Women's role in Christianity

[Independent1]

I have had some interesting experiences on this issue.

My church has a woman pastor, and she does a great job, but other people I know want to condemn me for continuing to go to church their (because of the woman pastor).

One of these people is my wife's cousin, who is a scary fundamentalist. After his wife's last baby, he would not let her go to church for 45 days because somewhere in Leviticus it says that she is "unclean" for that amount of time. I looked it up a while back and verified the quote, but that law was written in times when hygiene was a lot different.

A fundamentalist at work sites 1 Timothy 2:11-15 as saying that women should not become pastors, or having authority over men (and it does say that).

But i guess what I look at is that the writers of the bible lived in a world in which women were essentiall property, and wrote from that perspective. They could not fathom a world in which women were equal, it was simply beyond their comprehension.

What do you think about this?

[ThePortal]

I think it his a sad thing that the religions does not grow with the views of society. I dont think it his only Christianity....but many of them, women have no place.

I sure hope for the believers that this will change bringing an equity in its love and compassion for everyone and all differences.

It his sad to see so many prejudice in a religion wich his supposed to bring love, compassion and faith.

Another point, I hope it will change to for its survival. I have to say that this was a strong point to the reason why I am not a believer anymore.

[Independent1]

I think it his a sad thing that the religions does not grow with the views of society. I dont think it his only Christianity....but many of them, women have no place.

I sure hope for the believers that this will change bringing an equity in its love and compassion for everyone and all differences.

It his sad to see so many prejudice in a religion wich his supposed to bring love, compassion and faith.

Another point, I hope it will change to for its survival. I have to say that this was a strong point to the reason why I am not a believer anymore.

333806[/snapback]

I think that sums up well why fundamentalism is hurting Christianity (and fundamentalist islam is hurting Islam).

[kikuchiyo]

Well the role of woman in christianity (according to me) is that of trigger, in the most important text of christianity, the bible, the story of man wouldn't have started without Eve's "sin".

The cultural backround is also important for the role of women, as in latin america people tend to pray to Marie Mother of Jesus and in other places ,as estern europe, woman aren't seen as important they have a greater interest on Jesus.

The status of woman in the modern church has changed but barely, as they aren't allowed by the Pope to use contraceptives but are evaluated equaly to men.

***

I would be happy to see a female pope...but i don't think i'll live to see that.

[Q-La]

Mary is the greatest saint and plays a crucial role in salvation in catholic tradition, but yes, I think the christian religion has come from a world and time that is basically patriarch and there are probably rooms for change.

[dazdillinjah]

Womens role in Christianity has been significant. In the OT two books bear the names of Women (Ruth & Esther) though the authors remain unknown they are considered however to be men. To me the real significance is in the NT, you see many gospels relevant to NT times were not canonised & thus are not in the Bibles we read these days. The most important regarding Women was/is the Gospel of Mary Magdalene .... this Gospel is quite extraordinary. After Mary penned it from several teachings of Jesus the Apostles got to know about it & Peter got up & denounced it saying something to the effect of, do you expect us to listen to a Woman ? to which Levi got up & said Who are we to judge her when Jesus himself has provided her this information. Remember too the main character in the resurrection episode was Mary Magdalene.

[Independent1]

Well the role of woman in christianity (according to me) is that of trigger, in the most important text of christianity, the bible, the story of man wouldn't have started without Eve's "sin".

The cultural backround is also important for the role of women, as in latin america people tend to pray to Marie Mother of Jesus and in other places ,as estern europe, woman aren't seen as important they have a greater interest on Jesus.

The status of woman in the modern church has changed but barely, as they aren't allowed by the Pope to use contraceptives but are evaluated equaly to men.

***

I would be happy to see a female pope...but i don't think i'll live to see that.

333913[/snapback]

I think you are limiting Christianity to Roman Catholism. Vatican II specifically left room for other churches to be part of the legitimate Christian church.

Many other Christian faiths now allow women as ordained ministers and bishops.

I would love to see a female pope, as would I love to see a married pope.

[4dplane]

I looked it up a while back and verified the quote, but that law was written in times when hygiene was a lot different.

I find many laws in the books of Moses to be quite the science of hygiene, but how can a Christian not abide by these rules just because now they don't fit the times. It says in the OT that you will be circumcised or you will be removed from your people. Do think it is also ok not to follow this rule because soap and showers prevent the necessity to circumcise our children? If you would say yes to this, then to me, you are changing God’s word.

Christianity was and still is, to a degree, one of the most oppressive religions towards woman. The first sin of all sins was done by a woman, condemning every man to the possibility of an eternity in hell; all because Eve was a **** and had to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve (women) has condemned man to a life of sin and fear of God’s wrath. That’s a pretty low standing in the history of world, no?

Because woman has sinned she has to go though the pain of childbearing. In times past, mid-wives were killed for helping a woman deliver a baby. This really makes me sick, just think, a man was forcing his wife not to have a mid-wife because he felt she should suffer. – Sickness

Umm… Jesus come down as a man, so basically in the eyes of the people on earth, god is a man – to me this is just silly because man cannot give birth, so why is the messiah and God in the image of a man?

It has to do with early man fearing woman for being the true givers of life.

Who was seen as the creator of life 10,000 years ago? Mother

Who was more loved 10,000 years ago? Mother

Who was the keeper of live for an infant 10,000 years ago? Mother

In a time of no phallic religions and established countries, women were seen as the true gods. Man has ripped it away from her because of his own fear of death and lack of control in his own destiny. It is his logical mind that has created this liner existence for man. First you are born, and then you die; you then go to heaven or you go to hell, done. Point A,B then C or D according to your behavior.

Man has a long since had the desire with being in the elite group. Just look at the American Slogan, “we are number one” Well, to be number one, means you have to have people below you that fill the spot of number two, three and so on. For some reason man always thinks he will be the individual that is in this elite group. As the in the case with Revelations, God comes down and does his deed, and at some point, the chosen people are lifted to the heavens. As the chosen are ascending, most of their friends and family’s are descending to the pits of hell for ever. These elite of course, do not feel a bit of pain, for their family and friends because in heaven, there is no pain.

Who knows the history of why woman had to cover their faces?

Edited November 2, 2004 by 4dplane

[Mel]

I think you can blame the Catholics for the role that women have been given in the Bible. Did you know that Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute? Furthermore, nowhere in the Bible does it actually state that she was a prostitute. If it doesn't say so in the Bible..then why do Christians think she was a prostitute? Because somebody, somewhere, sometime wanted us to think she was.

[X~File_Agent]

Hahaha, now that's funny. Oh and I agree all humans are equal no matter what sex. This is also a part of Christianity, that I disagree with. However what makes it worse, is the millions of women who think this is ok.

Edited November 3, 2004 by X~File_Agent

[Mel]

I enjoyed your post very much Anson_Kail. I never liked Dr. Laura much but this Homer Simpson-Caldwell guy gets two thumbs up from me!

Never cared much for clickable smiles either but it was too appropriate

[dazdillinjah]

Top stuff Anson_Kail !!! thats one of the best posts Ive seen in ages. Recently I have had to post in reply to people who hold similar fixation with the OT as Dr Laura. Anyone that has gone far enough into Bible theology must understand ... that one of the underlying themes of the NT & Jesus ministry was to do away with those mind numbing & steadfast ancient rules.

[Mel]

You have to keep in mind the many translations that have taken place with the Bible. At my church a few months ago, which by the way is a Unity Church, we had several weeks of learning the original messages of the Bible as it was written originally in Aramaic, which we then compared to the current version of the Bible - astounding differences in the message.

[4dplane]

How many people have studied something other then the bible when looking for info on Woman in the role of Christianity? History is vast and Christianity is not. The "good" book is bias towards men and has tried its best to cover this fact. Try this on for size …

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0062509349...136#reader-link

Man can beat a woman into submission. Man can rape a woman for his false desire, but a man can never force a woman to love him. Just like God cannot force you to love him. What is the worst feeling in the world? When a woman you love, leaves you. See, man has created what he fears most.

Christianity is a religion created by man, for man, in mans image. Why else would woman have to cover them selves? See man said, "out of all the sins of the devil I can resist, but the sin of the flesh I cannot."

Edited November 4, 2004 by 4dplane

[Independent1]

I looked it up a while back and verified the quote, but that law was written in times when hygiene was a lot different.

I find many laws in the books of Moses to be quite the science of hygiene, but how can a Christian not abide by these rules just because now they don't fit the times. It says in the OT that you will be circumcised or you will be removed from your people. Do think it is also ok not to follow this rule because soap and showers prevent the necessity to circumcise our children? If you would say yes to this, then to me, you are changing God’s word.

From the view of a biblical literalist, every law must be obeyed.

However, many Christians, myself included, are not biblical literalists. Our basis is in Jesus' statements on the law in Matthew 22:34-40, where Jesus states that the essential laws are these---Love God, and Love your neighbors.

Christianity was and still is, to a degree, one of the most oppressive religions towards woman. The first sin of all sins was done by a woman, condemning every man to the possibility of an eternity in hell; all because Eve was a **** and had to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve (women) has condemned man to a life of sin and fear of God’s wrath. That’s a pretty low standing in the history of world, no?

That is a very fundamentalist view. There is room for women to be equal in Christianity, that was the main point of my initial post.

Umm… Jesus come down as a man, so basically in the eyes of the people on earth, god is a man – to me this is just silly because man cannot give birth, so why is the messiah and God in the image of a man?

It has to do with early man fearing woman for being the true givers of life. 

Who was seen as the creator of life 10,000 years ago? Mother

Who was more loved 10,000 years ago? Mother

Who was the keeper of live for an infant 10,000 years ago? Mother

I don't know if God has a gender or not, or if God does, what that gender is. I don't think we are meant to know. When Jesus was here, he very much treated women as equal to men.

Who knows the history of why woman had to cover their faces? 

336403[/snapback]

That was the Taliban (muslim extremists in Afghanistan) that did that, not Christians.

[Independent1]

Christianity is a religion created by man, for man, in mans image. Why else would woman have to cover them selves? See man said, "out of all the sins of the devil I can resist, but the sin of the flesh I cannot."

340795[/snapback]

Again, that was the Taliban (muslim extremists in Afghanistan) that did that, not Christians.

[4dplane]

Christianity is a religion created by man, for man, in mans image. Why else would woman have to cover them selves? See man said, "out of all the sins of the devil I can resist, but the sin of the flesh I cannot."

340795[/snapback]

Again, that was the Taliban (muslim extremists in Afghanistan) that did that, not Christians.

342308[/snapback]

[twpdyp]

I can give you my wife's opinion as a Christian and as a woman. I asked her about this issue and she said "Women cannot lead and teach men" Now I strongly disagree but she went on to say "I would feel compeled to leave any church that accepted a woman pastor or preacher". At that point I left the arguement alone because the sofa is not the most comfortable place to sleep, and I after all do want her to be comfortable, LOL

[Mel]

This thread has made me realize how blessed I am to attend a church where women play such prominent roles. I took for granted that not every person gets to hear the terms God always with Goddess and Mother always with Father during a service.

[Deadly Nightshade]

Ok, I am not Christian bashing here , as it was requested at the beginning of the topic, so I respect that.

This is merely a question, thats all ok???

Why is it that this board is an unexplained mystery board, yet there is always boring stuff such as christianity in nearly every thread???

Nightshade.