Mutuality Matters

Referring to the Genesis passages from Part 1, Havilah addresses the challenges of using all masculine for God, noting it’s impact on women and girls by assessing Genesis 2:18: “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Woman is too often described as “man’s helper or assistant.” But a more faithful treatment of the text would be woman as man’s “perfect comrade.” 

Even more important, we tend to focus on God’s maleness, versus God as a motherly father, or God as fatherly Mother. An unfaithful and overuse of masculine language for God leaves women and girls wondering if they are, by comparison, somehow inferior. Sermons too often imply that God is more male than female with problematic outcomes. More attention is needed to focus on the feminine characteristics of God.  

Consider Isaiah 42:14 (citing God): “For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.” And, if women preached more, these texts would come up and balance the preponderance of masculine language for God. This would be affirming to women and that God is beyond gender and uses both masculine and feminine images.  

Havilah discussed some of her favorite passages like: Judges 4:4ff focused on Deborah. “Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.” CBE’s proposed translation of this verse is one you won’t want to miss! Deborah is a woman of flame! She goes on top of the mountain to signal the army to charge. She’s a leader, prophet, and a fiery woman. She an unstoppable leader. She is “high voltage!”  

The Deuteronomy 22 text was also discussed as it describes the rape of a woman which the translations “soften” what actually happened. It is very vital to make vivid and real the facts: calling out the fact she was raped. NIV also takes this posture, but we make it more clear throughout the text that the real issue is sexual assault.  

We discussed Exodus 21:10 as the text addresses a man who takes another wife again softening the experiences of the woman. But our translation brings out the power of the text to reveal with greater empathy the woman as well as the man in the text. 

We end with a discussion on “strength” or chayil in Hebrew in the book of Ruth. Chayil, Havilah points out, refers not only to strength but as status in the community. Boaz is described throughout the book of Ruth as a man of status or respect. And in Chapter 3, Boaz speaks to Ruth telling her she is a chayil a woman of strength. This is astonishing because as a Moabite, she was not even permitted to enter the community of Israel. They were viewed as an incestuous people. Yet Boaz calls Ruth chayil one who is outstanding in the community even as she reached out to him in the cover of night. But because she did so as a loyal daughter-in-law, who worked to protect and preserve the life of her mother-in-law (Naomi), she too deserves the status of chayil. 

Havilah ends her discussion with the Proverbs 31 woman as a leader a chayil. 

Guest Bio:  

Dr. Havilah Dharamraj currently serves as academic editor of CBE’s award-winning academic journal, Priscilla Papers. She is a Langham Scholar and has for years pioneered a better biblical understanding of women in Scripture. Currently Havilah heads CBE’s chapter in India. She holds a PhD in Old Testament, from the University of Durham, UK. Her research interests are Old Testament and Comparative Literature. She is faculty at the South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, India. With an interest in biblical narrative, she encourages the use of storytelling in the pulpit. She is author of various articles, commentaries, and monographs, as well as an editor of the South Asia Bible Commentary (Zondervan, 2015) and the forthcoming South Asia Study Bible. Havilah writes and speaks for CBE. She received CBE’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2019. 

Havilah Dharamraj’s Publications 

Books: Authored and co-authored 

• Altogether Lovely: A Thematic and intertextual Reading of the song of Songs  

• South Asia Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary on the Whole Bible 

Havilah Dharamraj’s Articles 

• Published by CBE International 

Havilah Dharamraj’s CBE YouTube Lectures: 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kzDLLnVRh8 

Disclaimer:  

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.  

Rev. Angela Ravin-Anderson welcomes new co-host, Rev. Liz Testa, and together they reflect on intersectionality and why it’s an important aspect of what shapes them as women, believers, and leaders. Angela and Liz reflect on their faith journeys and some of the narratives within their home or early development that shaped them, as well as how they have experienced being at the intersection of race, gender, and religion and navigated through the challenges and opportunities. Their lively conversation concludes with honest sharing about how God has called them to show up in the midst of the complexities of today’s world, and how they believe God is desiring women in general, and them in particular, to show up and make a positive, lasting impact.

Bios

Show Notes 

In part one of “Translating the Old Testament with Dr. Havilah Dharamraj,” Havilah discusses not only her work leading CBE’s Old Testament translation team, but also their methodology, priorities, and examples of both. Significant examples cited include: 

Psalm 68:11, “The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng.” Havilah and the team propose a far more faithful translation in English as: “The Lord speaks good news, and a great multitude of women broadcast it.” She mentions women in Scripture who broadcast the good news such as Mary Magdalene, John 20:11–18.  

Considering the crucial issue of women’s inheritance, Havilah addresses Numbers 27:4 (correction from episode citing Num. 26:4): “Take a census of the men twenty years of age or older, as the LORD has commanded Moses.” And these were the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt…” This passage has been the basis for women gaining inheritance rights the world over, especially today.  

Next, we explored Genesis chapters 1–3. Especially Genesis 2:23 and Genesis 2:24 (correction from episode citing Genesis 1:23–24) to consider whether these passages suggest woman is derivative of man and therefore lesser? Too often that is how the passage is interpreted. But the team opted not for “bone of my bone, but “my own flesh and blood.” A far better “sense” translation because it speaks directly to the highest kinship relationships in the ancient world and today as well. When Adam first meets Eve and recognizes her as his own flesh and blood, the text immediately moves to: Thus, the husband detach from his kinship relations—his parents to attach to his wife, this now is the strongest bond—new kinship relation of marriage (Genesis 2:24). Hence, this text, when interpreted well, is quite subversive and gives women protection from alignment with the husband’s clan where women are often vulnerable and without support. 

With power and wisdom, Havilah traces the pattern of chaos and disruption sin inaugurates into the sinless world. Sin disrupts the nature and relations of the serpent, the man and woman. The snake lost its locomotion, the man must labor to grow food, and the woman experiences pain in childbirth. Further, sin distorts/fractures not only the nature of life, but also the relationships between man and woman who no longer live in mutuality or oneness. In a sinful world, the man now rules over the woman who desires what was once their life of mutuality. Listen for more on these crucial passages. 

Please join us for Part 2 on October 6 as Havilah discusses the impact of better transitions on issues such as feminine language for God, sexual abuse cited in Scripture, and women of strength in Ruth. Join us next month as “Women & Words: Why Bible Translations Matter” brings better ways of interpreting the Hebrew Bible. 

Guest Bio:  

Dr. Havilah Dharamraj currently serves as academic editor of CBE’s award-winning academic journal, Priscilla Papers. She is a Langham Scholar and has for years pioneered a better biblical understanding of women in Scripture. Currently Havilah heads CBE’s chapter in India. She holds a PhD in Old Testament, from the University of Durham, UK. Her research interests are Old Testament and Comparative Literature. She is faculty at the South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, India. With an interest in biblical narrative, she encourages the use of storytelling in the pulpit. She is author of various articles, commentaries, and monographs, as well as an editor of the South Asia Bible Commentary (Zondervan, 2015) and the forthcoming South Asia Study Bible. Havilah writes and speaks for CBE. She received CBE’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2019. 

Havilah Dharamraj’s Publications 

Books: Authored and co-authored 

• Altogether Lovely: A Thematic and intertextual Reading of the song of Songs  

• Five Views of Christ in the Old Testament: Genre, Authorial Intent, and the Nature of Scripture (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) 

Havilah Dharamraj’s Articles 

• Published by CBE International 

Havilah Dharamraj’s CBE YouTube Lectures: 

• Revisiting Eden Genesis 2 as a Description from Below of the Creation Story 

• Reading Ruth from South Asia 

Disclaimer:  

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.  

In this episode Mimi and Kim interview Stephanie Midthun of Courage Worldwide about their healing homes for girls rescued out of Sex Trafficking, both in the USA and in Tanzania. She discusses the root causes that make girls vulnerable to sex trafficking, as well as the healing girls experience that break the cycle of exploitation, causing a transformative ripple effect in the larger community. 

Trigger Warning: This episode contains details of trauma, sexual assault, rape, and abuse. Listener discretion is advised.  

Guest Bio 

Stephanie Midthun is trained in both Bible and music, serving as a music director for twenty-five years. In 2008 when Stephanie Midthun heard about the intense fight against human trafficking in her own backyard of Sacramento, she began writing music and leading concerts that benefited the fight against sex trafficking with Courage Worldwide who was opening safe houses for girls rescued out of sex trafficking in California and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.  She eventually joined Courage Worldwide’s staff, and in 2017, after raising three boys, she and her husband took over as Executive Directors of Courage Worldwide Tanzania.  Since that time, the work in Tanzania has exploded from four residents and five staff at Courage House to sixty residents and children, fifty-five staff, two safe houses in the Kilimanjaro region, and a safe house in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, opening May 2023.  She is now the Courage Worldwide regional director of East Africa. 

Contact Information 

Email: Stephanie Midthun at [email protected] 

Learn More  

Courage Worldwide Tanzania 

Other Resources  

Learn more about Courage Worldwide Tanzania. 

Read about the link between porn and sex trafficking in Porn's Complicity in Abuse by Mimi Haddad or listen to Pornography for Profit: The Link to Sex Trafficking by Sandra Morgan. 

Read about how to recognize and do something about human trafficking in The Selling and Buying of Souls (Part 1) and The Selling and Buying of Souls (Part 2) by Sherry Schwartz. 

Leveraging Mujerista and Womanist Theologies for Ministry Among Victims and Survivors of Sex Trafficking by Valerie Geer. 

Why Men Who Oppose Trafficking Must Fight Patriarchy by Rebecca Kotz. 

Disclaimer 

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. 

What does it mean to belong? How do we dismantle toxic systems and create equity in our missional spaces? Hosts Blake and Erin talk with Eeva Simard and Beth Birmingham about their practical book on organizational leadership and gender equality: Creating Cultures of Belonging: Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive. Be sure to pick up your copy at the CBE bookstore and visit The Christian Alliance for Inclusive Development to follow their work. 

Guest Bios:  

Eeva Sallinen Simard is project director of World Relief’s SCOPE project that works in Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, and South Sudan to support health outcomes for mothers and babies. She has worked with nonprofits for ten years and is committed to excellence in management, communication, and employee wellbeing. Eeva is an advisor for the Wheaton Consortium for Development, Gender, and Christianity and a steering committee member of The Christian Alliance for Inclusive Development. Eeva holds an MS in international politics from the University of Helsinki and an MBA from John Hopkins University. 

Together they co-authored Creating Cultures of Belonging: Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive (IVP, 2022). 

Other Resources: 

Global Impact: Religious Gatekeeping and Egalitarian Leadership with Dr. Beth Birmingham 

Speakers Highlight: Beth Birmingham and Eeva Sallinen Simard 

Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive | Eeva Sallinen Simard and Beth Birmingham 

Disclaimer:  

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.  

Dr. Philip B. Payne is a key member of CBE’s Bible Translation Team. He was active and instrumental from the very start! During episodes one and two, Mimi and Phil explore the important translation decisions of the New Testament team on difficult texts such as 1 Timothy 2:11–15, 3:1–12; Ephesians 5:21–33; 1 Corinthians 11:2–16; 1 Peter 2:18, and more! Phil brings in conversations from the first century and explains some of the complexities to the whole translation process as it impacts the lives of girls, women, and their communities worldwide.   

Guest Bio:  

Resources by Dr. Philip B. Payne:  

CBE resources by Philip B. Payne 

Click to visit a list of resources by Dr. Philip B. Payne.  

The Christian Post articles by Philip B. Payne: 

• Can women be pastors? What I discovered during 50 years of research. 

Wendy Wilson, mission advisor for the Development of Women for Missio Nexus, is convinced that women and men are designed for full and equal partnership in ministry, and it shows! In this episode, Wendy challenges the church to awaken to that vision, and she provides one way to get there: safe, experiential spaces to talk about the theology and practice of mixed-gender ministry partnership. Listen and be inspired—as Wendy notes, change is happening! 

Guest Bio: 

Having served in various capacities in leadership training ministry since 1984, Wendy’s great joy is envisioning and equipping women to participate fully in living out their design in the Image of God and in the grand calling of the Great Commission. With a BBA from Texas A&M University and an MABS from Dallas Theological Seminary, Wendy has led inter-mission and inter-confessional mentoring and equipping efforts for 30+ years, having lived and traveled abroad for many of those years. After serving for twenty-eight years with a pastoral training mission, with a focus on engaging women with shepherding gifts, she has served since 2012 as the mission advisor for Development of Women to the Missio Nexus network of mission agencies, and as the founder and executive director of the collaborative Women’s Development Track. 

More info on Missio Nexus and Wendy’s ministry: 

Missio Nexus 

Women's Development Track 

Other Resources: 

CBE eLearning Course: Beyond Bias: Aligning towards God’s Vision for Women and Men in Bible Translation 

The Ministry of Women in the New Testament: Reclaiming the Biblical Vision for Church Leadership 

How to Teach Mutuality to the Next Generation 

Disclaimer: 

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. 

What are the messages the church sends to girls and women about modesty, sex, emotions, and self, producing as they grow up? Blake and Erin talk with Sheila Gregoire about her book: She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self, And Speaking Up. This discussion unpacks the damage being done and how we combat it to raise women and girls and our churches to love Jesus without the toxic culture that is breaking them down.  

Bio  

Sheila Wray Gregoire is the face behind BareMarriage.com, and a sought-after speaker, podcast host, and author. Sheila is passionate about changing the evangelical conversation about sex and marriage to line up with kingdom principles. She lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband. They have two adult daughters and two grandbabies. She is an award-winning author of nine books, including The Great Sex Rescue and She Deserves Better: Raising Girls to Resist Toxic Teachings on Sex, Self, And Speaking Up.  

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.  

Other Reading   

The Good News About Sex After Marriage: You Can Still Say “No” 

What I Wish the Church Had Told My Husband and Me About Sex and Consent 

We Need to Talk to Our Kids About Sexism at School: 4 Talking Points for Parents 

Dr. Philip B. Payne is a key member of CBE’s Bible Translation Team. He was active and instrumental from the very start! During episodes one and two, Mimi and Phil explore the important translation decisions of the New Testament team on difficult texts such as 1 Timothy 2:11–15, 3:1–12; Ephesians 5:21–33; 1 Corinthians 11:2–16; 1 Peter 2:18, and more! Phil brings in conversations from the first century and explains some of the complexities to the whole translation process as it impacts the lives of girls, women, and their communities worldwide.

Guest bio: Philip B. Payne (Ph.D. University of Cambridge) has taught New Testament in colleges like the University of Cambridge, Trinity Evangelical Theological Seminary, Gordon- Conwell Theological Seminary, Bethel Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary. He is an expert on women in the Bible and Codex Vaticanus. His books include Man and Woman, One in Christ, Why Can’t Women Do That? and The Bible vs. Biblical Womanhood: How God’s Word Consistently Affirms Gender Equality. He and his wife Nancy were missionaries in Japan. Their three children and six grandchildren all love the Lord.

Resources by Dr. Philip B. Payne:

CBE resources by Philip B. Payne

Follow @philipbpayne on Twitter!

Click to visit a list of resources by Dr. Philip B. Payne.

The Christian Post articles by Philip B. Payne:

Can women be pastors? What I discovered during 50 years of research.

Does 1 Timothy 2:12-15 prohibit women from teaching or having authority over men?

Does I Corinthians say women have to cover their heads?

What Ephesians 5really teaches about husband-wife submission

Mutual submission in 1 Peter 3:1-7: Husband submit to wife?

Is the 'order of creation' male authority Bible argument valid?

Disclaimer: