The ordination of women has been one of the most pressing and passionately debated issues within the church in recent years. In this volume, based on the prestigious 1995 Didsbury Lectures, R. T. France explores several important questions of biblical interpretation raised by the serious disagreements among Christians over the nature of women's ministry. France primarily focuses on the issues as they are manifest in evangelical circles, where appeal is made instinctively to the authority of Scripture. He challenges readers to think through what it means to claim that our theology and practice are biblical. His insightful arguments help Christians move beyond the seeming impasse over the role of women in church ministry.

R. T. France has taught at London Bible College and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He is the author of 'Matthew' in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, 'The Evidence for Jesus' and 'Women in the Church's Ministry: A Test Case for Biblical Hermeneutics'. David Wenham is lecturer in New Testament at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University. After studying theology in Cambridge and Manchester Universities, he taught in central India and then directed the Tyndale House Gospels Research Project. He has written several books on the parables of Jesus and on the relationship of Jesus and Paul, most recently 'Paul, Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity?' (Eerdmans, 1995). Wenham is also involved in parochial ministry in a group of villages north of Oxford.