The University of Idaho Argonaut

A look at biblical feminism in context

One accusation often leveled at God and the Bible is that of oppressive paternalism. The Bible, so the argument goes, does not convey any unique “truth,” but was written by and for powerful, selfish men in a backwards, male-dominated time, and it reflects the views of those who were in control.

Of course, those who believe the Bible to be the word of God would disagree strongly, but setting aside the origins of the book, are the contents of the Bible chauvinistic or misogynistic? Does the Judeo-Christian tradition encourage the oppression of women?

If we want to know the answer, we will have to examine the Bible on its own terms. If we view it only from our own perspective, all we will find out is what we would have meant if we had written the Bible ourselves, which is really not at all helpful in understanding the book.

Feminism in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament — the Hebrew Scriptures written before the time of Christ — there are many places feminists can point to that make their case for biblical misogyny. For example, Deuteronomy 24:1 says if a man is displeased with his wife, he can write her a certificate of divorce and send her away. Deuteronomy 22:28 says if a man rapes a young woman, he must marry her.

However, before we get too carried away, remember we must come to the Bible on its own terms, not ours. The Bible does not present these Old Testament regulations as the prescription for the perfect society, but rather as one step in God’s unfolding of His moral law.

The meaning of the passages we might pick up as we flip through the Bible at high speed is almost the opposite of the ideas they really contain. As opposed to most societies of the time, where women were considered property, a certificate of divorce showed that a woman was a person with legal standing. The demand that a rapist marry his victim is not to torment her, but to keep her from being disgraced, destitute and abandoned for the rest of her life. The message is that women are not objects to be used and forgotten — they are people to be cared for.

However, none of this is the theme of the Old Testament, and if we want to understand it, we have to ask what its focus actually is. As a whole, the Old Testament is not about rules and regulations, but rather waiting and preparing for the Messiah, the savior. The question we must ask, then, is what does the coming of the Messiah have to do with attitudes toward women?

First, we must understand the great importance placed on the Messianic line (the family tree of the Messiah). Being placed in the Messianic line was one of the greatest blessings God would give. This was God’s original promise to Abraham, and it is how He rewarded King David for his obedience and faithfulness. In all, the men in the Messianic line are pretty much the ones you would expect: patriarchs, kings, and heads of families. However, the women who find their way in are quite surprising.

In Genesis, Tamar was widowed twice and involved in incest with her father-in-law. In the book of Joshua, when the Israelites were entering the land of Canaan with the goal of destroying the idolatrous Canaanites and claiming the land (think “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho”), there was a Canaanite prostitute named Rahab who helped hide two Israelite spies. In the book of Ruth, the title character is a poor Moabite (not Jewish) widow.

What is the significance of these stories? Tamar, Rahab and Ruth were all placed in the Messianic line. Not only this, but they are often included in genealogies, which is very unusual for a society that traces lineage through the father. When it comes to the most important thing, the Old Testament is, if anything, feminist.

Women’s lib in the New Testament

If the Old Testament has a slight feminist bent, the New Testament is radical. There are multiple accounts of Jesus speaking to women and treating them as equals in situations that were not socially acceptable. The woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany (Luke 7) and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) are two examples. Additionally, when giving the account of the most important event in the whole Bible, the Resurrection, the Gospel writers record that the first witnesses of the empty tomb were women. This is highly abnormal, because in the society of the day, women were not considered trustworthy and could not even testify in court. The early Christians didn’t agree.

Ancient Greek society was one of the most oppressive, male-dominated societies you will find, where they considered women to be the unintelligent property of their husbands. Yet the apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Greece that husbands are to “love your wives, and do not be harsh with them,” (Colossians 3:19), and they are to love their wives “just as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her,” (Ephesians 5:25), and that “the husband’s body does not belong to him alone, but also to his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:4).

But once again, if we want to understand the Bible, we have to come to it on its own terms. The key of the New Testament is salvation through Christ, so how do its discussions of salvation reflect God’s view of women?

Many religions — especially at that time, but some today as well — said salvation comes only to or through men. The Gospel of Thomas is one of the later, Gnostic gospels, which was never accepted by the church, but eagerly accepted by Dan Brown in “The Da Vinci Code.” It supposedly advocates worship of the “sacred feminine,” yet it ends with Peter saying to Jesus “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.” To which Jesus supposedly replies, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven” (saying 114). So much for the sacred feminine.

The New Testament, on the other hand, referring to salvation, says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

What does a feminist look like?

There is no doubt that many times through history, Christians have oppressed and abused women, and have often misused the Bible to justify themselves. Yet to anyone who takes the time to read the book seriously, the message is clear: that despite how they may be treated or oppressed here on earth, women, along with men, Greeks, and slaves, are loved by God and have been ultimately set free by Christ’s death.

The secular world says that women are complex masses of proteins, formed by millions of years of chance mutations, who will soon be dead and have no ultimate significance. The Bible says that women are sacred creations, made in God’s image and loved by Him so much that He sacrificed His Son to redeem them so He could be with them forever. Meaningless molecules on the one side, glorified saints on the other. Who is the true feminist?

Send letters to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

	1. 14-11-2009 17:58
	Excellent Excellent post. I couldn't agree more. Very well said. Thank you! Registered

smit5882