Rachel Miller's straw men...

Just recently, another comment came in under our post from a month ago, "Rachel Miller and Valerie Hobbs: where is the Apostle Paul when we need him?" In that post, I had warned that it is not the place of women such as Rachel Miller and her female friends publicly to rebuke Pastors Doug Wilson and John Piper for their doctrinal commitments, particularly when the doctrinal commitments being rebuked are the simple Christian orthodoxy all Christians have believed and preached in all places across all time.1

My post unleashed scads of comments, including those who said that if I believed women should not rebuke pastors publicly on doctrinal grounds, I must believe children should not be protected from sexual predators if protecting those children would require pastors to listen to the testimony of women and girls against those predators. After many comments concerning how pastors care for sexual predators and their victims, this question was asked...

>>From reading Tim Bayly's post, I honestly wonder whether he thinks a woman is allowed to gainsay a pastor at all...

Here's my response...

My wife "gainsays" me all the time. She always has and I love her for it. I don’t always listen to her wisdom; I don't always admit it's wise right away; sometimes what she says makes me angry for a time; sometimes she’s wrong; but I love her for gainsaying me and the church we are a part of would know I speak truth when I say this.

Although they're all adults now, my daughters "gainsay" me and I love them for it, too. What would life be like without grandmothers, mothers, wives, and daughters "gainsaying" their grandsons, sons, husbands, and fathers? If your helpmate does not "gainsay" you, precisely how is she your helpmate? This is what I teach myself, first, and then the congregation I serve. So how does that go with what I wrote above?

Well, to refresh our memory, here's what I wrote in that post:

God has not called Dr. Hobbs and Ms. Miller to rebuke Pastors John Piper and Doug Wilson. We may be certain of this for two reasons. First, the things Pastors Piper and Wilson have written and taught that Dr. Hobbs and Ms. Miller oppose and rebuke are central doctrines of Scripture. It is Pastors Piper and Wilson's submission to Scripture and call to those under their authority to join them in that submission that infuriates Dr. Hobbs and Ms. Miller. Second, Dr. Hobbs and Ms. Miller are women and women are forbidden by God's Order of Creation and Word from teaching or exercising authority over men.

Here we're dealing with the public rebuke of orthodox Reformed pastors by women who hold no church office. Their public rebuke of these pastors concerns doctrinal matters and this is precisely what Scripture forbids. More to the point, this is precisely the sort of female rebellion against God’s Order of Creation that was going on in the New Testament church which led the Apostle Paul to rebuke those women (and the men allowing those women to rebel). Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he rebuked them thusly:

 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. (1Timothy 2:12-15)

Is there anyone who fears God anymore? Anyone who submits to these commands He has given us through His Own Apostle Paul? Anyone who feels the burden of applying them to the church today, and more specifically to women like Ms. Rachel Miller and Dr. Valerie Hobbs who are attacking Godly pastors like Pastors Piper and Wilson precisely because they fear God and submit to His Own Order of Creation of Adam first, then Eve?

The idea that silencing rebellious women who oppose God’s Order of Creation by calling out, publicly, pastors who teach and command that Order of Creation necessarily means I would oppose women who report their abuse by their husband, father, brother, uncle, choir director, or teacher—or that I would oppose women who publicly criticize their pastor, elder, father, or husband for aiding and abetting that abuse—seems insane.

Man is to give himself up for woman. But our father, Adam, did not give himself up for Eve. Instead he listened to her, ate the fruit, killed her and all her descendants; and then, when God held him accountable, he blamed her for it all: “The woman You gave me…” So when, instead of giving himself up for woman, man consumes woman for himself, woman's duty, obligation, responsibility, and Biblical obedience is to cry out to God and His representatives for protection whether they be the civil magistrate, the ecclesiastical magistrate, or (when necessary because of the failure of these magistrates) the watching public.

A good and faithful elders board will discipline men regularly based upon the testimony of women against them. And encourage that testimony, making themselves and their meetings a safe place for the weaker sex.

So now, I’ve responded and I’m wondering if anyone cares? Not about me and my response, but God’s Order of Creation and the Holy Spirit’s prohibition of woman teaching and exercising authority over man. And my sneaking suspicion is that most do not, at all. They simply want to keep me and other defenders of God’s Order of Creation tied up repeating our assurances that we don’t believe God’s Order of Creation requires a wife to submit to her husband beating her, a daughter to submit to her father raping her, a church woman submitting to her elders placing child abusers in the nursery, and so on and so forth.

• 1. In yet another post attacking a pastor, this time leaving Pastor John Piper out of the mix and going after only Pastor Doug Wilson, Ms. Miller trots out a number of quotes from Pastor Wilson as evidences that he is to be condemned. It is telling that when Ms. Miller gets to the topic of God's Creation Order, here are quotes of Pastor Wilson Ms. Miller singles out as evidence of his unfaithfulness to Scripture: "The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 5:23), and fathers have the central responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Children are required to obey their parents (both of them), and since the wife is to follow the lead of her husband in all things (Eph. 5:24), this means that the father is responsible to provide for and protect his family. Father rule. That’s the good part. ...The thesis is not that men are good, but rather that men are crucial. When they are crucial and selfish, a lot of bad things happen. When they are crucial and obedient, a lot of good follows."