Only the Ifb Tells Women to Wear Dresses

Part 10 in a series of Sunday posts celebrating the glorious Truth we believe as Christians. The readings are quoted from the Elder Affirmation of Faith, of my church, Bethlehem Baptist (Pastor John Piper). I'm doing this because every few weeks our congregational reading is an excerpt from this document, and every time we all read aloud the truths we confess, my soul rejoices. I pray these posts will aid you in worshiping our Lord on His day.

God's Work in Faith and Sanctification

We believe that justification and sanctification are both brought about by God through faith, but not in the same way. Justification is an act of God's imputing and reckoning sanctification is an act of God's imparting and transforming. Thus the function of faith in regard to each is different. In regard to justification, faith is not the channel through which power or transformation flows to the soul of the believer, but rather faith is the occasion of God's forgiving, acquitting, and reckoning as righteous. But in regard to sanctification, faith is indeed the channel through which divine power and transformation flow to the soul; and the sanctifying work of God through faith does indeed touch the soul and change it into the likeness of Christ.

We believe that the reason justifying faith necessarily sanctifies in this way is fourfold:

First, justifying faith is a persevering, that is, continuing, kind of faith. Even though we are justified at the first instant of saving faith, yet this faith justifies only because it is the kind of faith that will surely persevere. The extension of this faith into the future is, as it were, contained in the first seed of faith, as the oak in the acorn. Thus the moral effects of persevering faith may be rightly described as the effects of justifying faith.

Second, we believe that justifying faith trusts in Christ not only for the gift of imputed righteousness and the forgiveness of sins, but also for the fulfillment of all His promises to us based on that reconciliation. Justifying faith magnifies the finished work of Christ's atonement, by resting securely in all the promises of God obtained and guaranteed by that all-sufficient work.

Third, we believe that justifying faith embraces Christ in all His roles: Creator, Sustainer, Savior, Teacher, Guide, Comforter, Helper, Friend, Advocate, Protector, and Lord. Justifying faith does not divide Christ, accepting part of Him and rejecting the rest. All of Christ is embraced by justifying faith, even before we are fully aware of, or fully understand, all that He will be for us. As more of Christ is truly revealed to us in His Word, genuine faith recognizes Christ and embraces Him more fully.

Fourth, we believe that this embracing of all of Christ is not a mere intellectual assent, or a mere decision of the will, but is also a heartfelt, Spirit-given (yet imperfect) satisfaction in all that God is for us in Jesus. Therefore, the change of mind and heart that turns from the moral ugliness and danger of sin, and is sometimes called "repentance," is included in the very nature of saving faith.

We believe that this persevering, future-oriented, Christ-embracing, heart-satisfying faith is life-transforming, and therefore renders intelligible the teaching of the Scripture that final salvation in the age to come depends on the transformation of life, and yet does not contradict justification by faith alone. The faith which alone justifies, cannot remain alone, but works through love.

We believe that this simple, powerful reality of justifying faith is God's gift which He gives unconditionally in accord with God's electing love, so that no one can boast in himself, but only give all glory to God for every part of salvation. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the decisive agent in this life-transformation, but that He is supplied to us and works holiness in us though our daily faith in the Son of God whose trustworthiness He loves to glorify.

We believe that the sanctification, which comes by the Spirit through faith, is imperfect and incomplete in this life. Although slavery to sin is broken, and sinful desires are progressively weakened by the power of a superior satisfaction in the glory of Christ, yet there remain remnants of corruption in every heart that give rise to irreconcilable
war, and call for vigilance in the lifelong fight of faith.

We believe that all who are justified will win this fight. They will persevere in faith and never surrender to the enemy of their souls. This perseverance is the promise of the New Covenant, obtained by the blood of Christ, and worked in us by God Himself, yet not so as to diminish, but only to empower and encourage, our vigilance; so that we may say in the end, I have fought the good fight, but it was not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

*Taken from the Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith, paragraphs 10.1 – 10.6. You are free to download the entire affirmation [pdf] complete with Scriptural proofs for the above statements.

I'm sure my astute readers are all up to speed on the open theism debate. Then again, some of you probably aren't. And I haven't really ever debated the issue, so I had to do some homework too.

The Issue

Open Theism is the belief that God is in a sense bound by time. He knows as much as can be known, but not absolutely all things in the traditional sense of "omniscience". He can't know the free decisions of humans before those decisions occur, otherwise they wouldn't be completely free.

This is obviously not a Calvinistic idea, but even most Arminians would repudiate the idea as just plain wrong. Yet the open theists have some verses they will marshal, verses showing that God changes his mind, repents, is surprised by things, and gives contingent prophecies. They also have some logical arguments at their disposal. It can sound plausible, and even helps make Christianity more palatable for the post-modern atheists of today. And– surprise, suprise– open theism is gaining in popularity among evangelicals today.

Puppets & Popoli?

I mention all of this because my friend "jamsco" runs a blog named "The Responsible Puppet". His title stems from his adherence to what he dubs "hyper-compatibleism": God is the puppetmaster, yet we are totally responsible for our actions. He is still working out his position which is not quite 5 point Calvinism, he tells me.

Jamsco links to Vox Popoli (with the "read at your own risk" warning, for Vox's sometimes-edgy views & speech), who he knew personally in college, largely because he takes issue with Vox's adherence to OT. Vox does a great job of tearing down popular atheistic arguments, yet he often employs OT in his efforts to disarm his opponents. Jamsco wants to defend a compatibleist view and I'm sure wishes he could convince Vox of the error of his ways.

So Vox for most of this year has had Jamsco on his blogroll under the section "target-rich environments". And he has promised to interact on the issue.

Round 1

So round 1 of the debate has begun. Vox has responded to Jamsco's "A Defense of the Omniderigence of God" (where Jamsco had interacted with some of Vox's views). In his characteristic witty style, Vox does a good job advancing his argument (and answering Jamsco). Jamsco has yet to respond, but its easy to get lost in the hundreds of comments Vox's posts generate.

Now Vox mentions me in the post, since I had commented under Jamsco's original post. I stand corrected, yet I did follow up with some comments of my own on the issue. I look forward to Jamsco's response, and Vox's promised follow up of Scriptural proof for his view. It will be good to be aware of what kind of arguments are out there on this, and gain an education on this issue.

Recommendations

In doing my homework for my comment under Vox's post, I came across some excellent articles I should recommend here. A couple are fairly short and yet give a good overview of a conservative response to OT. They are worth reading at some point.

• List of online resources on the topic, compliments of Monergism.
• Brief article by John Frame which excellently address the whole issue
• John Piper dealing with the Scripture texts most often employed by OT advocates
• List of articles on this issue at Desiring God, including a link to the anti-OT resolution drafted by Piper presented to Bethel University & the BGC
• Pastoral talk on the issue presented by Ligon Duncan (the written version, audio here)
• Selected bibliography on open theism by Justin Taylor

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

This Thanksgiving, I encourage us all to spend time thanking God for more than just the food on the table, or the football on TV. So often we sing generic songs of thankfulness for harvest come, and forget to be specifically thankful for God's working in our lives and most of all for Jesus and his Death in our place on the Cross.

Keep in mind a harvest-thankful mindset means a lot more when harvests are chancy and food not as sure as the distance to the local corner store. It is important for us to remember that every good thing we have, including family comes to us from God. But let us not forget Him who gives such good blessings a sweet rather than a bitter taste. Without Christ, we would have no hope, and such familial joys and harvest blessings would be a bitter aftertaste as we contemplate a bleak outlook for eternity. Having been placed in Christ, who so completely and gloriously fulfilled God's law and laid down his life to bear our sins, we have peace with God and abundant joy.

Now the point of my post is not to preach but to give an interesting tidbit about me and my connections to Thanksgiving history. Anyone remember the Mayflower and the Pilgrims? The majority of those on the ship weren't strictly Pilgrims, but a good many of the outsiders chose to stay on with the religious community and join themselves to them, after weathering that terrible winter of 1620.

Anyways, one of those who stayed in Plymouth and became a Pilgrim was my ancestor John Alden. Now many people can say "I am descended from the Mayflower", but how many can prove it? In my case I have dates and names, which I will showcase below. Note: I can take no credit for the research done to trace this lineage, I'm just a blessed recipient of it!

If you wonder who John Alden is, he is famously remembered in the Courtship of Miles Standish, a poem written by one of my distant cousins, a fellow-ancestor of Alden, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow himself. Other famous distant cousins include poet William Cullen Bryant, Presidents John & John Quincy Adams, and Vice President Dan Quayle.

Refresh yourself on the history of the Pilgrims here, check out this brief biographical sketch of John & Priscilla Alden, and check out this history of modern Thanksgiving celebrations. And again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Hardly anyone today would consider the wearing of pants by women to be a breach of decency or a sign of rebellion against the God-given roles of manhood & womanhood. This is the 21st century, women have been liberated, and times have certainly changed, haven't they?

The Fundamentalist Position

Yet for many sincere and well-meaning Christian fundamentalists (& by that term I mean those who both hold to the fundamental doctrines of the faith & practice some form of secondary separation with regard to those doctrines–specifically the fundamentalist Baptist movement represented by Bob Jones University and a host of even more conservative institutions) today's situation is lamentable. Feminism's triumph, in their minds, is what is most responsible for the abandoning of a generally common distinct dress styles for men and women. After all, the bathroom signs distinguish the sexes on the basis of pants for men, and today's abandonment of the long accepted cultural norm of pants for men only can only lead to a sinful unisex culture which promotes all kind of sexual sins and spurns the God-ordained unique roles for men and women.

While rooted in the biblical teaching of male headship/leadership in the home and church, this position finds support in these verses as well:

A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God. (Deu 22:5)

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man…. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
(1Co 11:7, 14-15)

From these verses comes a doctrine of "designed distinction" between the sexes. And specifically on the warrant of Deut. 22:5, it is deemed a grievous sin to blur the line between the sexes by donning the apparel of the opposite sex.

Now the above careful argument is often not what one finds with the more conservative fundamentalists. Often Deut. 22:5 is quoted with the harsh conclusion that women who wear pants are "sluts". The position is not carefully taught, but rather enforced, with ushers trained to escort women caught wearing pants out the door! Visitors who carelessly forget to check the dress code, are asked to wear a dress or not come back. If you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not. Such is the sad case in all too many fundamentalist churches. They don't want to be tolerating abominations to God!

Modern Attempts to Dodge the Force of Deut. 22:5

To get around this exegesis of Deut. 22:5, many modern Christians claim it is ceremonial law (like Deut. 22:10-11 for instance) . Others will stress that transvestism or cross-dressing is primarily in view, or that some practice associated with idolatry is in view, hence the strong "abomination" label. Yet these interpretations on the surface feel like a transparent attempt at dodging the force of the text.

The Historic Position on Deut. 22:5

Older commentators don't flinch at offering some alternative views while at the same time affirming what Calvin says below:

This decree also commends modesty in general, and in it God anticipates the danger, lest women should harden themselves into forgetfulness of modesty, or men should degenerate into effeminacy unworthy of their nature. Garments are not in themselves of so much importance; but as it is disgraceful for men to become effeminate, and also for women to affect manliness in their dress and gestures, propriety and modesty are prescribed, not only for decency's sake, but lest one kind of liberty should at length lead to something worse. The words of the heathen poet are very true: "What shame can she, who wears a helmet, show, her sex deserting?" Wherefore, decency in the fashion of the clothes is an excellent preservative of modesty. [from John Calvin's online commentary here.]

Keil & Delitzsch, the Hebrew experts, are even stronger:

As the property of a neighbour was to be sacred in the estimation of an Israelite, so also the divine distinction of the sexes, which was kept sacred in civil life by the clothing peculiar to each sex, was to be not less but even more sacredly observed. "There shall not be man's things upon a woman, and a man shall not put on a woman's clothes." כְּלִי does not signify clothing merely, nor arms only, but includes every kind of domestic and other utensils (as in Exo_22:6; Lev_11:32; Lev_13:49). The immediate design of this prohibition was not to prevent licentiousness, or to oppose idolatrous practices (the proofs which Spencer has adduced of the existence of such usages among heathen nations are very far-fetched); but to maintain the sanctity of that distinction of the sexes which was established by the creation of man and woman, and in relation to which Israel was not to sin. Every violation or wiping out of this distinction – such even, for example, as the emancipation of a woman – was unnatural, and therefore an abomination in the sight of God. [emphasis added, quoted from E-Sword's (free for download) Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament]

Examining the Fundamentalist Position

So why do I allow and encourage my wife and daughters to wear pants? Am I consciously violating Deut. 22:5 and blurring the distinction of the sexes? I don't believe so. Upon a closer examination of the fundamentalist position, I hope you will agree with me. At the onset here, I should note that more and more modern fundamentalists disagree with this position, and I'm sure there have been exceptions for many years. Also, there are some conservative Baptists who don't like being dubbed fundamentalists, preferring to be called historic Baptists, and avoid the perceived problems with fundamentalism today. Fine, whatever. Still I object to their position on Deut. 22:5, and most people would call them fundamentalists.

What Scripture Actually Teaches

Now if we accept the "designed distinction" view of Deut. 22:5 (which I do), here is what Scripture actually affirms. 1) The sexes should be distinct. 2) Christians shouldn't wear garments or ornaments associated with the opposite sex. We could infer from this that we are to maintain culturally appropriate gender distinctions in dress.

Now Deut. 22:5 doesn't teach that we must have male-specific items and female-specific items, per se, it just assumes that a culture has them. It doesn't specify what the items look like, nor to what degree they are actually distinct. It just says don't use the female or male items.

The 1 Cor. 11 passage seems to say there is a certain propriety which makes it "natural" for the sexes to be distinguished in some visible way. It doesn't specify how long or short, "long" and "short" hair is, necessarily, however. Yet it asserts that women should have long hair, and men shouldn't. (Again, I agree with this point here.)

The Role of Culture

Now we have this Scriptural teaching and we are to apply it to our present situation. Culture can obviously be immoral, and cultures promoting little or no clothes are obviously errant and should be corrected from a Biblical perspective. Yet culture by definition changes over time.

In Bible days, men and women wore long flowing robes. There were inner and outer robes, and a girdle for both men and women. Only men were said to "gird up their loins", meaning hike up their robes to do manly actions, like fighting in a battle. But there is no indication that their robes were materially different than women's robes. Instead it was the fit, decoration, and style of the robes that distinguished them from women's robes.

In our culture 100 years ago, pants were a distinctly male item, but today men and women both wear pants. Still there are differences in fit, decoration, and style that differentiate male pants from female pants. Although it is true that a unisex pants style is in vogue these days. While 100 years ago wearing pants was a trespass of cultural norms with regard to gender distinction, today that is not necessarily the case.

In viewing culture, we hopefully can agree that the Bible doesn't set up the culture of the 1800s as the most Godly culture ever. There is no reason to view it as more godly than present culture, necessarily. Each generation had its sins, and surely today's generation has some awful flagrant ones, but there is no Scriptural justification for inferring from this that all present cultural norms should be abandoned in favor of those from the 1800s.

Consistency

In examining this topic, it appears that the clear cut, simple distinction provided by pants versus a dress is desirable by the fundamentalists. And so they have honed in on this item of clothing particularly for applying Deut. 22:5. But there are a host of items which have changed in their gender-designating function over the years. Stockings and T-Shirts were originally male-only dress items. Today stockings are generally regarded as female-only and T-shirts are used for both sexes. Fundamentalists often have no problem with their teenage or college-age girls wearing the high school or college sports jackets of their boyfriends, but wouldn't that violate the mandates in Deut. 22:5 too? And what about women's suits (even with a dress skirt rather than pants)?

Some view questions of consistency with suspicion. "It is just an attempt to dodge Deut. 22:5", they assume. Yet these questions must be addressed. Just because an item doesn't appear on a bathroom sign, doesn't mean it has no gender distinction. And then again, why is a bathroom sign so definitive for culture? Isn't it just a convenient tool for communicating which bathroom is which? It is not authoritative in any sense (well, unless I'm looking for a bathroom…).

Conclusion

Based on the above examination, I conclude that how one applies Deut. 22:5 is up for grabs. The specific application is not mandated by the text. You may feel that the weight of centuries of gender distinct use of pants warrants no pants on women. That may be important to you, especially as you study history and see that feminism and a desire to break the cultural norms in regard to distinction of the sexes played a big role in the modern use of pants by women. Yet Scripture does not specify that I must conclude like you do in my view of the cultural norms of a bygone era. In today's world, many a woman doesn't think twice about putting on a pair of pants, because that is what our culture does. I would encourage such women to dress femininely and maintain modesty in light of Scriptural principles, rather than simply condemning them on the basis of cultural norms of a hundred years ago.

It is fine if you disagree with me, but I am applying Deut. 22:5 and not rejecting Scripture.   And so, fundamentalists and others who insist that only their application of Deut. 22:5 constitutes obedience are really being schismatic. They are needlessly disrupting the unity of the faith, in their defense of their particular application of Scripture to today's culture. The oddity of the traditional fundamentalist view on women and pants sadly often becomes a disgrace to the name of Christ.

Before I go, if you want to see some debates over this issue, where both sides (mine and the standard fundamentalist position) being defended and advocated, check out the links below.

• A current debate (see comments) going on at Jackhammr
• A current post defending the fundamentalist position at Jackhammr (no debate there yet)
• Thoughts on the debate by William Dudding (shares my view)
• "An Apologetic for Men's Skirts" (see debate in the comments) — an older post by one of the contributors to Jackhammr.

Anyone else have more links for good discussions on this?

In my last post I introduced the debate on the atonement that Seth McBee is hosting over at Contend Earnestly. Seth calls himself a 6 Point Calvinist, and dubs his view the "Unlimited/Limited Atonement" position. Yet Bruce Ware also calls that same view "4 Point Calvinism", and I read an article which claims Benjamin Warfield interacted with what we would call "4 Point Calvinism" today, when he took on "Post-Redemptionism". To confuse matters even more, Eric Svendsen posits a similar view which he calls "4.5 Point Calvinism". Then there is the historical variety of this position called Amyraldianism, which seems to be specifically what Warfield was opposing.

In light of the confusion of determining whether we are really discussing 4, 4.5, or 6 point Calvinism, and to simplify things somewhat, I'm going to simply go by another name Bruce Ware has for this position: "The Multiple Intentions View".

Now if someone else can straighten me out on how the various positions listed above differ from each other, by all means make an attempt! But for now, let me update where I'm at in evaluating the "Multiple Intentions View".

1) I recently read an excellent article by Dr Roger Nicole entitled "John Calvin's view of Limited Atonement". Nicole explains why it is that both sides of the debate can claim Calvin for support. He makes a good case for Calvin actually supporting limited atonement, and does an excellent job tracing the history of this particular debate surrounding Calvin. Of special note was this quote from Calvin: "I should like to know how the wicked can eat the flesh of Christ which was not crucified for them, and how they can drink the blood which was not shed to expiate their sins."

So all that is to say, quoting Calvin one way or another isn't going to really win the debate. And ultimately Scripture matters much more than the opinion of Calvin or Spurgeon or anyone else.

2) Next, I should point out a convincing exegesis of John 3:16 which does not demand a universal atonement and does not do violence to the term "world". In this open letter to Dave Hunt, James White gives a good exegesis of the passage (scroll about half-way down and look for the heading "John 3:16"). [So far only John 3:16 has been discussed in the debate at Contend Earnestly.]

3) While I do see how this "multiple intentions view" would be easier to hold to, when it comes to explaining some seemingly universal passages, I have to wonder how different it actually is to the normal limited atonement position anyway.

a) In both systems a bona fide offer of the gospel is made. There is no necessary connection between such an offer and an actual payment/provision for sins having been made. It is enough that God knows who will respond to the offer and has secured the payment for those as part of his intent in Christ's death.

b) And isn't it doublespeak to talk of a propitiation and atonement for all, yet actual redemption only for the elect? What does "save the world" in John 3:17 really mean if "world" is "every person"? What kind of saving is a mere potential salvation?

c) Basically, I see no reason to have to hold to a universal atonement for sins in order to legitimately hold to a universal preaching of the gospel to all people.

4) Another problem area concerns the bearing of God's wrath which Christ accomplished in His death. His death satisfied God's wrath in a substitutionary way for a certain people. I don't see how the "multiple intentions view" adequately owns up to a substitutionary idea of the atonement. Is not an intentional substitution for certain, specific people inherent in the idea of substitutionary atonement?

5) Along the lines of point 4 (which someone did email me about to caution me in this debate), I also came across an excellent excerpt from Benjamin Warfield opposing Amyraldianism. That brief post is well worth your time, in considering this debate.

6) I also found the following summary by Bruce Ware to be helpful in explaining and distinguishing the three main positions.

7) Finally I should admit there is much more that can be studied with regard to this position. David of Calvin and Calvinism has compiled tons of info and quotes from various theologians which touch on this topic. Browse his "For Whom Did Christ Die?" category for many pertinent articles. Personally, I want to review my blogging pal Bnonn's articles on the issue as well [here, here & here]. And I think it would also be worthwhile to explore Eric Svendsen's posts on his "4.5 Point Calvinism".

Now if there were just more time for all this reasearch!……

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