CBMW v Beth Allison Barr

Denny Burk, president of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and his minions have virtually and literally burned Beth Allison Barr at the stake.

Beth Allison Barr wrote a book. The hottest book in Christian literature right now. It is The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth.

Beth is a Professor at Baylor University. According to their website:

Professor Beth Barr “focuses on women and gender identity in medieval and early modern English sermons, drawing evidence especially from comparative analyses of biblical women, narrative women, gendered language, and the gendered nature of biblical text included within sermons. She is interested in how the advent of Protestantism affected women in Christianity as well as how and why medieval attitudes towards women in sermons both changed and stayed the same across the Reformation era.”

Denny Burk, et al, took exception to an illustration in her book.

 In her book, Beth gave the story of a medieval woman who loved God so much that she abandoned her children to go serve God. From this, Denny Burk, et al, decried Beth as a woman who advocates that women abandon their children.

Let’s look at the CBMW website, and you will see that they are really very much interested in medieval history – particularly in witches.

You are not going to believe this until you see it in writing. It is on their website CBMW.org. I will be blunt. The Danvers Statement birthed by the CBMW, and the BF&M 2000 are modern day tools equivalent to those used by the religious men during the Inquisition in which women were accused of being witches, heretics, and were burned at the stake.

Women consorting with the devil was a strong belief in the Middle Ages, and is still a factor according to some pastors, and the statement by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. If a woman becomes too strong, usurping the authority of the husband, she is guilty of inviting the devil into the home. Baptists and the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood believe that when wives submit themselves to their husbands, this enables families to withstand the devil’s temptations and the onslaughts of the world.

Heavily influenced by, and comprised of Southern Baptist leaders, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood equates women to witches (listens to the devil) on their website (Missions and Vision #2).

“If families do not structure their homes properly, in disobedience to the teachings of Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3, and Colossians 3, (submissive wives) then they will not have the proper foundation from which to withstand the temptations of the devil and the various onslaughts of the world. This hinders the sanctification of married couples and also introduces confusion about basic parenting issues such as raising masculine sons and feminine daughters.” (CBMW.org)

Shockingly, this is the same language found in the Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hunter’s Bible). Wikipedia quotes Michael Bailey (Battling Demons, 2003, University Press):

“The text argues that women are more susceptible to demonic temptations through the manifold weaknesses of their gender. It was believed that they were weaker in faith and more carnal than men. Michael Bailey claims that most of the women accused as witches had strong personalities and were known to defy convention by overstepping the lines of proper female decorum.” (Such as ‘feminine daughters’ from CBMW referenced above.)

Wayne Grudem said this regarding women’s submissive role: “I still believe it will happen. Jesus Christ is building and purifying his church that he might present it to himself without spot or wrinkle. But on this issue Christ’s purification process is taking much longer than I expected.” Grudem is specifically calling for the purification of the church by eliminating women leaders. Burning at the stake is illegal, but destroying women is still the goal, just as it was during the Inquisition. Claiming that it is Jesus’ desire. I wondered how those priests who burned women could sleep at night. I wonder how we can sleep at night with the same desire.

Some thought they were right, some knew they were wrong, but all thought it was for the good of the Roman Catholic Church.

Baptists teach that women are consorting with the devil when they do not submit to their husbands. For over 300 years, thousands of women died when they were accused of being witches (consorting with the devil), and today, thousands of women suffer by that same accusation by Christian leaders, under the guise of complementarianism.

Denny Burk, et al, at the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood believe that women are to be submissive to males, to their husbands of course, but also to all men in leadership. That is the foundational belief of the CBMW. Denny Burk could never have obtained the position he has if he did not believe and promote male headship.

However, it will take women such as Beth Allison Bar to open the hearts of those who cling to the tenets of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Somehow they need to hear that their cherished beliefs may not honor Christ. The fact they call women witches is one reason to reexamine those beliefs.

Christianity should be viewed in light of God’s word and in light of how both men and woman can be a Great Commission people. Demeaning and attacking Beth Allison Barr is not beneficial to Christianity nor to the Gospel of Christ.

Denny Burk has a responsibility. He knows that. His heart knows that, but his actions and his heart are defined by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. (www.cbmw.org). And that organization is in the sole business of demeaning God’s creation – women – and elevating males over every woman on earth. And burning at the stake? – yes, virtually and literally.