My Sweet Paper

Being Brought Down by the Bible



The main reason for the plight of the Judeo/Christian woman can be associated with the Bible and the sexist and deviant interpretations of it. Women are seen in many churches doing things that help keep the church going and succeed in its goal of spreading the word of god. However, despite this involvement in the church, the church, the bible, and the literal interpretations of it can arguably be one of the main reasons that keep’s women inferior to men. This paper will talk about passages against woman in the bible and how people interpreted them to put women at a lower level than men, the upcoming women’s movement and the bible from the beginning till now, and the present state of women in the Judeo/Christian world. It indulges into how the biblical traditions have shaped our culture and views of women.
The bible contains many passages that put women at a lower level than men and that perceive women as the family caretaker instead of one of the primary bread winners. I think one of the main reasons for this is the literal interpretation that people use/d during the reading of the bible. The following quote from the bible is a good example of women being subjected to a different treatment than men; "As in all the churches of the saints, women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church." (I Corinthians 14:34-35(1) This is a great example of the disease of superiority that has infected men and made them believe they are the greater of the two sexes. This treatment of women was set into the culture of these societies and has been past down over generations not changing to dramatically until closer to present time.
Two more quotes from Corinthians show a deeper cut into the start of women inferiority; “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ(Corinthians 11:3(1)…Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man (Cor. 11:8-9(1).” The first quote plainly states that God is the head of everything and that man is the head of woman. There are many controversies over this passage referring to the translation of the word “head” and if Paul is referring to a head garment. Obviously somewhere down the line it was read literally and to the point which helped men believe they were the head of their wife. The second quote refers to the second book of Genesis by talking about how Eve was made from the rib of Adam and how Eve was created because Adam was lonely. This reassures the idea that women were created for the sole purpose of being a helper to there man.
The most concrete quote from the bible about women being ruled by men is in Genesis 3:16, “To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”(1) This passage uses the words “rule over you.” If these words are broken down it means that “you” will dominate by powerful influence over the selected person/s. God punishes Eve with all these things including rule by men, while he only punishes Adam with plowing the ground and eating the plants that come from it. It is easy to see why this Judeo/Christian society, if reading the bible literally, could interpret these words as to mean that men rule over women.
"All the religions on the face of the earth [including Christianity] degrade women; and so long as woman accepts the position that they assign her, her emancipation is impossible." Elizabeth Stanton, (The Woman's Bible, I:12). There was a large gap between the people and the word of God (Bible). Early bibles were usually written in Latin or Greek, hard to understand, and inaccessible to the general public (Huntington). This tells us that a lot of the interpretations that were sent to the people may have been only by literate, high ranking people such as ones that are involved in the church. Also, the gap was made even larger by problems in production, distribution, and the churches negative views against translating it into other languages (Huntington). The largest factor in the situation of women during these times, I believe, is the bible being read literally. By looking at all these factors of this time, it is possible to believe that the word of God was getting to the people by only a few interpretations of it. This will affect the process of free thought and will further hinder any progress trying to be made towards women equality in a Judeo/Christian society. The bible is not the one to blame for women’s lot in life but the sexist and deviant interpretations of it.
In 1853, Antoinette Blackwell was the first woman minister in a recognized denomination (factmonster). It has taken thousands of years to breach the barrier of only men in ranking positions in the church. National Organization for Women (NOW) and Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) are two examples of groups that are trying to get the bible changed into a non-sexist text or to at least realize that the bible should not be read literally (NOW, CBE). These two groups are just a couple of examples of the wide spread movement towards women equality everywhere. Women receive less pay in many places among other things in present society when compared to most men. If one was to look at the unequal factors that plague the battle between men and women during present time you could say a part of that is from the messages the bible has taught us.
The main reason for the plight of the Judeo/Christian woman can be associated with the Bible and its messages. From the start of the Judeo/Christian faith and the bible women have been held at a lower level than men. Women are starting to gain there own thoughts and ideas towards these atrocities in the bible and are doing something about it. I for one, applaud there efforts and hope that they succeed.





It would be longer, but I thought 3 pages was max. If anyone would like the rest of the paper you can email me or drop me a message.









Bibliography
1.)Society of Biblical Literarture. The Harper Collins Study Bible. New York: Harpers Collins, 1993.
2.)"The Bible and the People." 6 Aug 2004. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. 09 Dec. 2005 .
3.)"Women in American Religion." 2005. Fact Monster/Information Please® Database. 09 Dec. 2005 .
4.)Christians for Biblical Equality. "Men, Women and Biblical Equality". Lkd. CBE on the Web at "Biblical Equality." 1989, http://www.cbeinternational.org/new/about/biblical_equality.html
5.)Rivers, Caryl . "Commentary: Tax Dollars Could Fund Preaching of Male Dominance." 7 Mar 2001. National Organization for Women. 09 Dec. 2005 .