The Bible and Women

The Bible and Women

What the Bible has to say about women is a topic that causes a lot of debate, not all of it particularly edifying. Within the church there is the debate about the roles that women should or should not have within the church, especially with regard to leadership and preaching.  The two main “camps” are complementarians and egalitarians. Outwith the church, many view the Bible as being misogynistic and patriarchal. This short article is not intended to come down on one side or the other, but to draw our attention to a few features of the Bible that don’t seem to be appreciated enough.

First, consider the crucifixion and resurrection narratives. The men come out of it almost uniformly badly! Worst is Judas who betrayed Jesus. Then there is Peter who denied Him three times, and the rest of the disciples fare little better. The Jewish leadership was all male and they were the chief instigators of the death of Jesus. Pilate is portrayed as a rather weak man. The Roman soldiers are hardly admirable in their behaviour. About the only two exceptions are the Roman soldier who said “surely this was the Son of God”, and Joseph of Arimathea who lent his tomb to Jesus. Now consider how the women are portrayed. I don’t think there is a single bad word said about them. They are presented as being devoted to Jesus. After His death some of them go to the tomb to put spices on His body, ie they are showing respect as best they know how. Perhaps most significantly, women were the first witnesses of the resurrection, and were told to go and tell the apostles.

Now consider one or two examples from the Old Testament, that great bastion of patriarchy as some would have it. Right at the start we are told that God created humanity in His image, male and female (Gen 1:27), complete equality (not identity) from the outset.

In Genesis 21:12 God tells Abraham to do whatever Sarah tells you to do. In the matter of Ishmael and Isaac Sarah had more insight than Abraham at this point, and Abraham was being governed by his emotional connections, not exactly fitting the stereotypical picture of men and women! For balance, we should remember that it was Sarah’s idea that Abraham sleep with the servant girl in the first place, not the wisest of suggestions! (Gen 16:2). Interestingly, Paul quotes Gen 21:12 in Gal 4:30.

One last example, in the birth of Samson (Judges 13) the angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s mother and gives instructions to her. Later the angel of the Lord appeared to both Manoah and his wife, after which Manoah is convinced they are going to die! It his wife who demonstrates much greater spiritual understanding  (Judges 13:23).

These observations are not intended to come down on one side or the other in the complementarian/egalitarian debate, but rather to encourage us not to have a blinkered view of  Scripture.