Women in Ministry – The Two Cities

The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood with Dr. Philip Payne (Podcast)

Jul 26, 2023

In this episode we talk about the Bible really has to say about “biblical womanhood” with Dr. Philip Payne, who has served as a missionary, pastor, and professor in a number of settings, and is the author of several studies on the Bible’s teaching about women in ministry, including the new book that we discuss in this episode, The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God’s Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality (published by Zondervan). Over the...

Tell Her Story by Nijay Gupta (Book Review)

Mar 24, 2023

Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay K. Gupta (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2023). Imagine my surprise when preaching on Mary (Jesus’ mother), or Tabitha, or the importance of the presence of women in the Acts 1:14 prayer sessions, and then being told by those listening that they had never heard any sermons on these women before! It was a definite moment of confusion on my part....

The Ministry of Women in the New Testament with Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee (Podcast)

Oct 13, 2021

On this episode we discuss the ministry of women in the New Testament with Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, who is Stewart Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity College, Melbourne, an ordained priest in the Anglican church, and the author of The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision for Church Leadership (published by Baker). In our conversation, Prof. Lee tells us about the shape and scope of the book,...

Reflections on the Gender Series (Podcast)

Mar 17, 2021

In this episode we recap and reflect on the gender series that we’ve been doing since mid-November 2020. The series spans eighteen episodes, beginning with “Paul & Masculinity with Grace Emmett” (November 11, 2020) and ending with “The Great Sex Rescue with Sheila Wray Gregoire” (March 10, 2020). As we explain in this conversation, we regard every episode in between these two episodes as being part of the series, including the ones on racial matters,...

Gender in 1 Timothy with Dr. Cynthia Long Westfall (Podcast)

Feb 10, 2021

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Cynthia Long Westfall, Associate Professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College (Hamilton, Ontario) and the author of Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Baker, 2016). Our the course of our conversation we discuss a number of historical and cultural background issues, including, the Artemis cult at Ephesus, Paul’s Hellenistic background, whether Paul wrote 1 Timothy (and if that has...

Gender in Romans with Dr. Beverly Roberts Gaventa (Podcast)

Feb 3, 2021

In this episode of The Two Cities podcast we are joined by Dr. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, who is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Baylor University (Waco, TX), and the author of When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul (Baker, 2016). Over the course of our conversation we talk about Dr. Gaventa’s current research on Romans for the New Testament Library series, noting some distinctive features of her reading...

Women in 1 Corinthians with Dr. Lucy Peppiatt (Podcast)

Dec 16, 2020

Carrying on in our conversation on gender, we turn to discuss women in 1 Corinthians with particular attention given to the passage about head coverings in 1 Cor. 11 and women being silent in the church in 1 Cor. 14. In this episode, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Brandon Hurlbert, and Dr. Logan Williams are joined by Dr. Lucy Peppiatt, who is Principal of Westminster Theological Centre in the UK and author of a number of...

Women in the Academy with Dr. Jill Firth and Dr. Christa McKirland (Podcast)

Aug 19, 2020

In this all-women episode, Amber Bowen discusses the unique experiences of women in the theological academy, including the challenges that women have to navigate as well as the particular benefits that they bring to the theological task. Joining Amber for this rich conversation are two special guests to The Two Cities: Dr. Jill Firth (PhD, Ridley College), who is Lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia, and Dr. Christa McKirland...

Reflections on Beth Moore’s “A Letter to My Brothers”

May 7, 2018

This past week, Beth Moore wrote a heartfelt and amazing blog post called, “A Letter to My Brothers”, articulating the hardships of being a prominent women leader in the conservative evangelical community. As I read it, I was grateful that she had the courage to write honestly about her experiences as a woman in ministry, and heartbroken at the reality of the misogynistic attitudes in the evangelical culture. I wondered what kinds of opportunities we...

Do Complementarians Rejoice When A Woman Preaches?

Mar 26, 2018

I have a simple question for my Complimentarian friends. The debate about women in ministry is well-worn and most of us know the key texts to discuss, the key theological paradigms that are debated, etc. The two camps are not entirely monolithic however, and there is plenty of room for nuanced positions and even some differing approaches to exegetical, theological, and practical issues on both sides. I’m sure we can all agree that there are good...