Who really knows what a woman means?? Well, we are attempting to unravel the confounding mystery that is female communication by answering the question “what do you mean by that?” before you ask it.
There are many words that may be unfamiliar, or used in different ways by other groups of writers, so we’ve compiled a list of terms that are often misunderstood and our meanings for them.
So, without further ado, here is what we mean when we say…
1. COMPLEMENTARIAN – A Complementarian is someone who believes that men and women are equal in our position in Christ, but we have been given differing roles or functions based ultimately on God’s creation order and a variety of Scripture (Genesis 2:15-25, 1 Timothy 2:9-15, Ephesians 5:22-33).
Major players in this group are: Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Mary Kassian, Andreas Kostenberger, and Dorothy Kelley Patterson. Or you can read the exhaustive list.
2. EGALITARIAN – An egalitarian is someone who believes that equality of men and women span beyond their commonality of bearing God’s image and position in Christ all the way to a lack of distinction in function in the home and church.
Major players in this group are: Letha Scanzoni, Nancy Hardesty, Rebecca Groothuis, and Gordon Fee. Or refer to the exhaustive list.
3. HERMENEUTICS – The method by which we interpret Scripture, including believing that all Scripture is God breathed, letting clear Scriptures explain the unclear, etc.
4. KOINE GREEK – This is the original Greek that the New Testament was written in. It is similar to Classical Greek in structure, however, different in meanings and connotations.
5. FIRST WAVE FEMINISM - occurred in the 19th-20th centuries, when women fought for the right to vote, to own property, fair wages, end chattel marriage, and gain higher education. Women sought to be recognized as persons.
6. SECOND WAVE FEMINISM – begin in the 1960’s-1970’s, where women fought against social and cultural inequalities, including sexual freedom, abortion rights, careers, and to liberate women from home and children. Women sought to become equal in every way to men.
7. THIRD WAVE FEMINISM – began in the mid 1990’s and has made its way into main stream culture in the last few years. Feminists today celebrate ambiguity, tolerance and androgyny. They refuse to think in terms of “us-them” in regards to men. In this wave, women seek to erase their femininity and encourage men to abandon masculinity. Women and men become gender neutral.
8. ANDROGYNY – Neither masculine, nor feminine, but an blurring of the two, presenting an “it” appearance to the world. Gender Neutral.
9. TRIUNE – A term that refers the trinity of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three persons in One God.