Christianity, Women and Gender Equality

1 Corinthians 14:33-40

"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way."

This is one of those passages in scripture that is contentious in modern times in the sense that at the surface, it seems oppressive to women. And indeed radical activists react vociferously at the slightest hint of some 'discrimination' especially if it comes from the bible and religious (read: Christian) ideas. Today, I've explored a bit if their argument, that the Bible, Christianity and the church is oppressive to women, is warranted. I have searched and found three pointers of clarity in this issue: (1) Consider the historical context and the cultural backdrop of the Gospels and Epistles — "During its early years, Christianity taught a spiritual unity that at least potentially mitigated the harshness of Roman law, in which women were considered non-citizens with no legal rights." [Bohlin] The Greeks were no better, girls generally weren't allowed to go to school, and women are not to speak publicly. Same thing with Jewish culture as we clearly see in the reactions of the people around Jesus towards His interactions with women. (2) Now, that brings us to Jesus and how He treated women — we find numerous examples of our Lord's interactions with women, much to the displeasure of everyone around him, teachers of the Law (on the woman of ill-repute), his disciples (on the woman at the well and the woman with the alabaster jar) and even some women (Martha vs Mary, of Bethany).

(3) The Early Church — The apostle Paul, in light of this passage and similar others, is often accused of misogyny, "calls men to love their wives in the self-sacrificing way Christ loves the church. In a culture where a wife was property, He elevates women to a position of honor previously unknown in the world." [Bohlin] In corporate worship too, the early Church is revolutionary. The gifts of the Holy Spirit is equally dispensed through both men and women, vis-a-vis Jewish temples where women do not have a voice and pagen temples where their place is to serve as shrine prostitutes. From these we see that indeed, "in fact, nothing has elevated the status and value of women as Biblical Christianity." Has it been carried throughout history after the Early Church? Maybe not by our Church Fathers and onwards, and maybe just only recently again that we see the effects of the foundation that has been laid in this aspect. From the apostle who is accused of misogyny in the New Testament came these words in his letter to the Galatian church, that "there is neither male nor female for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus." In this passage the emphasis is that God is a god of order vis-a-vis the people's culture in the young Corinthian Church (tendency to be unruly) and that is not to be mistakenly extrapolated into some gender-biased reading of the text. Traditional Christian thinking after the Early Church is not necessarily the same thing as biblical thinking about women, though. Much has been said also that the roles of men and women are different, but worth and value is equal in God's eyes — equally made in the image of God, equally fallen and tainted, and equally worthy of redemption. Although we must face the difficult fact that we do not read Scripture objectively, but rather through the lenses of a long tradition of gender inequality as our Church Fathers, and many others after, may have. When we try to set these lenses aside, we begin to see a God who is counter-cultural in this way. He is not a respecter of persons and elite authorities—He shows no partiality. [Sumner]

Acts 10:34-35

"Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation who fears Him, and works righteousness is accepted by Him."

~23.11.2013

References:

Sumner, Sarah. Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership (InterVarsity Press, 2003).

via Linda Hartz Rump. "Is Christianity Oppressive to Women" http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2004/mar5.html?start=3

Bohlin, Sue. "Christianity: The Best Thing that ever Happened to Women" https://bible.org/article/christianity-best-thing-ever-happened-women