Women should study systematic theology. This is something I thought was obvious to other Christians walking around planet earth. Apparently it isn’t. Some controversy has arisen lately on Twitter (I’m not yet ready to call it “X”) as to whether half of the Christian population should study the various doctrines of Christianity. As far as I can tell it started with a statement by pastor and author Dale Patridge.
Allow me some quick logically fallacious responses.
Ad Hominem: Dale Patridge rivals Ravi Zacharias in the area of exaggerating and fabricating his credentials in order to market himself.
Appeal to Authority: Here’s John MacArthur right hand man tweeting Spurgeon to say that women should study doctrine. Drop the Mic.
Spurgeon’s theological compass was set in his teen years, owing mainly to private conversations he had with a theologically astute woman. His Aunt Anne & his mother also profoundly influenced him. He would have abominated the idea that women have no business studying SysTheo. pic.twitter.com/F5Q8uvDPqu
— Phil Johnson (@Phil_Johnson_) August 5, 2023
I can find in the scriptures the doctrine that women can’t fill the office of pastor. I can find in the scriptures the doctrine that women shouldn’t teach or have authority over men in the church. What I can’t find in the scriptures is a proscription of women studying systematic theology. Theology, it is said, is the Queen of the Sciences. So, it is hard for me to fathom a man who wouldn’t want women studying the theology. Half the members of any given church are women. Half of the members of spiritual unions before God, wives, are women. Half of the parents tasked with raising their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord are women. Should a woman be any less discipled than a man?
In today’s economy and culture most formal study of systematic theology is done in seminary. Typically, students enroll in seminary for training to pursue vocational pastoral ministry. Obviously, women can’t pursue this vocation. So, eyebrows are often raised when women are seen in seminary classrooms, mine included. As someone who has been through (a conservative) seminary, I can say that I’ve seen some women who are really bad theologians and shouldn’t have been there. Frankly, I can say the same for men. There are a lot of people in seminary who shouldn’t become teachers or pastors. I wonder, though, if Christian women were more generally educated (either through seminary or the local church) in Systematic Theology if Beth Moore Joyce Meyer would be so popular (and that’s not a straw man).
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
