The Danvers Statement is a statement of the complementarian Christian view of gender roles.[1][2] It is not the product of any particular Christian denomination, but has been cited by the Southwestern Baptist Seminary,[3] the Presbyterian Church in America,[4] and the International Council for Gender Studies.[5] It was first published by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) in Wheaton, Illinois in November 1988. Work on the statement began with "several evangelical leaders" at a CBMW meeting in Danvers, Massachusetts in December 1987.[6] In 1989, a paid advertisement center-spread appeared in the January 13 issue of Christianity Today accompanied with the Danvers Statement.[7][8]

In February 1989, R.K. McGregor Wright put out "Response to the Danvers Statement," an unpublished paper delivered to the Christians for Biblical Equality Conference, St. Paul, which was later revised and republished.[7] In 1990 Christians for Biblical Equality published a statement "Men, Women & Biblical Equality," in Christianity Today.[9][10]

Randall Balmer says that the Statement was an attempt to "staunch the spread of biblical feminism in evangelical circles."[11] Seth Dowland suggests that the authors of the statement "framed their position as a clear and accessible reading of scripture.[12]

The Danvers Statement is included in readers such as Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader (NYU Press, 2008) and Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim readings on Genesis and gender (Indiana University Press, 2009).

See also

References

  1. ^ Randall Herbert Balmer (2002). Encyclopædia of Evangelicalism. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664224097. The Danvers Statement affirmed that "distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart."
  2. ^ Craig Thompson Friend (2009). Southern Masculinity: Perspectives on Manhood in the South Since Reconstruction. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820336749. In 1987, complementarians codified their beliefs in a document called the Danvers Statement.
  3. ^ "The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood". Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Archived from the original on 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  4. ^ "Overtures Committee Rejects Danvers Statement on Gender Issues". byFaith Magazine. Presbyterian Church in America. Archived from the original on 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  5. ^ "Affirmations of the Danvers Statement". www.fiveaspects.org. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05.
  6. ^ Introduction to the Danvers Statement at the official CBMW site.
  7. ^ a b R.K. McGregor Wright (July 1992). "A response to the Danvers Statement". The Journal of Biblical Equality. Lakewood, CO: Front Range Chapter of Christians for Biblical Equality.
  8. ^ Ronald W. Pierce; Rebecca Merrill Groothuis; Gordon D. Fee (2005). Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. p. 66. ISBN 0830828346.
  9. ^ Christians for Biblical Equality (April 9, 1990). "Men, Women & Biblical Equality". Christianity Today: 36–37.
  10. ^ C.S. Cowles (1993). "Texts Prohibiting the Public Ministry of Women". A Woman's Place? Leadership in the Church. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City. ISBN 0-83411-464-X.
  11. ^ Balmer, Randall (2004). "Danvers Statement". Encyclopedia of evangelicalism. Baylor University Press. p. 170. ISBN 9781932792041.
  12. ^ Dowland, Seth (2009). "A New Kind of Patriarchy: Inerrancy and Masculinity in the Southern Baptist Convention, 1979-2000". In Friend, Craig Thompson (ed.). Southern masculinity: perspectives on manhood in the South since Reconstruction. University of Georgia Press. p. 258.

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