is a direct and deliberate bending of the bible to conform to the world spirit of our age at the point where the modern spirit of our age conflicts with what the Bible teaches."2

For example, Virginia Mollenkott's writings are suggested as recommended reading. In the particular book recommended (written in 1977), she is "no different from any other Bible believing evangelical Christian, except in her views regarding the Bible's teaching regarding the roles of female and male .113 By 1983, she was writing "we can resolutely learn to speak of God in an all-inclusive way.. . . He/She/it ... to be recognized everywhere in everyone and everything. 114 By 1988, she began to see herself as God. 'I am a manifestation of God. God Herself! God Himself'! God Itself! Above all. Through all. And in us all."5 Further, she "argued that Christianity should yield its 'exclusive claim' of Christ being the only way to God. 116 ... and finally she pushed feminist presupposition to advocate an inclusive morality. . . . "When scripture seems to be condemning homosexuals, it is actually condemning the loss of male sperm in a culture that needed population; or it is condemning pagan rituals, or prostitution, or exploitive lust, or the use of sex by some males to humiliate other males, as in the Sodom story. It is time for the heterosexuals in the church to... educate themselves about human sexuality so that they can cease bearing false witness against their gay and lesbian neighbours."I

With a known end like this (if she is finished), is it really advisable to read her beginning works? I suggest that not only would it be a waste of time, it has the real potential of sending the reader further down the slippery slope toward apostasy, and gross immorality!!

To be sure, we are often left confused in attempting to understand the connection between the false view of women's roles as they have even crept into the church and the sickening ends of lesbianism and apostasy. A word from Francis. A. Schaeffer is in order here: "Again we see that an idea which sounds at first so close to a genuinely biblical idea ends up in a completely different place. The idea of absolute, autonomous freedom from God's boundaries flows into the idea if equality without distinction, which flows into the denial of what it truly means to be male and female, which flows into abortion and homosexuality, and the destruction of the home and the family, and ultimately to the destruction of our culture.

Nancy Hardesty, Letha Scanzoni, and Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, the other recommended authors, have, in varying degrees, also fallen in line with the progressive nature of the feminist presuppositions.

Where is Dr. Lynn Japinga on this slippery slope? Perhaps only Dr. Lynn Japinga knows for sure. Considering the books she has read and is recommending, she is without a doubt on the wrong slope of this watershed issue!! Will her position deteriorate even further as she continues to think, read and teach? I would say, unless there is a profound repudiation of her current errors and a turning towards the Bible as her defining parameter, she too will fall victim to the trap of earlier Biblical Feminists and find herself far from the God she started with.

What to do?

1. Recognize that, "Feminism identifies real problems which demand real answers."9 Inherent in this truthful statement is the reality that Biblical, evangelical Christians face a battle on the second front. This battle deals with the legitimate claim of women that they have been abused, ridiculed as inferior, and exploited. True Biblical Christianity cannot tolerate this injustice.

2. On the one hand, repudiate the teaching of feminists which seeks to "redefine Biblical texts in order to support the obliteration of male and female role distinctions in the home and in the church". 10 This "modern" Biblical interpretation gives them the right to define for themselves who they are and what their roles are, and their further claim that they can choose how they wish to name their God.

3. On the other hand, study, develop and teach accurately the Biblical Standard for worth, role, and behaviour of men and women ... and strive to rectify genuine abuses and injustices.

4. To protect the flock by removing the false teaching and heresy much as one would deal with a malignant tumour ... remove the Church Herald ... until such time as the magazine reflects sound Biblical teaching consistent with Reformed interpretation. ... and in the interim, provide nurture for the flock with alternate, edifying, upbuilding, and Biblically accurate material.

In Conclusion ...

'Looking to Christ for strength, as our whole culture is against us at this point, we must reject the infiltration of feminism in theology and in life equally. We, as the Bride of Christ, need to remain pure by rejecting this unholy union." 11

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest expression every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle field besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point." (Martin Luther)

"A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophecy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?" Jeremiah 5:31.

"This is what the Lord says: 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'we will not walk in it"' Jer. 6:16.

End notes

I Kassian, Mary A., The Feminist Gospel (CrosswayBooks, 1992) p. 225 2 Schaeffer, Francis A., The Great Evangelical Disaster (Crossway Books, 1984) p. 137 I Kassian, Mary A., The Feminist Gospel (Crossway Books, 1992) p. 237 4 ibid., p. 238 in a quote from Mollenkott's 'The Divine Feminine: the Biblical Imagery of God as Female"

ibid., p. 238 in a quote from Mollenkott's "Godding: Human Responsibility and the Bible"

6 ibid., p. 238 in a reference to the same book 7 ibid., p. 239 also a quote from "Godding: Human Responsibility and the Bible" I SchaefferFrancisA.,TheGreatEvangelical Disaster (Crossway Books, 1984) p. 136 ' Kassian, Mary A., The Feminist Gospel (Crossway Books, 1992) p. 242 10 ibid.

11 ibid., p. 253

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