The Role of Women in Church/Society/Etc

August 3, 2009 at 6:45 pm sbhebert Leave a comment

You may have noticed that our meeting schedule does not feature passages from Genesis next week. There is a very good reason for this. Over the past few weeks something has been stirring. I have been confronted with some thoughts on women and the roles that they are to play in church and society.

I’ll go ahead and give away my hand and make it known that I think that women have been historically marginalized in Western Culture and that a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Bible are very much at the center of this phenomenon. I’ve actually heard accounts of this first hand:

I have heard stories of women who struggle with their place because they feel that the Bible speaks disparagingly of them.
I’ve heard men admit that they have a misogynistic view of the world. Furthermore, they feel that they are justified in this view because of certain Biblical texts.

Quite frankly, it all saddens me. I think that anyone reading the Bible with an astute eye would come away with some images of some extremely strong women.

At any rate, that’s what I’d like to look at next week. If you have questions or suggestions or passage that have been particularly difficult for you, let me know in the comments (or send me or James an email). I’d especially love to hear from the ladies out there!

Below you’ll find a tapestry of some strong women of history!