9: JUST IGNORE THE “DISPUTED” PASSAGES? 101moving their churches toward liberalism. They may just be over-
whelmed with all the literature written on these topics and so they con-
clude, “I can’t decide this.” But then they do decide it. They decide to
adopt an evangelical feminist view, contrary to the sense of those pas-
sages that has been plain to millions of readers for centuries. In doing
so, they take their churches toward liberalism.
The position that says, “We can’t decide these disputed passages, so
we will make decisions based on factors other than these passages,” is
guaranteed to silence the most important and most relevant passages of
Scripture on roles for men and women. When evangelical feminists
claim, “Nobody knows what these passages mean,” no further reason-
ing or argument from these verses can influence their decisions. Their
position is: “The verses are too hard to decide. They are confusing. We
can’t figure them out. Therefore we won’t consider these verses anymore.
They cannot speak to us on this issue.”
But to say this on an issue where God has given direct instruction,
and where churches have to make decisions every day, and where the
whole Christian church has had widespread agreement until the advent
of modern feminism, results in silencing the most relevant verses, and
thus it is ultimately another way to undermine the authority of the Bible.
Saying that such passages are too hard to decide is another dangerous
step on the path to liberalism.