Brett A. Todd
In so many ways, the Bible is an outdated record of God’s dealings with human beings. So, is this true when speaking of women? This should not surprise anyone since the words of the Bible were written by men and they find their origin in a male-centered society and culture. Even today, we feel the impact of this male dominant period of history where women are seen as a lesser gender. You may remember the words of the Apostle Paul, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:3). Of course, we can do a song and a dance to lessen the impact of Bible male-chauvinism, nevertheless, this male-chauvinism remains.
One church father who took to heart the Bible’s male-chauvinism was Tertullian (155-220 AD). Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, he believed that women were the gateway to Satan. Under the topic, “On the Dress of Women,” he wrote a lot about the sinfulness and lesser quality of women:
The sentence of God on this sex [Females] of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the devil’s gateway.
In other words, sin is the fault of women. Not just the fault of Eve, but all women bare this guilt and are responsible for the sin found in this world. Later Tertullian blames all women for the death of the Son of God, Jesus. Tertullian under false pretenses “gorgeously” condemns those of the female gender “race”.
Some Bible scholars have pointed out that the Apostle Paul had a different view of women, similar to Jesus. Both Jesus and Paul had female disciples, or should we say followers, who were an integral part of their ministry. Paul even voiced the following words, “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28). As liberating as these words may have been for this time period, they don’t mean that men and women are equal any more than a slave was equal to his master.
In our next study, we will discuss whether or not the Apostle Paul really said that women are to be silent in the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment