In theology, Wesley who was an American theologian came up with a quadrilateral method of teaching Christians by considering four basic sources that include the scripture, reason, experiences of Christians and traditions. The four sources should be considered in theology and in evangelism to include the scriptural teachings and the current issues in Christians lives. In Christianity, gender roles and family is one of the recent issues that need application of Wesleyan Quadrilateral approach to balance the scripture texts and the realities of life. According to my understanding of the Wesleyan approach, I believe that the husband is the end of the family, however, this position should not be used as a basis of oppressing wives. To support this argument, understanding of the scripture is the primary foundation of finding it meaning where it is supported by the traditions that relate to God’s actions and also in the history of the church. Thinking critically would give meaning to the biblical texts to enhance decision-making for individuals as well as other believers’ experiences that would also be essential in creating a balance between the scriptures and the current matters cultural issues such as gender roles.
Biblical Foundation on Gender Roles
The biblical foundation presents husbands to be the heads of the families and should provide for them as recorded in Genesis. The book of 1 Timothy chapter two shows that even at creation, Adan was before. Additionally, Genesis also supports this argument by suggesting that man was created before a woman and she was instructed by God to be submissive to her husband, while the husband was also to till the land to provide to the family through his sweat. Besides, in marriages Christians were commanded by God to enter into these unions and love one another. This can be seen by how the various marriages in the bible were started and structured. The bible shows the families that are headed by men and where the husbands provided for their families. Therefore, the women have been presented in the bible as people who are obedient to their husbands and submit them, hence, it is evident that the husbands are the head of the families. However, this submission does not mean oppressing another gender, but it is based on love and being in unity of Christ. Therefore, analyzing the works of other scholars especially theologians would give a diverse view of gender roles and how they interpret the scriptures.
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Elizabeth Schussler is one of the founders of feminist theology who believes in the use of texts from the scripture and traditions as empowerment mechanisms. She argues that the biblical texts can be used as a force to set the marginalized groups free. She used religious feminist to refer to all groups of marginalized men and women. Besides, she explains how gospels, as well as prophets, provides a chance to bring freedom to the humanity. The interpretation of the scripture would enhance understanding, hence giving power to everyone as seen in Jesus’ actions. The democratic vision of Jews would provide equality, therefore, Schussler arguments are against the misuse of scripture and false interpretation of the bibles, which she considers as encourages oppression (Guidero 2019). Therefore, according to this scholar, the scripture should be well interpreted to prevent some groups to take advantage of the weak in society.
Gender Equality According to Paul
Paul in his letter to Galatians provides a view which might look different from both timothy and Genesis stories of creation. In Galatians chapter three, Paul suggests that all believers are equal before God regardless of their differences such as social, economic and even political opinions (Watson 2015). Therefore, according to this letter of Paul, all Christians who are baptized are equal regardless of their genders. Besides, Paul explains that Christ is the true heir who was sent by God to fulfil the law, hence breaking its power. It is, therefore, evidence that being a Christian is an indication of belonging to Abraham’s decedents who Jesus was sent to save from the sins. Besides, Christians are called into a new family which does not adhere to other powers than equality through belonging to Christ. However, the contents of this letter should not be taken literally since Paul wrote it to warn and teach Galatians against discriminating and leaving others out so as to follow the Roman rules. Application of the Jewish rules resulted in hatred and discrimination of different people considered low who included slaves, women and Gentles. Hence the letter to the Galatians was to change these traditional beliefs and enhance equality through baptism. Justin Hardin contends that Paul brought the issue of identifying believers with Christ to breach the gap between existing beliefs which were discriminative.
Importance of Baptism
Michael Gorman also emphasizes on the importance of baptism by factoring in the experiences of Jesus Christ’s life. The personal life of Christ, his death through crucifixion, and sufferings on the cross is symbolic to Christians as it reminds them to emulate him in their ways and commitments as believers (Baker 2014). Therefore, this union which was created through Christ enhances people to live together as one body of Christ. To support this argument, Gorman suggests that humanity would be shown by solidarity because of sharing the death of Christ which all believers should emulate in their lives to break all barriers. He further suggests that Paul’s communities overcame all barriers such as racial, class, gender. More so, the Christians community and the church play a vital role in re-actualizing the death of Christ, hence the tradition of their traditions reminds believers about adhering to the unity of believers. Therefore, Paul’s argument was not changing the current identities of the community, but to make them understand a new status acquired through the union of Christ. Hence, his intention was bringing all people of different status to one unity of Christ and through baptism, they would get equal chances without discrimination based on gender, gentile or Jew as well as slaves. Therefore, this equalization was not to create a different status of the existing ones but was meant to create a community where all people would receive equal entrance and opportunity within the community of Christ. The Galatian explanation can fit the evangelical quadrilateral as the scripture is interpreted through the use of traditions, reason and experiences of community as they emulate the life of Christ.
The Scripture and Gender Roles
Regarding the gender roles according to the letter of Paul to Galatians, the bible does not provide a different view of responsibilities given to both men and women in the story of creation as accounted in Genesis. Instead, Paul tries to reduce the differences and discriminations that exist among various groups during the time of the Roman Empire (Richards et al 2017). Additionally, the laws were very rigid and oppressive, hence Paul wanted to bring equality by giving them an identity of the community of Christ that allowed diversity.
The commands of God about marriages and gender roles are not interfered with in the Galatian since the equality was about giving equal opportunities to both men and women. The equality cannot change the nature of the differences that were initiated by God in the creation of human beings, hence the only thing that Christians are encouraged by Paul to do is to love each other because through baptism they belonged to one community of Christ, and they are the heirs of God as promised to Abraham. This equality would give women opportunities in leadership contrary to the restrictions established in the book of timothy that created a barrier to women, slaves and gentiles. Evangelism quadrilateral would, therefore, act as a link between books like Galatians and 1 Timothy which opposes each other by offering less restrictive methods of explaining the scriptures to the believers to avoid confusing them. The quadrilateral approach provides a liberal method that accommodates any believer since by baptism one becomes one of the communities of Christ. Hence, the interpretation of these scriptures among others in the Bible requires the involvement of the four quadrilateral sources to enhance a good understanding. Besides, the experiences of people should be considered to identify whether they are in accordance to Christ’s life.
Scholars’ View of Gender Roles and the Bible
Daniel Castelo argues that to understand the differences in the interpretation of the scriptures and the truth needs openness where the spirit can guide the community to conform to Christ (Holgate & Starr 2019). Therefore, the view scholars such as Walden and Schussler Fiorenza does not give fair and enough interpretation of the bible concerning gender roles.
Judith Gundry likens the oneness in Christ as suggested by Paul to a married couple whose the union does not change their differences, but staying together as one body with their differences. She further states that leaving together with their differences would need baptism to convert them into Christians, hence remaining together and being accountable for interpretations amidst disagreements (Matthews 2015). The church has faced challenges as a result of gender issues and trying to incorporate the experiences of Christ’s life to current social matters. Women have been given equal rights by the constitution which has allowed them to have equal chances as men in both leadership and political fields, but still the church faces complaints resulting from gender equalities.
Therefore, the church demands accountability of every member of Christ’s community among others to help reduce these gender-based challenges. Hence according to different theology scholars, the scriptural canons require Wesleyan Quadrilateral to derive meaning from them and to provide guidance in making decisions. Consequently, the rule in the scripture that commands a man to be the head the family and the woman to submit to him still applies in the current life. However, the interpretation of Paul’s letter teaches Christians to love each other as brothers and sisters bound together by Christ. The quadrilateral approach would help them to compare arguments and assumptions when finding out how the latter would separate baptism and their current lives. This approach would also help them in relating their experiences to that of Christ. Paul, therefore, encourages all believers not concern themselves so much with the various socio-political power formations, but create a common identity of Christ’s community that can accommodate all, hence can lead to a deeper understanding of the scripture.
Therefore, regardless of scholars’ diverse arguments concerning the topic of gender roles, no justification would make men and women equal in all their activities. Men are commanded by God to head and provide by the family since the scripture in Galatians suggests that all Christians are equal. The baptism of Christians help them to acquire a new identity of Christ’s community, but it does not mean changing the differences that exist in people. Beside, Wesleyan quadrilateral approach provides an extensive understanding of scripture which is primary in the evangelism. For instance, the contrast between the book of Timothy and Galatians on gender roles needs a better understanding of scriptures to connect the message to contemporary issues. Therefore, this approach helps to reinforce the fact that the bible supports the family structures since even after various scholars have tried to suggest that both genders are equal in their roles, yet no scripture can fully support their arguments.
References
Baker, M. P. (2014). Participating in the Body and Blood of Christ. Christian KOINONIA and the Lord’ Supper,(ed. by MJ Thate, KJ Vanhoozer, CR Campbell),“In Christ” in Paul, Explorations in Paul’s Theology of Union and Participation, Tuebingen, 503-528.
Guidero, K. L. (2019). “No Longer any Male and Female"? Galatians 3, Baptismal Identity, and the Question of an Evangelical Hermeneutic. Priscilla Papers, 33, 3.
Holgate, D., & Starr, R. (2019). SCM Study guide: Biblical Hermeneutics. SCM Press.
Matthews, S. (2015). A feminist Analysis of the Veiling Passage (1 Corinthians 11: 2–16): Who really cares that Paul was not a Gender Egalitarian after all? Lectio difficilior, (2), 1-20.
Richards, E. R., Capes, D. B., & Reeves, R. (2017). Rediscovering Paul: an introduction to his world, letters, and theology. Intervarsity Press.
Watson, F. (2015). Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith. Bloomsbury Publishing.
