New Evangelical Subordinationism?

Synopsis: Whether and in what sense the Son of God might eternally submit to his Father's will is a question that has ignited a firestorm of controversy in today's evangelical academy. On one side stand those who regard the affirmation of any inequality whatsoever in the Godhead as a revival of ancient subordinationism. On the other stand persons who consider the Son functionally subordinate to the Father even within the immanent Trinity, without respect to the Incarnation, and regard their belief as integral to historic orthodoxy. Many evangelicals, moreover, view the issue of subordination within the Trinity as pivotal to contemporary disputes about the role of women in church, home, and state. If the relations of the divine persons constitute a paradigm for human life, persons on all sides of the gender question argue, human relations ought to reflect either the divine persons' exceptionless equality or their orderly differentiation of roles. At the same time, others consider the issues of equality in the Trinity and gender relations irrelevant to each other and accuse both complementarians and evangelical feminists of degrading the doctrine of the Trinity into a partisan weapon. The New Evangelical Subordinationism? gathers commentary on evangelical debates about equality and subordination in the Trinity from representatives of the gamut of perspectives just mentioned. Here, evangelical theologians, biblical scholars, and church historians of widely differing theological orientations address themselves to the panoply of questions raised by these debates. This volume, unprecedented in the breadth and depth of its coverage of the controversy over subordination in the Trinity, should become a standard source for teaching and research on its subject. Endorsements: "The church should appreciate the work of editors Jowers and House in gathering up these sixteen different chapters on whether the Son is subordinate or equal in authority to the Father. This is a helpful compendium for use in classes of theology and Bible and even ministry . . . Jowers concludes the book with helpful reflections on the differing views. All the chapters are amply summarized in the preface. The New Evangelical Subordinationism? is a crucial volume for the church at this time." --Aída Besançon Spencer, Professor of New Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA "Is the Eternal Son of God subordinate to the Father in the ontological Trinity? Is Christ functionally subordinate to his Father during his earthly ministry? Can the doctrine of the subordination of the Son or of Christ help us make sense of other, creaturely relationships--such as that between spouses? These are important and difficult matters about which many Christians currently disagree. In this symposium Dennis Jowers and H. Wayne House have collected together representative papers from different quarters of this debate in order to promote an irenic and collegial discussion." --Oliver Crisp Professor of Systematic Theology Fuller Theological Seminary "I commend the editors for making available in one place this collection of provocative essays, many written by the chief disputants in a debate now raging among evangelical theologians . . . Evangelical theologians, theology students and anyone interested in contemporary evangelical discussions of the Trinity could profit greatly from reading these stimulating, vigorously argued, sometimes maddening and always intelligent essays." --Ronald Highfield Professor of Religion Seaver College, Pepperdine University. Author Biography: Dennis W. Jowers is Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Faith Evangelical College and Seminary.