Critiquing the Church’s Beliefs about Sex and Gender (Aimee Byrd)

Author and speaker Aimee Byrd believes that a close and careful reading of the biblical texts should inform the church’s view on sex and gender. Instead of resorting to 21st-century (or 20th-century) Western models of gender and sex or going with our gut instincts, perhaps the church can craft a biblical theology of gender that both preserves the categories of man and women while affirming their active and necessary roles in creation.

In this episode, Aimee Byrd and Dr. Johnson discuss a theology of gender rooted in Scripture. Along the way, they examine some of the most negative assumptions about women within Protestantism, consider biblical portrayals of women, and discuss the self-sacrificial roles of both sexes. Questions answered include:

• What does it mean to be a man or be a woman?
• Is the term “gender roles” inherently damaging to a discussion of biblical masculinity and femininity?
• What negative cultural assumptions about the body do we import into Scripture?
• What is the significance of the marriage motif in Genesis and Revelation?

Show notes:

• 0:00 Contemporary debates about gender
• 2:45 Femininity and masculinity
• 7:33 Cultural assumptions about the body
• 8:58 Admirable women in the Bible
• 13:20 Negative assumptions about women within Protestantism
• 15:57 Developing a biblical theology of gender
• 23:03 Protection and self-sacrifice
• 29:00 Marriage in Scripture

Learn more about Aimee Byrd and her work.

Her most recent book: Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Show notes by Micah Long.

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