Women
An autographed photo of Jimmy Carter sits on our piano. A friend of ours wrote to Carter and told him that he was one of our sons' favorite presidents, and would he please send them a signed photograph. When Keith gave our sons the Carter picture last Christmas, my 8-year-old actually teared up.
In last week's post, I argued that because the apostle Paul commended the work of Phoebe-a deacon (Romans 16:1-2)-the tradition of female deacons continued throughout the early centuries, as noted both by the archaeological evidence and also in Christian literature preserved from this period.
I've been following the news story of New Zealand Olympic hopeful Logan Campbell. If you haven't heard, he's the taekwondo athlete who said he was forced to open a brothel to cover his training expenses for the 2012 London Olympics.
As you may know, the question of whether women can serve as deacons has been recently debated among many evangelicals. Since scripture makes clear that Phoebe served as a deacon in the church in Cenchrea, there is an abundance of historical and archeological evidence that women deacons were upheld by the apostles. Both Clement of Alexandria and John Chrysostom recognize Phoebe was a deacon.
The letter “Women and Islam” (Letters, April 2009) points out that Islamic law often forces women into subservient social and religious roles.
I appreciated the article on eating disorders and wholeheartedly agree that the church needs to speak about it more (“Body Language,” by Elizabeth Palmberg, April 2009).
I have been doing my best to keep up with the ongoing events in Iran. I don't know enough to truly understand the nuances of the election or the political science behind it all, but like many others, I've been caught up in the human drama of it all. Photos like this one literally brought tears to me eyes.