Danvers Statement

The Danvers Statement is an official statement of the complementarian Christian view of gender roles. It is not the product of any particular Christian denomination, but has been endorsed or cited by many Christian groups. It was first published by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) in Wheaton, Illinois in November of 1988. Work on the statement began with "several evangelical leaders" at a CBMW meeting in Danvers, Massachusetts in December of 1987. [Introduction to the Danvers Statement at the official CBMW site.] In 1989, a paid advertisement center-spread appeared in the January 13 issue of "Christianity Today" accompanied with the Danvers Statement.cite journal | title = A response to the Danvers Statement | author = R.K. McGregor Wright | journal = The Journal of Biblical Equality | publisher = Lakewood, CO: Front Range Chapter of Christians for Biblical Equality | month = July | year = 1992 ] [cite book | title = Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy | author = Ronald W. Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Gordon D. Fee | pages = p.66 | year = 2005 | isbn = 0830828346 ]

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Rationale

We have been moved in our purpose by the following contemporary developments which we observe with deep concern:

#The widespread uncertainty and confusion in our culture regarding the complementary differences between masculinity and femininity;
#the tragic effects of this confusion in unraveling the fabric of marriage woven by God out of the beautiful and diverse strands of manhood and womanhood;
#the increasing promotion given to feminist egalitarianism with accompanying distortions or neglect of the glad harmony portrayed in Scripture between the loving, humble leadership of redeemed husbands and the intelligent, willing support of that leadership by redeemed wives;
#the widespread ambivalence regarding the values of motherhood, vocational homemaking, and the many ministries historically performed by women;
#the growing claims of legitimacy for sexual relationships which have Biblically and historically been considered illicit or perverse, and the increase in pornographic portrayal of human sexuality;
#the upsurge of physical and emotional abuse in the family;
#the emergence of roles for men and women in church leadership that do not conform to Biblical teaching but backfire in the crippling of Biblically faithful witness;
#the increasing prevalence and acceptance of hermeneutical oddities devised to reinterpret apparently plain meanings of Biblical texts;
#the consequent threat to Biblical authority as the clarity of Scripture is jeopardized and the accessibility of its meaning to ordinary people is withdrawn into the restricted realm of technical ingenuity;
#and behind all this the apparent accommodation of some within the church to the spirit of the age at the expense of winsome, radical Biblical authenticity which in the power of the Holy Spirit may reform rather than reflect our ailing culture.

Affirmations

Based on our understanding of Biblical teachings, we affirm the following:

#Both Adam and Eve were created in God's image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their manhood and womanhood (Gen 1:26–27, 2:18).
#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 (Gen 2:18, 21–24; 1 Cor 11:7–9; 1 Tim 2:12–14).
#Adam's headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall, and was not a result of sin (Gen 2:16–18, 21–24, 3:1–13; 1 Cor 11:7–9).
#The Fall introduced distortions into the relationships between men and women (Gen 3:1–7, 12, 16).
#*In the home, the husband's loving, humble headship tends to be replaced by domination or passivity; the wife's intelligent, willing submission tends to be replaced by usurpation or servility.
#*In the church, sin inclines men toward a worldly love of power or an abdication of spiritual responsibility, and inclines women to resist limitations on their roles or to neglect the use of their gifts in appropriate ministries.
#The Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, manifests the equally high value and dignity which God attached to the roles of both men and women (Gen 1:26–27, 2:18; Gal 3:28). Both Old and New Testaments also affirm the principle of male headship in the family and in the covenant community (Gen 2:18; Eph 5:21–33; Col 3:18–19; 1 Tim 2:11–15).
#Redemption in Christ aims at removing the distortions introduced by the curse.
#*In the family, husbands should forsake harsh or selfish leadership and grow in love and care for their wives; wives should forsake resistance to their husbands' authority and grow in willing, joyful submission to their husbands' leadership (Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18–19; Tit 2:3–5; 1 Pet 3:1–7).
#*In the church, redemption in Christ gives men and women an equal share in the blessings of salvation; nevertheless, some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men (Gal 3:28; 1 Cor 11:2-16; 1 Tim 2:11–15).
#In all of life Christ is the supreme authority and guide for men and women, so that no earthly submission—domestic, religious, or civil—ever implies a mandate to follow a human authority into sin (Dan 3:10–18; Acts 4:19–20, 5:27–29; 1 Pet 3:1–2).
#In both men and women a heartfelt sense of call to ministry should never be used to set aside Biblical criteria for particular ministries (1 Tim 2:11–15, 3:1–13; Tit 1:5–9). Rather, Biblical teaching should remain the authority for testing our subjective discernment of God's will.
#With half the world's population outside the reach of indigenous evangelism; with countless other lost people in those societies that have heard the gospel; with the stresses and miseries of sickness, malnutrition, homelessness, illiteracy, ignorance, aging, addiction, crime, incarceration, neuroses, and loneliness, no man or woman who feels a passion from God to make His grace known in word and deed need ever live without a fulfilling ministry for the glory of Christ and the good of this fallen world (1 Cor 12:7–21).
#We are convinced that a denial or neglect of these principles will lead to increasingly destructive consequences in our families, our churches, and the culture at large.
2=Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, November, 1988

The text of the Danvers Statement is often published with the following license. "We grant permission and encourage interested persons to use, reproduce, and distribute the Danvers Statement." [The [http://www.cbmw.org/Resources/Articles/The-Danvers-Statement permission statement] is found at the foot of a copy of the text at the official CBMW site.]

Response

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. In 1990 Christians for Biblical Equality published a statement "Men, Women & Biblical Equality," in "Christianity Today". [cite journal | title = Men, Women & Biblical Equality | journal = Christianity Today | author = Christians for Biblical Equality | date = April 9, 1990 | pages = 36-37 ] [cite book | url = http://www.ccel.us/place.toc.html | title = A Woman's Place? Leadership in the Church | isbn = 0-83411-464-X | author = C.S. Cowles | chapter = Texts Prohibiting the Public Ministry of Women | chapterurl = http://www.ccel.us/place.ch6.html ]

See also

* Colorado Springs Guidelines
* "Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood"
* "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood"

Notes and references

Bibliography

;Danvers Statement citations
* Christmas, MGR, Christopher B. Forbes, Marion M. Gabbott, and BRH Goodhew. " [http://www.sds.asn.au/assets/documents/reports/103258.pdf Ordination of Women to the Priesthood] ". Sydney: Anglican Synod, 1991.
* Colaner, Colleen Warner and Steven M. Giles. "The Baby Blanket or the Briefcase: The Impact of Evangelical Gender Role Ideologies on Career and Mothering Aspirations of Female Evangelical College Students". "Sex Roles" 58 (2008): 526–534.
* Davidson, Richard M. es icon "Dominio, sumisión e igualdad en la Escritura". Páginas 178–205 en Nancy W. Vhymeister (ed.). "La Mujer en el Ministerio". Andrews University Press, 2004.
* Felix, Paul W., Sr. " [http://www.tms.edu/tmsj/tmsj5h.pdf The Hermeneutics of Evangelical Feminism] ". "The Master's Seminary Journal" 5 (1994): 159–184.
* Grenz, Stanley J. " [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3817/is_199812/ai_n8814996 Theological Foundations for Male-Female Relationships] ". "Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society" 41 (1998): 615–630.
* Grudem, Wayne (ed.). " [http://www.cbmw.org/images/onlinebooks/biblicalfoundations.pdf Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood] ". Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2001.
* Patterson, Dorothy Kelley. "Where's Mom?: The High Calling of Wives and Mothers". Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2003.
* Plett, Matthew F. " [http://www.emconf.ca/theodidaktos%2002%2001.pdf Complementarianism: The Biblical Middle] ". "Theodidaktos" 2 (2007): 16–20.
* Powers, Janet Everts. "Recovering a Woman's Head With Prophetic Authority: a Pentecostal Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:3–16". "Journal of Pentecostal Theology" 10 (2001): 11–37.
* Rainey, Dennis (ed.). "Building Strong Families". Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2002.
* Vogel, Leroy E. " [http://www.scholia.net/files/other/09%20Women%20in%20Combat.PDF Women in Combat] : Exploring Some Issues". Discussion paper published by The Committee for Ministry to the Armed Forces, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

External links

* [http://www.CBMW.org/Danvers Core Beliefs: The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood] — Danvers Statement at official CBMW site.