Week 4: What Happened in the Garden
Recommended Reading:
Chapters 10-11 (Pages 221-272)
Total page count excluding chapter bibliographies: ~43 pages
Key Quotes:
Chapter 10:
"To really help people grow and change, we must help them get to the deepest disorders. Humans do not just have personality disorders, they have worship disorders." (230)
"…if false worship is the problem, then true worship is the solution." (235)
"Because of what I believe about the Fall and how it has impacted our bodies, and because brain research is a relatively new and developing field of science, I am confident there are yet to be discovered diseases that are influencing behavior and the inner person. To say they are influencing is not to say they are causing behavior, though." (238, authors emphasis)
Chapter 11:
"Now the literal reading of Scriptures appears ridiculous to people today, because the 'cultural worldview' that we tacitly embrace has conditioned us to think that the world is billions of years old." (249)
"Both the gender-role difference, just like the role difference within the trinity, is not based on the essence: every male is not born to lead and female to follow…When Christian women (no matter how gifted they are) voluntarily restrict their freedom and assume the submissive role in marriage and in church, they reflect the humility of our Lord." (266, authors emphasis)
Engagement Questions:
"Both the gender-role difference, just like the role difference within the trinity, is not based on the essence: every male is not born to lead and female to follow…When Christian women (no matter how gifted they are) voluntarily restrict their freedom and assume the submissive role in marriage and in church, they reflect the humility of our Lord." (266, authors emphasis)
Engagement Questions:
Chapter 10:
Key Definitions:
- How does knowing that every psychological theory has a view on sin (acknowledged and defined or rejected) cause us to depend even more on a Biblical worldview?
- In pages 232-234, the author enumerates many counseling cases that find their root in the third chapter of Genesis. What items on the list do you find prevalent in your own life and what is the solution to those problems?
- Why does essentialism generally win out ahead of constructionism? (See key definitions below if you want to better understand these terms)
- Dr. Suzuki interprets the image of God as one that combines the structural, relational, and functional views (see pg 261). Do you agree with this interpretation? How does it better clarify who we are as His creation and the gender/role distinctions?
- What four reasons does Dr. Suzuki provide for male headship from a Biblical perspective and not from an essentialist position?
Key Definitions:
Chapter 11:
Essentialism: The belief that everything has a strict set of unchangeable and innate characteristics from the moment of existence. In the gender debate, it could be thought that a male has the essential traits of masculinity and that men will always have it and women will lack it. (254)
Constructionism: The belief that everything has its own set of characteristics because of societal and cultural influences. In the gender debate, it is due to societal and cultural norms that men are thought to be the provider, leader, and hold masculine traits. These traits are merely the byproduct of the cultural environment we currently exist in and can, and should sometimes, change. (255)
Summary:
Chapter 10:
As a Certified Biblical Counselor, I regularly hear feedback from my counselees that my methods are at complete odds with many secular psychological treatments they had received in the past. Ernie Baker begins his chapter by shedding some light as to why this is the case. The reason being we have become so "intellectual" and "scientific" that we have abandoned any notion of sin affecting the life a person. And this is the reason why many of the treatments given by psychologists simply look to change behavior or leave a person in hopeless despair that their state will never be remedied. A Biblical perspective holds firmly the understanding that we are totally, not utterly, affected by sin and that sin has even affected the physiology of our brain and body parts. The solution then is to reorder our worship from false idols and to the cross. As Dr. Baker put it,
"the cross is not just a message to believe to get us to heaven someday. It is a message of hope and deliverance from the tyrant of sin and the lordship of engrained lusts and desires." (234).
This chapter lays out a very good exposition of how we all have been affected by the fall and how the remedy is the Gospel. This should bring hope to those who want to help counsel others, and it surely brings hope to us who deal with our own desire misorientations that there is a solution and that in eternity we will be made whole again.
Chapter 11:
Do the first chapters of Genesis really clarify to us the gender-role distinctions and what it means for humanity to be created in the image of God? Dr. Jo Suzuki would answer that question in the affirmative. In this chapter, he goes beyond the egalitarian and complementarian debates, although important, to show us how God's word has revealed to us a very good order which is more than just a product of creative design. What I mean to say is that in this chapter, he lays the argument that the gender-roles that Christian believe today are not because God created men and women with their very own unique set of characteristics, but that "male headship in family and church is a specific biblical command not a universal necessity or inclination" (260).
He begins by first explaining both essentialism, which would argue that male headship is a biological inclination, and constructionism, which would say it has developed due to our cultural environment. After elaborating on these philosophies, he lays out the Biblical case which goes against both of them. He then explains how gender-role distinctions even are connected to our understanding of how we are made in the Image of God. This principle does not simply mean that we can think rationally like God, or even are relational like God, or that we ought to function like God in ruling over creation. A better understanding of the image of God is a combination of all three. The ultimate conclusion for this chapter is that we can find these gender-role distinctives established as a creation order, and not a result of the fall. The application is that we should be obedient and humble before God, trusting in the help from the Spirit, as we worship him in faith and reflect a proper image of Him.
To never miss an article, click on the "Subscribe" button at the top of the blog page (https://aogalvez.blogspot.com/)
****************************************************
These articles usually follow the current Bible Reading plan for Overflow Ministries. If you would like to join the reading plan, simply download the plan here: Overflow Reading Plan
You may follow Overflow Ministries @ https://faithlife.com/overflowtx/activity
or on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/OverflowChurchTX/
Essentialism: The belief that everything has a strict set of unchangeable and innate characteristics from the moment of existence. In the gender debate, it could be thought that a male has the essential traits of masculinity and that men will always have it and women will lack it. (254)
Constructionism: The belief that everything has its own set of characteristics because of societal and cultural influences. In the gender debate, it is due to societal and cultural norms that men are thought to be the provider, leader, and hold masculine traits. These traits are merely the byproduct of the cultural environment we currently exist in and can, and should sometimes, change. (255)
Summary:
Chapter 10:
As a Certified Biblical Counselor, I regularly hear feedback from my counselees that my methods are at complete odds with many secular psychological treatments they had received in the past. Ernie Baker begins his chapter by shedding some light as to why this is the case. The reason being we have become so "intellectual" and "scientific" that we have abandoned any notion of sin affecting the life a person. And this is the reason why many of the treatments given by psychologists simply look to change behavior or leave a person in hopeless despair that their state will never be remedied. A Biblical perspective holds firmly the understanding that we are totally, not utterly, affected by sin and that sin has even affected the physiology of our brain and body parts. The solution then is to reorder our worship from false idols and to the cross. As Dr. Baker put it,
"the cross is not just a message to believe to get us to heaven someday. It is a message of hope and deliverance from the tyrant of sin and the lordship of engrained lusts and desires." (234).
This chapter lays out a very good exposition of how we all have been affected by the fall and how the remedy is the Gospel. This should bring hope to those who want to help counsel others, and it surely brings hope to us who deal with our own desire misorientations that there is a solution and that in eternity we will be made whole again.
Chapter 11:
Do the first chapters of Genesis really clarify to us the gender-role distinctions and what it means for humanity to be created in the image of God? Dr. Jo Suzuki would answer that question in the affirmative. In this chapter, he goes beyond the egalitarian and complementarian debates, although important, to show us how God's word has revealed to us a very good order which is more than just a product of creative design. What I mean to say is that in this chapter, he lays the argument that the gender-roles that Christian believe today are not because God created men and women with their very own unique set of characteristics, but that "male headship in family and church is a specific biblical command not a universal necessity or inclination" (260).
He begins by first explaining both essentialism, which would argue that male headship is a biological inclination, and constructionism, which would say it has developed due to our cultural environment. After elaborating on these philosophies, he lays out the Biblical case which goes against both of them. He then explains how gender-role distinctions even are connected to our understanding of how we are made in the Image of God. This principle does not simply mean that we can think rationally like God, or even are relational like God, or that we ought to function like God in ruling over creation. A better understanding of the image of God is a combination of all three. The ultimate conclusion for this chapter is that we can find these gender-role distinctives established as a creation order, and not a result of the fall. The application is that we should be obedient and humble before God, trusting in the help from the Spirit, as we worship him in faith and reflect a proper image of Him.
Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez
Alex Galvez
To never miss an article, click on the "Subscribe" button at the top of the blog page (https://aogalvez.blogspot.com/)
****************************************************
These articles usually follow the current Bible Reading plan for Overflow Ministries. If you would like to join the reading plan, simply download the plan here: Overflow Reading Plan
You may follow Overflow Ministries @ https://faithlife.com/overflowtx/activity
or on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/OverflowChurchTX/
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