Episode #7 is a mother-daughter discussion of women in the Bible. Heidi Winder, my daughter, raises the question: What’s so scary about women?
We noted that women in the Bible and throughout Christian history have been marginalized, sexualized, demonized, and marked as incompetent — by men. Men wouldn’t do that if they weren’t scared of something. We started the discussion with some evidence of this very deliberate reaction. Mary Magdalene, for example. Was she a prostitute, as the Church Fathers have taught us? Or, was she a spiritually mature, strong leader, as her gospel claims? What about Martha, the sister of
another Mary? Why does the emphasis on her character remain on her bustling about as a hostess, when she was also one of very few who confessed to the identity of Christ?
Heidi and I discuss other women throughout Jewish and Christian history, whose lives and characters have been under attack. The common thread we found in these women is that they were extraordinarily strong — spiritually. We could see how spiritual strength could be perceived as a threat, when it is invisible to earthly prowess. But the solution is not in the destruction of femininity, or even the hostessing and attractiveness attributed to womanhood. Rather, a stronger spirituality in both men and women can remove the threat and enable women to make their contributions to Christianity and to the world.
Let us know if you have some further insights to add to this conversation. We feel we just cracked the door open to a very large topic. Click on “Comments” below this posting of episode #7 in Spirituality and Christianity, to tell us what you think. Thanks!
Also mentioned in this podcast:
#1 by Valintino on April 20th, 2008 - 3:10 pm
Hello, Your site is great. Regards, Valiintino Guxxi
#2 by Meghan on June 21st, 2008 - 10:14 am
I knew Lilith was a Bible character, but I didn’t know the history. It was interesting to hear about women in the Bible and in American history (namely, Mrs. Eddy) who have been automatically faulted because of their gender, and because they were viewed as expressing masculine (?) qualities. I’m curious: how does this question relate to homosexuality and one gender expressing qualities typically expressed by the other gender?
I greatly appreciate your willingness to discuss and hear what others have to say. It’s a true conversation, not preaching or pressuring.
#3 by Arthur Clifton on August 5th, 2008 - 10:33 am
The 66 books of the Bible were written by some 40 authors who all lived between about 1500 BC and 100 AD. In those 16 centuries men just played a much more active and much more important role in social life than women. As a result of this situation men play a much more important role in the Bible, in the Jewish religion and in the Christian religion than women.
BUT:
You see this same phenomenon when studying the great classical philosophers, poets, statesmen, artists, scientists, etcetera who lived and worked between 1500 BC and 100 AD. Everybody has heard of men like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Homer, Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar……… but who can add the name of even one woman to these six names of men?
In short: the fact that women only play a minor part in the Bible has nothing to do with the idea that God considers women less important or less capable than men, it has to do with the culture of those days.
To be honest (as a Christian ought to be): one of the reasons why I join discussions like these is that I have written a website on the Bible and on Christianity, but I am an elderly man who has only very limited computer skills. I do not really know how to get visitors/readers for my website. A friend explained to me how link dropping works and that is what I am doing here.
On the one hand I try to create a valuable contribution to a discussion, on the other hand this is also an attempt to get readers for my own website.
#4 by Arthur Clifton on August 6th, 2008 - 10:06 am
In yesterday’s comment I forgot to mention the address of my website:
http://www.abc-of-christianity.com/