There are certain disturbing passages in the Bible that cast a cloud over the status of women in the bible. Check the following verses:

1. 34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.35If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. (1 CORINTHIANS 14:34-35)
   
2. 11When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
   12Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.(Deuteronomy 25: 11-12)
   
3. "If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.(Deuteronomy 25: 11-12))

Moreover on a general basis there are prophetesses mentioned in the bible such as Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, Anna, but never have they been spoken of with the same reverence and importance as the male prophets. It is the woman who is looked down upon as the harbringer of evil right from the Fisrt Book of Genisis. Why such a gross impartiality?

Hey guys. Are u people skipping this one or is this one skipping you?

^yes.

I think a lot of it has to do with the culture back then, and the way they treated women.
For instance, the verse somewhere in Paul's letters that mentions head coverings for women- that was part of the ancient Middle Eastern culture and the fact that there were women in the church causing trouble.


I should really know better than to get involved in anything in the Spirituality forum, I always get shot down.

I too think it had to do with the time period back then. The sad thing is that there are still religions today that follow this word for word and look down upon women....Especially in the middle eastern countries but it even goes on in the United States. And even worse...the women go along with it all because they think their God commands them to. What kind of god would expect women to go through such treatment?

IMO the bible is the biggest advocate for discriminating against women (half the population)
ther is in existance to date!!!!!

Found a list to look at: Women in the Bible

Here we go again .wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hang on tight!

I am surprised Sheri didn't give it her ALL but maybe she is saving herself for the right oppourtunity

what more can i say, besides drag up my debate lol

I believe I heard a christian program years ago on TV that explaiend it. Women were shouting to their husbands and screaming from across the church. Most people take it out of context now.


Yeah not the Koran or that jewish Talmud book. The bible is much worse

I nearly did drag it up
Maybe later, eh...

The Bible treasures women too!

The old testmant was kind of sexsist against women, But when Jesus came he treated women with the same equality as men. HERE IS AN EXAMPLE from the bible to prove that women are treasured too.

Mark 10:4 Jesus'Law of Divorce

2. And the pharisees came to him and asked him,"Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?"tempting him
3 and he answered them and said unto them"what did moses command you?"
4. and they said, moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement., and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered them "for the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept"
6. "BUT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION GOD MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE"

Right there I think hes saying they treat their women poorly because of their own foolish reasons( their hard hearts) But in gods eyes he created men and women in equal standing.

The Koran actually tried to advance womens rights. Giving them the right to own property, divorce etc. Unfortunately today the practitioners of the Islamic fatih generally ignore this.

It's a patriarchy!
Therefore the status of women in the bible is as a second class and clearly defined as the vehicle of all sin in the world.


However what the misogynistic institution fails to realize is if it wasn't for women there wouldn't be anyone alive today to hold faith at all!

Some women in the Old Testament for you (a slightly edited version of my debate opening post)

Rahab – Probably the most striking case in the Old Testament. Not only was Rahab a woman *shock*, but she was also a prostitute (a profession frowned upon, and far from Godly). To top it all off, she wasn’t even an Israelite. Rahab really had the cards stacked against her. Yet far from being condemned, she was commended.

For those that don’t know the story Rahab helped the Israelite spies hide from certain death, as the city patrols chased them. Being a foreigner, a prostitute and a woman, you’d think she would be considered the lowest of the low. How wrong you would be to think that. Shortly thereafter, while the entire town of Jericho was plundered, Rahab and her family were spared – And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live – Joshua 6:17).

Abigail – King David, while fleeing from Saul (this was before David became King), came to the house of Nabal, a very rich man, who could provide David and his men with food and supplies and more. However, Nabal was “harsh and badly behaved” (1 Samuel 25:3). David was refused! However, in a move that is hardly submissive, Nabal’s wife, Abigail secretly provided David with the supplies he needed. An unequal, intolerant of women society painting the man as the bad guy, while showing the female as the goodie?

Esther – Esther is a unique book. It is the only book in the Bible where God is not mentioned at all. Written during the Israelite’s Exile, it document’s Esther’s rise to be Queen, and her steely resolve keeping the Nation of Israel together and whole.

Ruth – The story of Ruth is essentially a Love story. But overriding that, is the heroine, Ruth – a wilful, headstrong and loyal woman, who broke many cultural norm’s. Far from being condemned, she was the heroine in a story that ultimately led (as with all love stories) to her happily ever after-ing with Boaz.

Deborah - a Judge in Israel. Judges were what we'd call today "Leaders" or "Commanders". Israel at the time was going through a dark time. They were beset on all sides by problems. Rebekah, a woman (naturally), was RAISED UP by God to lead the Israelite's out of this dark time. (see Judges 4 and 5)

Would a patriarchal society really cast their women in such a positive light? The Bible does. Though a patriarchal society, the Old Testament, in my opinion, shows a teaching of equality, not domination - the Israelites just did not understand that.

Regards, PA

PA i see you drug up your debate though lol The bible just isn't into the equal treatment of women, clearly you are a more intuitive and deeper Male and christian, and see things in the bible that aren't there, and that is okay , i'm glad you see the fairness and equal treatment of women , however one can end discrimination works for me.....

I'm reading into it things that aren't there? Oh well, maybe. All the references are there for you (and anyone else who wants to research for themselves and not rest on preconceived notions). Grab a Bible. Check the stories. Everything I said in my post above is in the Bible and accurately reported. Abigail did help David, while her husband was selfish. Rahab courageously and selflessly put herself in harm's way to help the Israelite's. Similar stories in Ruth, Esther and Judges.

Don't take my word for it though. Read it if you wish.

Regards, PA

Please note all the links are to religioustolerance.org

How the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) generally viewed women:
Women's behavior was extremely limited in ancient times, much as the women of Afghanistan during the recent Taliban oppression. They were:

Unmarried women were not allowed to leave the home of their father.
Married women were not allowed to leave the home of their husband.
They were normally restricted to roles of little or no authority.
They could not testify in court.
They could not appear in public venues.
They were not allowed to talk to strangers.
They had to be doubly veiled when they left their homes.

Passages treating women as inferior to men


THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
Old Testament passages describing women:
in negative terms;
as equal to men; & as leaders

Passages describing women in negative terms; as equal to men; and as leaders


Women's status and freedoms were severely limited by Jewish law and custom in ancient Israel. Generally speaking:

they were restricted to roles of little or no authority,
they were largely confined to their father's or husband's home,
they were considered to be inferior to men, and under the authority of men -- either their father before marriage, or their husband afterwards.

During Jesus' ministry


The four Gospels in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) -- and the 45 or so other Gospels that never became part of the official canon -- dealt primarily with the life of Jesus. The remaining hundreds of letters which were in circulation within the early Christian movement deal primarily with the development of Christianity after the execution of Christ circa 30 CE. Some of these, particularly some of Paul's letters, made it into the New Testament.

The latter epistles contain two mutually exclusive practices:

The promotion of Christ's revolutionary message, in which women and men (and prostitutes, and the hated tax collectors etc) were treated equally.
The rejection of Christ's message, in which women's roles are once more restricted as women were restored to their former inferior status as seen in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament).

After the execution of Jesus


As stated in our menu on the status of women in the Bible, women were considered as property through much of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Jesus later preached a revolutionary message: the equal status and worth of women. He demonstrated this concept throughout his ministry. Paul continued this tradition in the very early days of Christianity. But sections of the Christian Scriptures (New Testament), that are believed by many to have been written in Paul's name long after his death, show that later church leaders gradually lowered the status of women towards its level before Christ's ministry.

Some of the great leaders of the Christian church continued this trend of denigrating women.

From the 2nd to 16th century

PA I did read the bible many bibles in my day and over all, the bigger picture isn't one of equality and fairness for women, i beleive its 'women' have certain roles""lol I was actually hearting your efforts to find stuff that cryptically alluded to equality to women PA..
The message is the important part women are not thought of as equal in christianity, outside of christianity is a different story but within that context its not so....Considering the times i doubt if it was selflessly and these storys are not fact, often they are metaphorical, what I beleive them to be saying within the context of bible undrestanding and perspective It would seem that to be a women of any acknowledgement must put her life in peril use herself as a tool, I wonder if they felt they had a choice... Pa i am around christians and many faiths the women is always less then some faiths worse then others possibly in Australia its different but in the US discrimination is alive and wel just my two cents ........

I KNOW THAT WE MADE THE MISTAKE OF TEMPTING ADAM INTO BITING THE APPLE. BUT IF MEN WOULD'VE FORGIVEN WOMEN AND JUST HAVE LET IT GO.......... MAYBE THINGS IN THE WORLD WOULD BE DIFFERENT.......... MAYBE THERE WOULD BE MORE PEACE,GARDENS, LOVE, AND NOT SO MUCH INDUSTRIAL JUNK, POLLUTION & WAR....

JUST A THOUGH!!!!!!!

so harpie lady are you saying that as christian woman, women are discriminated against?
It would seem that way, by you post you are asking for forgiveness lol......Pa are you reading this lol

No need to yell (CAPS) it all out.
Perhaps things can still be that way!

Still a good idea.

Ladylion:

With all due respect to Jesus, did not the same Jesus who preached equality between man and woman, forbid his disciple Mary Magdalene from touching him in reverence and on the other hand allowed disciple Thomas to feel his wounds? Shouldn't he have used the same words,"I have not yet ascended to my father", for Thomas also? And how did Jesus expect them to touch him if he had indeed ascended to the father? Also, why is Mary Magdalene not given the same importance in the New Testament as the other disciples in the bible. I personally feel she deserves much more than the male disciples, as she was always by Jesus' side, even thru the crucifixion, burial and resurrection, but the disciples had run away and had not even wirnessed these proceedings, Peter even denied knowing Jesus.

OK, if the bible is supposed to be the exact word of God....why those pious cristinas arent followinng the things that the bile said........ummm... smell some...how the word? hipocrisy....or something like that, my english sucks.

^^Yep, many hypocrites out there

What do you expect, women to be looked up to way back then? Need I remind you the Bible, although thought to be the word of God, is written by man. How do you think men treated women back then? Women didn't even have close to equal rights until the last century. Just the thought of Man [Males] putting his own doctrine into it makes it already seem uncredible, unless God is just sexist like that.

Raven:

I agree with you. But my point is, should this outdated outlook towards women be obliterated from the bible? Agreed that women today enjoy their rights. But then why have such sexist passages remain in the bible, when we know it has been devised by human hands? Does this mean we will have yet another version of the bible? (another one to add to the confusion).

Well in a way YES, women have been discriminated. God made Woman for men as companions to love and so that they wouldn't be lonely, Not for MEN to abuse women they they have through the centuries or not let their opinions be heard... I as an american women I'm very lucky to have my freedom but unfortunately there are still many women who suffer at the hands of men because they are still seen as inferior..........

As the forgivennes part, yes if men would've forgiven us back then, maybe we could've worked together to better our world instead of them conquering it and making a battle field of it.............and nuclear weapons and 1/2 of all the other indurstrial junk we dont need..

Why thankyou harpie and just to clarify you are christian correct????It would seem to some that i was making that up, i appreciate the clarity....

you welcome girl..........