Women Shouldn’t Say Amen in Church? (Putting the “Mental” in Fundamentalist)

Last updated on: March 30, 2014 at 3:13 am by Benjamin L. Corey

Women Shouldn’t Say Amen in Church? (Putting the “Mental” in Fundamentalist) 2014-03-30T03:13:35-05:00 Benjamin L. Corey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Steven Anderson is at it again.

If you don’t know who he is, I rank him near the top of the list of most obnoxious fundamentalists ever.

He’s the guy who says he carries his wife around the house each morning to prove that if she doesn’t want to go somewhere he could carry her.

And, also the guy who prayed for Obama to die and who has said God didn’t change his mind about stoning gay people.

He’s also a 9-11 truther.

Basically, he puts the mental in fundamentalist.

In a sermon he’s posted on his Facebook (picked up via the Raw Story) he’s now saying that he doesn’t want women to say “Amen” in church because it violates Paul’s teaching for women to learn in silence. However, in a stroke of sheer irony, while women aren’t allowed to say “Amen” to a sermon in church, the video version of his sermon is getting a few “Amens” from the ladies on Facebook.

Here’s what I think we can learn from this:

1. If you don’t give consideration to the grammatical/historical context to a biblical passage, you’re going to come up with some CRAZY ideas. The Bible is a collection of 66 ancient books, not a church rule book that was written in the context of our time and our place. It must be contextualized before it can be applied.

2. If we do not value legitimate theological educations, we’re going to be dealing with a lot more of this nonsense. Anderson’s church website boasts that he doesn’t have a college degree and that church is where you learn truth. There are still plenty of unaccredited “Bible Schools” that exist to “train” when all they’re doing is reproducing fundamentalist culture-soldiers. We need to be pushing back against the acceptability of having ministers who have not been properly trained with a theological education. When it’s time for your church to hire a new pastor, you need to be demanding that he or she is educated.

3. We must recommit ourselves to praying for and helping people who are stuck in oppressive churches such as Faithful Word Baptist Church where Anderson is the pastor. It is easy to make fun of or dismiss fundamentalists, but let’s remember– they need our help. We must find ways to come alongside the oppressed and help usher them to freedom.

4. We need to get educated on what the Bible actually teaches about women. This, I believe, is the most important thing we can do. We need to be able to articulate a better narrative about gender than the one that was handed to us by folks like Anderson. If you’re ready to take the next step in that area, I highly recommend Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey. Jesus Feminist will both challenge and encourage you as we endeavor to carry this Jesus movement forward. I highly recommend it!

Ironically, Anderson reminds me a lot of Dr. Evil:

Fundamentalism

Gender Equality

Previous Post

March 21, 2014

The Funniest End-Times Presentation You'll See All Day

Next Post

March 25, 2014 When We'd Rather Let Kids Go Hungry Than Be Reasonable On Gay Marriage

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abuse Adoption Asked & Answered Atheism Atonement Bible Book Calvinism Christian Culture Christian Nonviolence Christmas Church Church Killing Lies Community Creation Care Creationism End Times Evergreen Forgiveness Fundamentalism Gender Gender Equality Ghosting Grief Guns Healthcare Hell Hermeneutics Holy Land Human Trafficking Hunger Immigration Islam Israel Jesus Justice Lent Letting Go Of Hell Series LGBT Life Mark Driscoll Missiology Most Popular Posts Nationalism Old Testament Open Theism Parenting Persecution Political Poverty Prayer Pro-Life Pro-llife ethic Progressive Christianity Prosperity Gospel Put It To Bed Series Race Sincere Questions Suicide Prevention That God Show Theology To Those Christians Who Say Travel Unafraid Uncategorized War What Franklin Graham Is Wrong About Today

Select a Month October 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz