Graham Cole’s keynote address came in 5 main points (below). The intro began by stating that Christianity is under scrutiny (New Atheists etc), which means that the way men and women relate in church is also under scrutiny. How we address the issue of Better Together either undermines the Gospel or underlines the Gospel. The main question of the keynote address therefore is, how redeemed do we look to a sceptical, watching world?
The Great God. Starting with the doctrine of God, and more particularly, with the Trinitarian fact that the triune God acts in togetherness (Opus Dei Ad Extra), Graham proceeded to link our redeemed human activity to this triune togetherness.
The Great Ideal. The image of God is male and female (Gen. 1), and relationality one of the the ways we image God. Gen. 1 shows the cultural mandate is in togetherness Graham made reference to Gen. 2, but I didn’t quite catch his point (I’ll ask him to clarify tomorrow). The Genesis picture contrasts with the ancient world’s view of men and women (Eg., Plato, Aristotle).
The Great Rupture. Things aren’t the way we’re supposed to be (Plantinga). Defection from God brings relational havoc (Gen. 3:16). This is our theological context – a groaning creation (Romans 
in the last days (Heb.1 ).
The Great Repair. God has a project, and Gal. 3:28 is a classic statement about it (note: in Q&A time Graham clarified this point by stating that it is primarily about salvation, not gender relationships). The repair has togetherness as a characteristic One another language used positively 30 times in the NT, used negatives 7 times (references given by GC). The story of the Bible is not just Ruin → Redemption → Regeneration, but also Restoration!
The Great Challenge. What is the scandal we proclaim? Let’s make sure it’s the right scandal. Are men and women better together in a restricted or unrestricted way? Are we reflecting a broken world or the new creation? How can we be salt and light, the city of a hill, to the world if we cannot be a showcase of better together? Does the world see the new creation, or a broken creation? There is a scandal at the heart of the Christian gospel that can bring us into cultural disrepute. My (GC) hope is only that it is the right one, not the wrong one.
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5 comments
psychodougie says:
June 12, 2010 at 11:43 am (UTC 10 )
sounds like you’re having a ball there!
so ‘the great repair’ – is there eschatology in the garden or is the project just a fix-up job? what would he say to that do you know?
shane says:
June 12, 2010 at 12:26 pm (UTC 10 )
so is the idea behind this that in the new creation there is no gender distinction but just a united humanity, hence in the way we relate now we image God
so if we maintain gender distinctions we are not reflecting our redemption/ renewal/ restoration in Christ?
just trying to work out what he is driving at?
is it that egalitarian ethics is good for evangelism and part of ‘realising’ or signposting our eschatology?
Mark says:
June 12, 2010 at 10:55 pm (UTC 10 )
@Doug: I am having a great time – tiring, but being stretched well. Graham Cole seems very much on ‘Project’ page with respect to Creation. I didn’t hear much of a ‘fix-up job’ line.
@shane: I think his main point was that we ought not make the scandal of Christianity anything but the Gospel. I think it would be fair to say that he considers some aspects of the complementarian position an unnecessary scandal. Make sense?
Luke says:
June 14, 2010 at 3:10 pm (UTC 10 )
Wow, Cole takes it up notch, being an Egalitarian is better for the gospel!? This puts a lie to the tired old line that this is a second or third order issue that really has nothing to do with anything else. If only it was, if only the arguments employed didn’t have such far ranging theological consequences.
Mark says:
June 14, 2010 at 4:51 pm (UTC 10 )
G’day Luke!
I thought it was quite a bold statement also! He clarified himself in the Q&A time after the session, and also in the final panel discussion today. I’ll post up the conversation from that panel discussion later today!
Cheers,
Mark