Women and the bible

[Passion not Perfection]

As of late my brother has been reading the bible, but it doesn't seem his goal is to be closer to God, but to put down women and put himself "above" women. He reads verses specifically about women and they're "place" aloud all the time, I'm pretty sure just to piss me off. Ever since I was young, I heard all about how women need to submissive to their husband, be modest, blah blah blah.


Here's what I think. God created me with hands, feet, knees, eyes and ears that work the same. I can lift the same amount of weight with the right training (just like a male) and so on. I don't believe God created me simply to be a maid to a male and I certainly don't think men are above me. Often the argument is made that women are weak and easily manipulated, but the same can be said for men. I.e Samson and Delilah. Women are not objects to be owned, nor are women weak or have certain places they can or can't be.

Too often are women portrayed as weak or in need of saving. In books, movies and tv shows. I'm extremely grateful for the book and movie The hunger games finally making a female the hero in a film (while not being slutty or needing to decide on a man.)

I'd like to know what your thoughts are and how you feel on these issues. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who thinks this way.  

[emorhconom esor]

As women we are called to be submissive yet you say it like a bad thing. Think of it more like a dance and the guy leads. You can't dance properly if there are two people leading. You must have someone that follows. In swing dancing if anyone messes up, even the girl, it's the guy's fault because he's leading lol.
Also submissive in scripture means having a servant's heart. Thus putting other's before yourself. You are also missing the rest of what it says. It says husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church. It's calling for both sides to put the other first.
There are plenty of strong women in scripture for example; Ester, Deborah, Dorkas, Miriam, ect.
I find it very sad that what you wrote is showing that you are only thinking about feminism. There isn't room for such ideas in Christianity dude to the fact the extreme views of feminism are all selfish views. While Christianity isn't about ourselves but about God and what he wants of us. You are trying to make scripture fit the world's views and that doesn't work. When you do that it will completely crumble.
The world teaches that submissiveness is weakness but that isn't true at all. When we are submissive it gives us strength for we are no longer relying on ourselves but God and those around us.  

[Aquatic_blue]

This is definitely a sad and hot debate within churches today. The problem is when churches supress the gifts of women by not allowing them to participate in preaching, prayer, communion, etc. they are allowing Satan to take more control. I was apart of a church that saw things this way most of my life. They said that women couldn't preach and that it was sinful and shameful, they said that women had to have long hair or else it was a sin and a man couldn't have long hair because it was a sin, and they said that women need to be submissive. I got annoyed that if I wanted to put in a prayer request, I would have to write it on a piece of paper and hand it to a man in the church to say it in front of the congregation. Women couldn't help with communion - even though it's mostly a silent activity with a bit of scripture read and prayer said before hand. The only things women could do in that church were sing hymns and sit there to listen. However, there is a clear reason why all this stuff is not true. Churches putting down women in authority goes all the way back before Jesus Christ.

Men and women are absolutely equal! If that weren't true, then God would've made woman from something else other than man. Also, because man was created first doesn't make him more superior. The submission issue can come across as offensive to a lot of women because negative connotations surround it at times such as some using it for abuse whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. However, men are also called to be submissive to their wives as well. It goes both ways. If you read Proverbs 31 "The Wife of Noble Character", you will see that a woman is put in authority and it says that her husband respects the wife and she respects him. There are also many other scriptures that support man being submissive to his wife as well as a wife being submissive to their husbands (some churches that are against women ignore the part it mentions husbands) The church I used to go to hated it when I was sitting there reading it and thinking about it. Men and women are meant to work hand in hand. However, society doesn't always see it this way.

I strongly suggest reading the book "Why Not Women?" by David Hamilton and Loren Cunningham (I believe those are the names of the authors - believe it or not, they are both men). You will enjoy it! My husband read it and highly suggested it to me and I read it and it solved the debate of women and authority once and for all - at least in my mind. It clears a lot of the air and it's an enjoyable read becaues it adds the break down of verses that the Bible actually says depending on the writing structure of that time, meanings of original words that some Bibles have translated too loosely, and the culture and history of those time periods. smile

I completely understand the way you feel because we see examples as women being considered "weak" a lot of the time. At some point, it can start to really set in. However, don't let these feelings discourage you smile know that you are you and that God loves everybody.

In the Bible, remember that also the culture of the time didn't always respect women. There were many philosophers out there that were anti-women and God did put these to shame through things he wrote. For example, the Greeks used to think that the male carried a tiny human being in his sperm and the woman was only the "soil" in which the child grew. God disproved this by having Mary become pregnant with Jesus without male intervention. Delilah wasn't exactly "weak", she was trying to find out Sampson's secret of his strength and once she asked him many times with fail and finally found out the truth, she called in the men that cut his hair. However, it's possible Delilah wouldn't want to cut his hair herself because his strength was God-given or for some other reason.

There are a lot of strong women in the Bible as well! Deborah was a judge and she told a man (name slips my mind for the moment) to go kill Sisera, I belive it was and since the man wouldn't go without Deborah - a woman claimed the victory by driving a tent stake through Sisera's temple. There was also another place in the Bible where there was a man who was struck by a millstone, I believe it was, and asked a male to kill him so that a woman could not have that victory. The society is significant to the time smile and it is part of history as well. Make sure to read through scriptures involving the strong women who were called by God! It's incredibly uplifting ^_^ and make sure to realize that man and woman are equal in God's eyes and one is not better than the other. We are meant to work together hand in hand and that's how it was in the beginning of time with Adam and Eve. Eve was a helper for Adam and they worked together.  

[Rednal]

On average, I believe that anybody who is attempting to use Scripture in order to put down another group of people is missing the entire point. Christians are *great* at taking things out of context in order to support their previously-held view, though. However, Christianity is not a religion of hatred or intolerance. Now, I do believe that women are different from men (obvious physical differences, often different ways of approaching issues, etc.), but I have no reason to go as far as applying a moral judgement and saying that one gender is inherently superior. = w= That's kind of silly, really.