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Women: Called to be Fathers of the Gospel by Roger and Eileen Himes

Reviewed by Rachel

"Women: Called to be Fathers of the Gospel" by Roger and Eileen Himes mainly addresses two controversial issues: legalism vs. grace (or OT vs. NT) and women's "equality" in the church. While the first issue, legalism vs. grace, dominates most of the book in my opinion, fortunately with grace as front runner, the sayings of Paul that are often used to silence women are also addressed. Roger and Eileen Himes conclusions on women in the church are at least semi-founded on their conclusion that "Things look different if they are seen through the lens of the Old Testament rather than the New. Paul says to be 'able ministers' of the NEW Testament (II Cor. 3:6). Jesus said not to put new wine into old wineskins. Old Testament preaching by those '10,000 instructors in Christ' does not reveal the glory of the New Testament gospel." On page 60 they state, "Paul clearly understood and taught that we are to leave religious rules behind."

Personally, I am not sure I completely agree with all of the conclusions in "Women: Called to be Fathers of the Gospel," but they are certainly worth an honest look. It would take me months to analyze every statement fairly and completely, so I will summarize what Roger and Eileen Himes have concluded in their book and you can judge for yourself.

The "Paul and the New Testament Church" chapter is where the nitty-gritty controversial verses are addressed. We've all heard "women are to be silent in the churches" and "women are the weaker sex" based on what Paul said in the New Testament. Here are a few of the verses addressed:

"Women Should Learn In Submission" Page 74
They state that this was in response to unlearned women asking their husbands questions about what was being preached during the church services.

"A Woman Should Be Silent" Page 76
They detail that praying and reading was done out loud in those times, unlike the more popular silent prayer and reading of today, and conclude that this verse only signified that these things should be done in a "quietness… a non disruptive manner." Given the time, I would like to email as many historians about this as possible. It would be interesting to see if this is verifiable, debated, or completely agreed on by the experts.

"Women Should Not Teach Men" Page 78
Similar to the first example, this was addressed as a matter of women having not been educated in a spiritual and biblical matter in that day.

What I can say for certain, is that womankind are not bound to be mute when it comes to Christ. We have role models like Deborah, Priscilla, Aquila, and Mary. The Bible has its share of deaconesses, prophetesses and other remarkable women. We are told to look out for each other, for the older women to advise the younger women. Mothers have the greatest responsibility on earth, raising children for the Lord. I think it is obvious God made women extremely special and wonderful. While men and women may have different roles and characteristics in church, family and in other ways, it is not a stretch to say that we are all equal in God's eyes! We are all children of our Father, all loved unconditionally by Him and all indeed called to share his wonderful Gospel.

You can find more details about "WOMEN. . .Called to be Fathers of the Gospel" here:

www.ThePracticalGospel.com/women.htm
by Roger & Eileen Himes
Publication Date: 5/1/04, ISBN 1-888554-04-5.
$9.95 retail, or $13.00 ppd. Softbound, 112pp,
Lamplighter Books of Colorado
P.O. Box 5, Castle Rock, CO 80104

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Women: Called to be Fathers of the Gospel by Roger and Eileen Himes