Ole Georg Hoaas And Oddvar Tegnander, Kvinnen Fri Til Tjenste (Oslo Filadelfiaforlaget, 1986), 147pp

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184

Ole-Georg

Hoaas and Oddvar

Tegnander,

Kvinnen –

fri

til

tjenste? (Oslo: Filadelfiaforlaget, 1986), 147pp.

Reviewed

by

David

Bundy

The role of women,

especially

as it relates to

ministry

within the Christian

community,

has been a vexing

problem

for Pentecostals. In the

early period

of the Pentecostal

revivals,

women

played central

roles,

and a few have continued to do

so, usually on the fringe

of the institutionalized Pentecostal

churches,

or in missions. In the context of

European

Pentecostal

history,

North American women susch as Carrie Judd

Montgomery,

Maria Woodworth- Etter,

and Aimee

Semple

McPherson

provided theological input, and often served as models for

ministry. European

women were equally

involved.

Norwegian

women missionaries carried the news of the revival in Oslo to

Germany

and

Switzerland.

Another woman, Anna. Larsson-Bjorner,

founded the Danish Pentecostal movement and served for a number of years as pastor of one of the world’s

largest

Pentecostal Churches. Such

leadership, however, has not been the

norm,

since

positions

of power have been reserved for men in the second and third

generations

churches.

The effort

by Hoaas

and

Tegnander

to address the

question

of the ministry

of women is of interest not

only

for its contribution to the discussion of an

urgent question,

but also for its methodology and use of sources.

The first five

chapters (pp. 11-50), by Hoaas,

document the present pattern

of women’s involvement in the

Norwegian

Pente- costal

Churches, summarizing

the evidence from his dissertation presented

at the

University

of

Bergen

entitled

Perspektiver pao organisasjonsstruktur og maktforhold i pinsebevegelsen ( 1 98 1 ) . On the basis of the

study

of a

“typical”

Pentecostal

congregation undertaken

during 1980,

with 44 leadership positions, only one of which

(treasurer)

was held

by

a woman, he notes that

although

the women constitute the

majority

of the

membership, they

are relegated

to the status of “foot soldier” within the church.

After the

description

of the

present situation,

Hoaas

develops

the historical data in a

chapter entitled,

“T.B. Barratt: Pioneer in Equality

of Status

(pp. 28-35).”

Here he outlines Barratt’s

position drawing

from articles on Aimee

Semple

McPherson and on church structure

published

in Korsets Seier and

especially

on the

important volume,

Kvinnens

stilling

i menigheten (Oslo: Filadelfiaförlaget, 1933).

He demonstrates Barratt’s

understanding

of the Christian community

and his commitment to the

equality

of women and men within its ranks. He then

poses

the

question

of whether or not Barratt’s

position

would be

acceptable

to the church

today.

.

.

.

1

185

In an effort to ascertain the answer to that

question, Hoaas,

as

part

of this dissertation research, formulated a questionnaire. The

results which he

presents (pp. 36-44),

indicate the church is

quite

divided over the issue. One of the most

interesting graphs

indicates

that

persons

over

thirty-five years

of

age,

are

strongly opposed

to

women

serving

on the board of

elders,

while those

thirty-five

and

younger

are

strongly

in favor

(p. 39).

In the second half of the volume,

Tegnander surveys

the biblical

evidence

regarding

the role of women in the

community.

He

begins

with the situation in Roman and Jewish culture before

dealing

with

the Old Testament texts. He then devotes considerable attention to . Jesus’ statements about and treatment of

women, noting

his

egalitarian approach.

Paul’s

teaching

is divided into three

categories:

his

teaching

and the data about Priscilla and Phoebe

(pp. 84-97); , his

teaching

related to

specific

historical

problematic

situations in

Corinth

and Ephesus

with

particular

attention to the cultural

background; and, finally,

the texts in which

leadership

roles are

strongly

forbidden

(pp.102-107).

An entire

chapter

is devoted to the

related

problematic

texts 1 Cor. 14:35 and I Tim. 2:8-15

(pp. 108-

127):

The

exegesis

is carefully conceived and articulated. Each text

is examined in light of the context of the

epistle

and it is concluded

that these

“strong prohibitions”

were addresssed to specific persons,

problems

and situations. In each

chapter,

the

exegesis

of the text

within the Pentecostal churches is discussed.

Tegnander

then summarizes the “mosaic” of the diverse biblical

data

finding

it

largely egalitarian

in orientation. He

argues

that

women should not be discriminated

against

in the

congregation,

that

they

should be given

equal opportunity

to use their

gifts.

This remarkable volume is an original and

powerful

contribution

to the discussion of the role of women in ministry and in the life of

the church. It is to be hoped that both

theologians

will continue to

develop

ideas

presented here,

and that the rest of the Christian

world will be able to deal so constructively with the issue. One

only

wishes that the volume had been

twice as long! The

publishers

are to

be congratulated for this volume which is made even more useful

by

the addition of an index to biblical

references,

a study

guide

which

facilitates the use of the book for

group study, and,

at the end of

each

chapter,

a list of sources and

suggestions

for

reading.

‘

.

.

.

‘

*David

Bundy

is the Collection Assistant Professor of Christian Seminary.

Development

Librarian and Origins

at

Asbury Theological

2