The Healer - What is female genital mutilation
By Tim Bouquet
With his pioneering surgery Dr Pierre Foldès is giving thousands of victims of female genital mutilation a new life.

It is early morning and 34-year-old Sandrine feels her stomach tighten as she arrives for an operation at the sprawling hospital complex at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, a 45-minute train ride from Paris. In the pre-op room, she visibly relaxes as she is greeted by a tall, powerfully built, softly spoken man in his 60s.
Monogenēs once more.
Following the 2016 Evangelical Theological Society annual conference in San Antonia where Dr. Bruce Ware and Dr. Wayne Grudem publicly announced that they had been wrong to deny the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son, the word monogenēs has become a hot topic.
This word has become contentious because both Ware and Grudem said that they can now accept the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son because they have been persuaded that monogenēs in fact means “only begotten” and thus there is good biblical support for this doctrine.
Ware and Grudem both appealed to the work of Dr Lee Irons (see https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/lets-go-back-to-only-begotten). He argues that monogenēs means “only begotten” and thus there is good biblical support for the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son. Since the conference, Dr Denny Burk has enthusiastically been putting the same argument (http://www.dennyburk.com/category/theologybible/).
A Brief History of Gender and its Significance
Daniel Patterson
(Published in Sept 2016 on the EFAC Australia website)
Introduction
The topic of gender has recently captured the public’s attention. One reason for this is the radical attempt by some organisations and theorists to “queer” gender. What follows describes, albeit in brief, the historical and theoretical backstory that has lead to the development and use of queer theory to achieve this end. Evangelical responses to this issue will be greatly enriched by better understanding the history that has brought us to this point. This article is not an attempt to engage the debate, but is focussed on the more modest task of explaining the historical and theoretical parameters of the debate.
A Very Brief History
Questioning gender norms in the past has catalysed significant changes to culturally embedded gender norms. Following is a brief recount of how gender has been under question for over 100 years, and how each new wave of questioning of gender norms can be characterised by distinct emphases falling under the broad banner called feminism. The historical questioning of gender norms can be divided broadly into three feminist waves, each offering a depth of social analysis the previous wave did not achieve.
It is not accurate to say that queer theory is feminism or even a kind of feminism, but one is able to identify queer theorisation as having emerged from and in response to perceived inadequacies of a particular formulation of feminism of the 1980s.
Girls, Grit and God - Teenagers growing into leaders
Rev Philippa Lohmeyer spoke at our November 2016 Breakfast. Philippa is a School Chaplain at Mentone Girls Grammar School in Melbourne.
Thank you for this invitation to speak at a Christians for Biblical Equality Breakfast.
I have been encouraged by CBE’s activities over the years.
Many years ago I remember the launch of CBE – Melbourne branch where a number of women spoke, including the Rev Anthea Mc Call who is here today, and I was blown away by how encouraged it made me feel inside. Here was a woman being herself and speaking mightily and gently about God. It was very feminine and bold and courageous and ordinary.
So I am particularly honoured.
But also – I am embarrassed.
I have struggled with leadership.
I’ve doubted my skills.
I can always think of someone who is better educated and more able to speak on a topic – any topic.
I find dealing with people’s expectations and then my own expectations overwhelming.
Originally reported in a Hewlett Packard internal report and then repeated many times over is that if a job is advertised with 10 criteria and the female knows she meets 8/10 but is not too sure of 2 she hesitates to apply while a male who meets 7/10 the male will think the job is his!
Read more: Girls, Grit and God - Teenagers growing into leaders
Revisiting the Clarity of Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:12
Below is an article by Jamin Hübner: Revisiting the Clarity of Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:12
It is used with the permission of the author.
Dr. Jamin Hübner is an American theologian, biblical scholar, philosopher and musician from South Dakota. He is a graduate of Dordt College (BA Theology), Reformed Theological Seminary (MA Religion) and the University of South Africa (ThD Systematic Theology), and a student at Southern New Hampshire University (MS Economics) and currently serves as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness and founding Chair of Christian Studies at John Witherspoon College, South Dakota.
Abstract: In the evangelical debate regarding women in ministry, both 1 Timothy 2:12 and
the clarity of scripture have played a critical role. While few theologians and biblical scholars
have brought the “perspicuity of scripture” directly to bear on the text, this article systematically
evaluates how the verse is handled in light of the traditional hermeneutical principle of interpreting
obscure passages in light of the more clear. The article concludes that 1 Timothy 2:12 is
inconsistently interpreted by complementarians as a clear passage—potentially out of an effort
to legitimize the ban on women pastors.
Read MoreRevisiting the Clarity of Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:12