• Home
  • Welcome- Start Here
  • Statement of Faith
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Bible Studies
  • Contact and Social Media
  • Bio
  • Popular False Teachers & Unbiblical Trends
  • Recommended Bible Teachers
  • Photos
  • Financial Support
  • Searching for a new church?
  • Biblical Counseling Resources
  • The Servanthood Survey
  • Podcast

Michelle Lesley

~ Discipleship for Christian Women

Michelle Lesley

Daily Archives: August 27, 2018

The Mailbag: Potpourri (Sexual abuse, Feminism, Serpent seed doctrine…)

27 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by Michelle Lesley in Mailbag

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1 Timothy 2:12, ACBC, Biblical Counseling, Biblical Counselor, Child Molestation, Christian Apps, christian feminism, christian feminist, christian sermons online, christians and sex, False doctrine, Feminism, Feminist, jesus feminist, marriage bed, Pastoral counseling, racism in the church, serpent seed, Sexual Abuse, Sheologians, Sound Doctrine, women teachers in the church, Women teaching men, Women teaching men in the church, Women's Roles in the Church

Welcome to another “potpourri” edition of The Mailbag, where I give short(er) answers to several questions rather than a long answer to one question. I also like to take the opportunity in these potpourri editions to let new readers know about my comments/e-mail/messages policy. I’m not able to respond individually to most e-mails and messages, so here are some helpful hints for getting your questions answered more quickly. Remember, the search bar can be a helpful tool!


Can you please suggest an iPhone app Radio station that plays biblically sound worship, praise and messages?

A reader asked this question via Facebook recently. I mostly listen to podcasts, and though I’m aware of a few good sermon apps, I wasn’t familiar with any apps that provide both sermons and music. I asked my Facebook readers for some help and got lots of great answers. You can check out their suggestions here (even if you’re not on Facebook). I’m not personally familiar with all of these sites and apps, so use good discernment and make sure everything they’re teaching lines up with Scripture.


Do you have advice on Christian women and feminism? I have friends who are reading Jesus Feminist. The title makes me cringe.

Secular feminism is not something I handle a whole lot here on the blog, although I have touched on it in these articles:

Toxic (Evangelical) Femininity

Feminist Infiltration and the Emasculation of Christian Men

6 Reasons Godly Women are Stronger Than Feminazis

 

I would recommend that you head over to Sheologians. Summer and Joy have done several very good podcast episodes and articles on the history of feminism and its current influence on society and the church. I cannot remember whether they covered Jesus Feminist or not, so you may want to make use of the “contact us” link at the top of their site and ask. (Tell them I said hi!)


My husband and I are having sexual problems that stem from the fact that I was molested as a child. What should I do?

I have intentionally left out the specific details of this particular reader’s question, first, in order to protect her identity, second, because I have no doubt that many readers have this same general question, and third, because, being a stranger on the internet, I am not the person who can best help anyone in this situation, so I can only give a very general answer anyway.

I grieve with those of you who have had this terrible sin perpetrated against you. I hope the person who abused you was caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It is also my prayer that God has taken what was meant for evil against you and used it for good in your life by drawing you to Himself, teaching you to depend on Him, and deepening your walk with Him.

As I mentioned, although I’m humbled and honored that readers sometimes reach out to me for help with staggering griefs and difficulties, I would be doing you a disservice if I tried to help you via e-mail or a blog article with complicated personal problems that require ongoing counseling from someone you have (or can develop) a face-to-face relationship with.

Generally speaking, it’s important that you understand that, as a child, the abuse was not your fault, regardless of how you responded to it at the time. A physiological response (orgasm) to the abuse does not mean you enjoyed being violated, wanted it to happen, or were “asking for it”. Neither does having kept it a secret, being friendly with the abuser, “allowing” the abuse to continue in order to receive gifts from the abuser, etc. You were a victim.

It’s important that your husband understand that the sexual difficulties you are experiencing are no reflection on him. Sex is a very personal thing, and he may be incorrectly assuming that your aversion to sex is an aversion to his performance or to him, personally. He will also need to come to grips with the fact that there’s no quick, cut-and dried, three or five or fifteen step plan to “fixing” this. It will be a growth process for both of you.

Assuming you’re in a doctrinally sound church, I would urge you and your husband in the strongest possible terms to set up an appointment with your pastor for counseling. Shepherding your souls through life’s difficulties is part of his biblical job description, and if he went to a decent seminary, he was trained in marital counseling.

If you absolutely don’t think you could look your pastor in the eye during the sermon every week after discussing such personal matters, ask him for a referral to a certified biblical counselor (not a “Christian counselor” – biblical counseling, formerly called nouthetic counseling, is different) who can help you and your husband heal by learning and walking out in your marriage the Scriptures that apply to your situation. If your pastor isn’t familiar with biblical counseling, find a referral through the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, the counselor search links here, or contact a nearby (doctrinally sound) seminary or Christian university and ask if you can speak to someone in their school of biblical counseling.

I know it seems like it will be painful and embarrassing to discuss this situation with a third party, but don’t let it continue to fester. It will destroy your marriage. Getting biblical help will set you and your husband free.


What are your thoughts on a woman teaching an introductory class in biblical Greek to adults (men and women) at church?

Not knowing the context and spiritual climate of your church and assuming the class is taught in the same way other academic foreign language classes are taught – alphabet, vocabulary, grammar, etc. – I don’t see any more problem with it than if she were teaching French or Swahili or Chinese.

The biblical prohibition against women teaching men has to do with women instructing men in the content of the Bible, not the language the Bible was originally written in. Greek is just a language like any other. It is not holy or special just because that’s the language the majority of the New Testament was penned in. (Actually, the opposite is true. Greek was the most widely spoken language of the time, so God used it to get His Word out to the largest number of people.)

Even if the teacher has the class translate portions of Scripture or uses a word or phrase from a Bible verse to illustrate the meaning of a word – assuming she doesn’t veer off into preaching on that verse – she is still teaching a language, not giving Bible instruction to men in the way prohibited by Scripture.

As I said, I don’t know the context and spiritual climate of your church so there could be other factors along those lines that need to be taken into consideration as to whether or not it’s wise for a woman to teach this class, but strictly speaking as to whether or not it’s a violation of Scripture, no.


Do you have any teachings on the implications of the serpent seed doctrine?

No, I’ve never written about it because, until I was asked this question, I’d never heard of it.

I did a brief search, and I would say that the implications are racism, false doctrine, and poor hermeneutics. Apparently, the gist of this teaching is that when the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, a sexual encounter took place between the two, leading to the conception of Cain. Therefore, everyone who is descended from Cain was conceived from the “serpent’s seed” and is of the devil.

This is a concoction of an evil imagination and has no basis in Scripture whatsoever. In fact, Genesis 4:1 clearly tells us who Cain’s father was. Even Cain’s name tells us God caused Eve to conceive him:

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”

I mean, that’s pretty much a mic drop moment with regard to this ridiculous “doctrine”.

Here are a couple of good resources explaining more:

What is the Serpent Seed doctrine?

The serpent seed and the Kenites


If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.

Share this:

  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Print
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Skype
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

WELCOME!

If you're new or would like to comment, please see the "Welcome- Start Here" tab at the top of this page. All comments are handled manually, and I do not publish comments which promote false doctrine. Thanks for stopping by!

Social Media

  • View MichelleLesleyDiscipleship’s profile on Facebook
  • View @MichelleDLesley’s profile on Twitter
  • View MDLesley’s profile on Instagram
  • View MLesleyAuthor’s profile on Pinterest

Good News!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 16,620 other followers

Follow Michelle Lesley on WordPress.com

Want to support us financially?

Top Posts & Pages

  • Is Christmas Pagan?
    Is Christmas Pagan?
  • Top 10 Worst Christmas Songs of All Time
    Top 10 Worst Christmas Songs of All Time
  • Top 10 Worst Christmas Songs of All Time ~ 2
    Top 10 Worst Christmas Songs of All Time ~ 2
  • Popular False Teachers & Unbiblical Trends
    Popular False Teachers & Unbiblical Trends
  • Leaving Lysa: Why You Shouldn't Be Following Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries
    Leaving Lysa: Why You Shouldn't Be Following Lysa TerKeurst or Proverbs 31 Ministries
  • The Mailbag: What should we tell our kids about Santa Claus?
    The Mailbag: What should we tell our kids about Santa Claus?
  • Going Beyond Scripture: Why It's Time to Say Good-Bye to Priscilla Shirer and Going Beyond Ministries
    Going Beyond Scripture: Why It's Time to Say Good-Bye to Priscilla Shirer and Going Beyond Ministries
  • Is She a False Teacher? 7 Steps to Figuring it Out on Your Own
    Is She a False Teacher? 7 Steps to Figuring it Out on Your Own
  • Recommended Bible Teachers
    Recommended Bible Teachers
  • A Few Good Men: 10 Doctrinally Sound Male Teachers
    A Few Good Men: 10 Doctrinally Sound Male Teachers

1 John Bible Study 1&2 Timothy Bible Study Abortion Apologetics Basic Training Bible Bible Study Biblical Resources Biblical Womanhood Bible Study Blog Swap Book Book Reviews Calvinism/Arminianism Celebrity Pastors Christian women Christmas Church Colossians Bible Study Complementarianism Creation Death Discernment Doctrinally Sound Teachers Easter Encouragement Entertainment Evangelism Evolution Ezra Bible Study Faith False Doctrine False Teachers Favorite Finds Forgiveness Giveaway Gospel Gratitude Guest Posts Heaven Hell Holidays (Other) Homosexuality Idolatry In Case You Were Wondering Jacob Jonah Bible Study Justice Mailbag Mark Bible Study Marriage Men Ministry Missions Movies New Apostolic Reformation New Testament Obedience Old Testament Parenting Podcast Appearances Poetry Politics Pop Theology Prayer Prayer Bible Study Random Ramblings Ruminations Resources Reformation Day Relationships Rock Your Role Ruth Bible Study Salvation Sanctification Second Coming Sermons Servanthood Sin Social Media Southern Baptist/SBC Sovereignty of God Speaking Engagements Special Events Suffering Sunday School Television Testimony Tuesday Thanks/Thanksgiving The Ten (10 Commandments Bible Study) Throwback Thursday Top 10 Tough Passages Tragedy Trust Types and Shadows Uncategorized Vlogs Wednesday's Word Women Women of Genesis Bible Study Word of Faith Movement Worship

Blogs and Podcasts I Follow

  • Delivered By Grace
  • Equipping Eve
  • Fighting for the Faith
  • For the Gospel
  • Just Thinking
  • Pastor Gabe's Blog
  • Sheologians
  • The Cripplegate
  • The Hero of the Story
  • The Sword and The Trowel
  • Theology Gals
  • Theology. Driven.
  • Things Above Us
  • Tim Challies
  • Voice of Reason Radio
  • Wretched with Todd Friel
  • WWUTT (When We Understand the Text)

Links I Love!

  • Answers in Genesis
  • Berean Research
  • Bible Gateway- Fantastic concordance and other Bible tools
  • CARM- Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
  • Christian Answers for the New Age (Marcia Montenegro)
  • Founders Ministries
  • Got Questions Bible questions answered!
  • Grace to You
  • Ligonier Ministries

Archives

August 2018
S M T W T F S
« Jul   Sep »
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  

Blog Stats

  • 2,606,709 hits

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: