Alastair Roberts helps us to tune in to the theology of gender in Genesis 1 & 2.
Alastair recently completed doctoral studies at Durham University. He is currently writing a book on the theology of the sexes for Crossway. He is a member of the Mere Fidelity podcast and a contributing editor to the Political Theology Today blog.
You can download a free copy of this article: The Music and the Meaning of Male & Female (PDF, 1.7MB)
Ideas for further thought and discussion
1. Having read the article try to articulate in a few bullet points:
– How clear and fixed the distinction is between men and women.
– How men and women are distinct and the importance of seeing that they are different for each other, rather than different from each other.
– To what extent those distinctions are related to our bodies. Why does that matter?
2. How does this article help answer the objection that gender is no more significant than other physical characteristics like hair colour or height?
3. How would you use Alastair’s article to respond to the idea that Genesis represents “a good start” but that creation was always intended to diversify (e.g. multiple languages in Gen 11) and the Bible storyline moves from a garden to a more complex city, and so we shouldn’t treat it as a permanent template?
Primer 