To the Jews, he emphasized Jesus as the fulfillment of messianic prophecy and as a worker of miracles. Apologetics addresses arguments for God s existence, offers reasons to believe that the Scriptures speak truly, and responds to intellectual challenges to Christian truth, such as the problem of evil. Today a pressing concern for unbelievers is what the Bible says about gender roles. Many nonChristians reject Christianity because they see it as unfairly restricting women. Traditionalists with big names and huge organizations win the headlines with their pronouncements about female submission to male authority.
Many unbelievers recoil in horror, and reject the gospel without further thought.
Some who see Christians as worshipping a male God who appoints men to control women may embrace goddess worship to counteract such religious patriarchy. The good news of biblical equality is not simply for the benefit of Christians. It is also good news for those who resist the Christian message because they perceive it to be sexist. A woman who is called to submit unilaterally to the lordship and saving work of Jesus Christ is not thereby called to submit unilaterally to men in the church and in the home simply because she is a woman. A man who is called to follow Christ is not thereby obligated, simply because he is a man, to bear the burden of being the spiritual priest of the home, who is responsible for the spiritual growth of his family in a way that his wife is not.