A NEW BOOK BY AN OLD FRIEND
“The Trinity & Subordinationism” by Kevin Giles is being published in America by Intervarsity Press as you read this. We expect that the book will be available in Australia in August. The Reverend Kevin Giles, currently Vicar of North Carlton (Melbourne), is an old friend of MOW. Your convenor has had the pleasure of reading an early draft of the book and as a non-theologian, I found it very readable.
Kevin is looking at the history of the doctrine of the Trinity and the debate about whether or not the orthodox view teaches the eternal subordination of the Son of God. He goes on to discuss the related question of whether or not women are created to be permanently subordinated to men. He argues that the 1999 Sydney Anglican Diocesan Doctrine Commission Report, “The Doctrine of the Trinity and Its Bearing on the Relationship between Men and Women” is in essence, heretical and contrary to our post-Nicene understanding of the Gospel. We quote from Roger Nicole of the Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, U.S.A., a leading American reformed scholar, “Dr. Giles … shows with powerful argumentation that to speak of the subordination of the Son to the Father in the Trinitarian relationship is to repeat the error of Arianism. Those who advocate the hierarchical-complementarian view of womanhood as well as the supporters of the egalitarian – complementarian view may well build a case with some apparent support of some tests of scripture, but the main current of scripture, Giles avers, favours the latter, while the former is, unconsciously perhaps, influenced by a dominant presupposition of the inferiority of women, derived from a social context rather than from the Bible”.
For those who enjoy the theological battle, this is recommended reading. MOW Sydney will hope to bring you more news of the Sydney launch of this book.
Franklin, Margaret Ann & Ruth Sturney Jones. Opening the Cage. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1987.
Furlong, Monica, A Dangerous Delight – Women & Power in the Church, SPCK, 1991. (An English writer looks at the ordination struggle in Britain and the challenge to long accepted prejudices and attitudes regarding women’s roles and abilities.)
Maitland, Sara, Angel and Me, Mowbray, 1995 (A collection of short stories about women in Christianity, originally written for Holy Week broadcasts by the BBC.)
McDonald, Mary. "Women and the Australian Church (WATAC): a national survey." Australasian Catholic Record. 64: 2 (Apr 1987) 160-66.
Nelson, Janet, & Walter, Linda, Women of Spirit – Women’s Place in Church and Society, St Mark’s, Canberra, 1989.
Porter, Muriel. Women in the Church; the Great Ordination Debate in Australia. Ringwood, Victoria, 1989.
Summers, Anne. Damned Whores and God's Police. Melbourne: Penguin, 1975, 1994.
Webb, Val, Why We’re Equal – Introducing Feminist Theology, Chalice press, 1999. (An American writer looks at the development of feminist thought not as a departure from tradition but as an affirmation of the early church’s commitment to the equality of all believers.)
West, Janet. Daughters of Freedom: A History of Women in the Australian Church. Sutherland: Albatross, 1997.
Rose, Mavis. Freedom from Sanctified Sexism
Lindsay, Elaine. Rewriting God: spirituality in contemporary Australian women's fiction. Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam/Atlanta GA 2001
An more extensive bibliography can be found at the end of A history of women's ordination in the Baptist Union of Victoria By Darren Cronshaw.
