Christian Distinctives--

Women in the Heart of God

These are some of the more common mis-understandings that I see voiced in the literature and in coffee-house conversations. I used to wonder to what extent these might true, but after having completed this study, I began to wonder how closely the people who make these statements have examined the biblical data...

The detailed data for my responses to these are in the syllabus, and here I only give a few verses to show what the actual evidence is.
 

1. "God's choice to be incarnated as a man IMPLICITLY de-values women"
2. "Weren't women considered property in the OT, like cows or something? Didn't the Law said a father could even SELL his daughter?!!"
3. "Women were non-persons back then--they had NO legal rights in the system at all!"
4. "The bible teaches that women had NO access to God--except through the male..."
5. "The patriarchy system that God apparently condoned subjected women by restricting their access to social and cultural power."
6. "Doesn't God order women to "obey" their husbands--a clear support for Graeco-Roman patriarchy?!"
7. "Doesn't the bible teach that God cursed women by making them subject/subordinate to men?"
8. "Wasn't there a HUGE double standard in biblical sexual ethics?--weren't women supposed to be 'good', but men didn't have to?"
9. "All the books of the bible were written by men--see, God de-values women again"
10. "The VAST MAJORITY of Israelite/Church leadership is by MEN--see, God de-values women again"
11. "Wasn't Miriam punished for questioning male authority, while Aaron was not?"
12. "Why do men get all the glory in the bible? Why are women only minor characters?!"
13. "Sure, women could be prophets, but they couldn't participate in government."
14. "But, women were excluded from being priests..."
15. "Women are always pictured as being servile or passive or evil or stupid..."
16. "God is ALWAYS portrayed as a male--women had no way of identifying with Him"
17. "Weren't women always kept separate from the men in worship? They weren't even allowed in the Temples or synagogues. The OT religion just didn't seem to include women."
18. "None of the disciples or apostles were women--a bit unfair, ain't it?!"
19. "Paul OBVIOUSLY had a "sit down and shut up" attitude toward women--and we are supposed to trust HIM?!"
20. "The early church was 'by, for, about MEN--women were barely even there, much less significant players (and ESPECIALLY not leaders)."
21. "Weren't OT women WORSE off than even their Babylonian counterparts?"
22. Does female "pain-prone" reproductive physiology indicate that God apparently hates women?