This lecture presents a theology of culture in order to explore theology in culture. It explores why gender (an expression of culture) must be understood as both a context in which we read Scripture and a topic we understand through Scripture. Biblical themes are explored as parts of both the culture in which they were spoken, and those in which they are read. We move beyond thinking of anything in Scripture as “just cultural” to understanding everything in Scripture and daily life (including gender) as properly and profoundly cultural.

General Session, 33 mins.
Are Men from Mars and Women from Venus? A Biblical Response to Gender Difference
CBE 2009 Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

BRIAN HOWELL is associate professor of anthropology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, where he has also served as coordinator of the Gender Studies Certificate. Howell has taught and conducted research in the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, where his focus has largely been on global Christianity and short-term missions. He lives in Wheaton, IL with his wife, Marissa Sabio, an educator and social worker, and their three children.