88 FEMINIST VIEWS THAT UNDERMINE SCRIPTURE
is published by Zondervan. The Assemblies of God is a major Pentecostal
denomination (over 2 million members) that was founded in 1914.
These authors claim in their writings that they cannot figure out
what the Bible teaches on this issue, so our decision must be made on
the basis of observing what kinds of ministries are effective today. But
as I will explain below, this procedure effectively silences the ability of
Scripture to speak to a matter where every church must make decisions
every day. It is a different kind of rejection of the authority of Scripture,
and a different kind of step down the path toward liberalism.
Cindy Jacobs writes,
As I’ve studied the so-called “difficult passages” about women, I have
concluded that the differing interpretations are rather like that of
teaching on end-time eschatology. Throughout the years I’ve heard
excellent sermons on just about every position, all using Scripture,
and all sounding as if they had merit!^4A few pages later she affirms this principle regarding controversial pas-
sages of Scripture:
Controversial passages lacking consensus from godly people of dif-
ferent persuasions usually mean that the passages are not clear
enough to resolve with certainty. Therefore we must be tolerant on
[sic] different views on those passages.^5A similar approach is taken by the Assemblies of God position
paper on “The Role of Women in Ministry”:
We all agree that Scripture must be our final authority in settling ques-
tions of faith and practice. But when born-again, Spirit-filled
Christians, following proper hermeneutical principles, come to rea-
sonable but differing interpretations, we do well not to become dog-
matic in support of one position.^6(^4) Jacobs, Women of Destiny, 175. Later she compares arguing about 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and
1 Corinthians 14:34-35 to arguing about “other obscure passages” such as “the verse that deals
with baptism for the dead (see 1 Cor 15:29)” (234).
(^5) Ibid., 178 (Jacobs says she got this principle from Robert Clinton of Fuller Seminary).
(^6) From http://ag.org/top/beliefs/position_papers/, accessed 2-28-06 (under “Women, The Role
of... in Ministry,” paragraph 2). However, in the body of the Assemblies of God paper