No teaching in the Bible is clearer and more consistent than the one which holds women to be inferior to men. Below I show that it is taught that the woman was created from man, for man, that man--not woman--is the glory of God, and that women are not allowed to teach or control man because the woman, not the man, is the one who was deceived by the serpent.
Elsewhere in the Bible it is taught that women are not as righteous as men, nor clever enough to enter into contracts, are not to ask questions in church, but to seek answers in private from their husbands, and are to treat their husbands as if they were God. It is any wonder that women had such a hard time gaining equal rights, when western civilization's principal moral guide was the Bible?
Here is the evidence that the Bible writers believed that God thought women were inferior and wanted them to be kept in a position of subservience:
Woman Belongs to the Man, Who Is the Glory of God
"I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.....For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." (1 Corinthians 11:2-9) "For a man...is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man."
(1 Corinthians 11:2-9)
Note: if God thought that the woman, too, was the "glory of God," why didn't he have the Bible writer say so?
Just As Man is to Christ, So Is the Wife to Her Husband
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." (Ephesians 5:22-24)
In other words, in the same manner as the man worships the Lord, the woman must worship the husband. If the God the Bible-writers believed in considered man and woman equal, he would have had the writer instead say, "Couples, submit yourselves unto each other, as unto the Lord."
Women Can't Be Given the Freedom to Engage in Business
In the passage below we see that the Old Testament writer makes it clear that agreements entered into by the wife can be cancelled if the husband disapproves; once again the Bible places women in a subservient position. The man is the master of the women; the woman has little control over her life.
" If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will release her." (Numbers 30:10-12)
Women Are to Keep Their Mouths Shut and Learn From the Husbands
The passage below makes it clear that the misguided Bible writers believed that women's opinion are not worth anything, especially in regards to matters of the church. Only the man's opinion matters:
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Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
(1 Corinthians 14:34-35)
This is why many denominations forbid women to become ministers.
Fooled by the Serpent, So They're Not Fit to Teach or Guide Men Because it was the woman, not the man, who was tricked by the serpent--if you can believe the Genesis writer, women must never be given control over men:
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (Timothy 2:11-12)
Women Are Busy-bodies and Gossipers
If a widow has no one to take care of her and is under the age of 60 years, the people shall not take care of her because it's to be expected that she will marry again. Furthermore, such women can be expected to be busybodies and gossipers, because the Bible writers thought that is just the way young widows are.
" Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate....Let [her not] be taken [care of] under threescore years old..... [these] younger widows... will marry...And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not." (1 Timothy 5:5-13)
Thus, Paul, alleged to be the founder of Christianity, is seen stereotyping women negatively. Is this the attitude of a man who believes that women are his equal? Is this a teaching that you believe came from God?
The choice seems clear: Those who believe that the woman is not inferior to man cannot also believe that the Bible is the word of God and without error; one of these two beliefs has to be given up.
Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html
Edited by - JosephAlward on 16 October 2002 3:6:25
Edited by - JosephAlward on 16 October 2002 3:8:57