Professor of English at Liberty University
How do you uphold a biblical view of gender roles while also promoting the importance of women faithfully serving in the public square?
The distinctions in gender roles prescribed by both special revelation (Scripture) and natural revelation (biology) are pretty few relative to all that all human beings made in the image of God can do.
The fact is that the division between the public and private spheres is cultural, not scriptural. We uphold Scripture, nourish the church, and bless the world by encouraging and supporting women to pursue their gifts, even as we affirm the different roles men and women play in the church body and in the family.
What is your favorite place to vacation?
My husband and I worked for years to achieve our dream of owning an old home in the country. God allowed us to achieve that dream, and after nearly 20 years on this homestead, it’s still my favorite place to be. I travel more than enough for work, so I want to spend all my vacation time at home. We have dogs, chickens, and horses here, and there’s no lovelier or more comfortable place to do all my favorite things: read, write, run, swim, and sleep.
If there is any other place in the world that whispers to my heart now and then, that would be England. Fortunately, its climate is tolerable, but not sunny enough to tempt me.
What do you think is the biggest need for Christian students to understand about the world they are going into as professionals, pastors, writers, and more?
I think it’s important to remember, first of all, that there is such a thing as truth. Our inability to see it, understand it, or grasp it does not make it exist any less. Second, because we live in what has been dubbed a “post truth” age, the work of the church in cultivating understanding, bridging divides, and living out the truth with our whole lives has never been harder—or more important. Where truth is missing, tribalism reigns. Christians must transcend the tribes in order to point to the truth.
