grwm for ministry

So I was reading N.T. Wright’s paper on the biblical basis for women’s service in the church (and it was pretty great imo) and he frequently refers to the idea that distinctions between man and woman no longer exist post-salvation (which for most Christian traditions means post-baptism) and condemns it as gnostic.

Note: I’ll be defining gnostic pretty loosely. Just focus on the “neglect for material physical reality in favor of a more immaterial spiritual thing” aspect.

What he is referring to is similar but not exactly like the egalitarian anthropology called “eschatological feminism”. In this view the original human, Adam, is androgynous until the fall, after which gender was created. According to this view’s interpretation of Galatians 3:28, baptism (the introduction into new creation) returns humans to that pre-fallen state of androgyny. 

There is more: Sexuality, the main division between genders, is said to be the root of female subordination. Relationships that are typically rooted in sexuality (marriage and motherhood) place women in roles that are subordinate in accordance with society's patriarchal norms. The path to equality is believed to be found when women transcend these roles —traditionally through celibacy (as seen in the life of Paul). Transcending worldly norms, which the Bible instructs Christians to do, brings men and women to the state of androgyny that eliminates gender subordination; thus, Christianity is intended to manifest gender equality. Transcendence is the core of eschatological feminism; women reach equality with men by separating from the world, rather than changing it. 

N.T. Wright doesn’t really do this perspective justice imo. Part of the reason for that is that this perspective is focused on Genesis 2 whereas Wright is focused more so on Genesis 1: “male and female he created them.” 

Eschatological feminism is actually really popular on progressive Christian tumblr (except in tetrahedra to trans theology instead of feminist theology), albeit without all of the elaborate aspects I mentioned. Actually, progressive christblr tends to be closer to Wright’s simplification of this perspective: in Genesis 1 we were made male and female, but once in Christ (which for most Christians means once baptized) there is no male nor female. 

That said, I have to agree with Tom: that is gnostic. It treats the original created state as something to be done away with and is, surprisingly, actually a lot closer to evangelical or fundamentalist perspectives on creation (theological horseshoe theory???). It shows a certain disdain or contempt for og creation and New Creation as a denial of old creation instead of a reaffirmation of it. Wright, who like Paul is a theologian of new creation, is spot on with this critique. 

Side note: Gnosticism will always be a temptation where there is a neglect for the physical and an emphasis on the spiritual. Since eschatological feminism is inspired by asceticism and mysticism, it makes sense that it would have gnostic tendencies. And the same can be said for evangelicalism. Tho it is not ascetic or mystical, it does see material reality is both distinct from and lower than nonmaterial reality. 

That said. I don’t think that eschatological feminism or trans theology has to be intrinsically gnostic. 

All of these things are really good things and are key aspects of eschatological feminism. None of them are heretical. However

All of those are unbiblical. But, I think both eschatological feminism and trans theology can get on well without them. 

Stop allowing the devil to beat you up over your past. If you have repented then it is under the blood of Jesus....leave it there. The devil wants you to live with guilt and shame but the blood of Jesus covers your guilt and shame so walk in the peace of knowing you really are forgiven and free.

M. Morrissey, (b. 1996)

G*D MADE ME A TRANSSEXUAL, (2025)

Cotton thread, .5 mm crochet hook

A piece just finished. Hail Mary. Advent 2018

christ died for liberation, not tradition

Obsessed with John's commentary, it's so funny. Actual snitch. It's important to note none of the other gospels mention who cut the guy's ear off, and none mention Judas' thieving either

The last supper one is ENDLESSLY funny to me it's so messy gay coded?? Peter won't ask Jesus himself, he asks John. John activates cuddle mode to get information? Jesus is right there can't he hear Peter asking? they're so funny

The world tries so hard to shame the poor for not having wealth but my God was a homeless carpenter so I don't really care about that

Someone posted some Chinese Orthodox icons, so I thought I'd share some Japanese Christian art also:

Takato Yamamoto, The Annunciation

Christblr, I’m curious:

Ik a lot of the people in my circle have a …. Nuanced relationship with Catholicism, so I’m curious about everyone, regardless of denomination. If you consider yourself a Christian, do you believe in purgatory as a part of the after life?

I clicked no. Ihave 0 formulated beliefs about the afterlife. I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting and I don't pretend to any knowledge about the logistics thereof.

I was a confident universal salvationist before starting seminary, but reading Cardinal Walter Kasper's book Mercy in my first semester convinced me to pray for the deceased in part because of the long tradition of doing so and also because of... uncertainty. He writes:

"Still, the boundary remains: we can hope for the salvation of all, but we cannot factually know that all will be saved.

[...] The only answer open to us, on the basis of biblical testimony, is unconditional trust in the immeasurable mercy of God, who knows ways, inscrutable to us, and who never cease to court human beings to make their positive response attractive."

He goes on to reference Paul the Apostle, Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Thérèse of Lisieux and more as both interceding for the salvation of others and offering themselves as sacrifice for them. (Pages 109-110)

This is now where I rest on our resurrection. More than any other logistical belief I am now focused on prayer for others, the offering of myself, and the hope and trust in God's mercy.

Did this.......answer the question......?

I'm OBSESSED with the Council of Nicaea. It's spring of 325. Christianity has been legal for 12 years. Constantine wants a unified religion for the Empire but the church has already schismed three different ways in the 3 centuries since the death of Christ, and legalization ITSELF causes a schism. They don't even all agree that being a legal religion is good. Now they're schisming about the nature of Christ. He can't persecute them into agreeing and Lord knows he's tried.

So Constantine calls all the bishops to his fucking summer resort, on the imperial dime. 280-318 bishops are going to argue about if the Logos (Christ) was "eternally begotten" or the first creation of God. Santa Claus is going to punch Arius in the face for saying the Logos was created. While we're here, let's set a date for Easter, which we also never pinned down. And we have to decide if eunuchs can be ordained because EVERYTHING HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY.

I've been to church conferences. I lose it every time I think about this. Bishops coming into Nicaea tired from the road (travel's a curse). Rural bishops coming to the seat of power for the first time. There's one guy who doesn't understand Robert's Rules and another guy who won't stop bringing up points of order. Someone's sleeping through all the speeches; he's just happy to be on vacation at the emperor's summer resort. The decision made here will form the closest thing Christianity has to a universal declaration of faith for the next 1700 years and it's going to take THREE MONTHS and we have to do it again in 6 years

I'm fancasting my Nicaea movie as we speak

I suspect this fellow may have blocked me because my reblog keeps failing from him, but I worked hard on my answer so I'm posting it! I'm not going to miss an opportunity to yap about history.

So first, most of this is true! It's a summary of chapters 14-16 from The History of the World Christian Movement. An excellent book, if you enjoy reading textbooks. I have added the apocryphal story that Nicholas of Myra slapped an Arian, because I think it's funny. And, of course, Robert's Rules didn't exist at the time, I also thought that would be funny.

As for the date for Easter, yes, they did decree that Easter would be on a Sunday at Nicaea. You can read about this on the Catholic website New Advent if you don't trust me. It was certainly not settled by an earlier pope, because by the Council of Nicaea, papal primacy was not yet established. I assume you are referring to Pope Victor's decree for Rome that Easter be celebrated on a Sunday (New Advent). However, at this time (c.190), the Greek word παππάς (pappas; father) is in use for every bishop (Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church). It doesn't indicate the primacy of the bishop of Rome, which is who Victor is at this time. His decree does not settle the issue for Syrians, who continue to observe Easter according to the Hebrew calendar (New Advent).

There's a long road to papal primacy, with supporters and detractors along the way. This is the second time someone has engaged with this post based on dominant Roman Catholic ideas of history, so what I really want to drive home is that there is much Christian history outside the history of the Roman Catholic church. Church history is much more diverse and nuanced than "this decree was issued and the matter was settled forever." One of the main things I've taken away from Christian History I is that there has always been a diversity of Christian belief and practice, much earlier than even I suspected!

This is important to me not because I think it invalidates modern belief, but because I think it illustrates something important about the work of the church. I don't bring this up or push back on Roman Catholic history as some potshot against Roman Catholics. The lineage of the papacy is still important to the Roman Catholic church and papal primacy rising through a process doesn't invalidate that. But it does show us that Christian doctrine arises through corporate work (as in, as a whole body) and changes over time. This is part of how God has ordered the church, part of how the Holy Spirit guides and forms us. Curiosity, questioning and discussion are sacred tasks set before the church, and we shouldn't flatten that historical work into a list of unilateral decrees.

Christ

2019

In less than one week, we witnessed the massacre of well over 700 Palestinians by Israel.

During this time we also learned that 170 of them were children all killed within 50 minutes while they slept, and many of those who survived joined the ever growing number of child amputees in Gaza, cementing its position as the area with the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world.

We also saw videos of Palestinian families in Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank being forced out of their homes in mass displacement campaigns, and similarly saw heartbreaking scenes of hundreds of other families in Gaza who face the same fate.

It's a lot.

This is not a call of despair, and I refuse to let go of hope. But at this stage, it just feels almost futile to try to "keep people informed." One thing I had promised myself years, decades ago is to never stop talking about Palestine. But who am I talking to now? There's an abundance of reporting and documentation that everyone can access. The silence is a deliberate choice. What else should I do? Do I need to walk the streets and scream that Gazans are breaking their fast with only bread and water? Do I grab people by the shoulder and tell them that the Israeli cabinet had already approved a "voluntary transfer" plan for Gaza, which is word for word what they implemented during the Nakba? How do I know that anyone is listening and recognising that the map of the West Bank is forever changed with intensified and active campaigns of ethnic cleansing? I don't even think people fully realise how gruesome the first sentence in this post really is, when Palestinian suffering has become so normalised due to it being live-streamed for 17 months and counting.

It really is a lot. Palestinians are experiencing one of the darkest times in our history and navigating an immense amount of grief. The least you can do is to not allow yourself to get used to this.