A Baptist assessment of selected elements of the ecclesiology of radical and reformist feminists

A Baptist assessment of selected elements of the ecclesiology of radical and reformist feminists includes an assessment of the nuanced feminist movement chronologically and theologically, the theological method employed by radical and reformist feminists, the ecclesiological proposals of radical and reformist feminists, and the preaching methodology employed by radical and reformist feminists. The chronological and theological assessment of the feminist movement shows that there are both aspects of the feminist movement that should be affirmed and supported as well as aspects that should be opposed by Baptists. The assessment of radical and reformist feminist's theological method reveals that feminism's unique contribution---using women's experience as both the source and norm for theological method---is the means by which their ecclesiology is formulated and should be rejected by Baptists. The ecclesiological proposals offered by feminists all revise biblical understandings of the nature, purpose, and leadership of the church in a way that is contrary to Scripture and, therefore, should be rejected by Baptists. Finally, feminist approaches to preaching revise the preparation of the message, the delivery of the message, the content of the message, and the qualifications of the messenger in a way that rejects the authority of Scripture. The assessment offered by this dissertation assumes the Baptist perspective articulated in the BF&M2000 The dissertation argues that radical and reformist feminist ecclesiological proposals should be rejected by Baptists.