How far can you be a Feminist Biblical Scholar and Remain a Faithful Christian?

Feminist theology, has emerged in modern times as a challenge to the male bias in religion and society as a whole. In the 21st century, it can be thought that a feminist interpretation is highly needed in the Bible due to the reason that biblical scripture includes misogynist beliefs and theologies. This is because biblical writings were written in a patriarchal, misogynist era where women were constrained with labels and limitations, being treated like second-class citizens. Feminist theology is a movement that aims to reconsider the traditions, practices and scriptures, essentially correcting a distorted, discriminatory view of women in Christianity and society. It significantly challenges female submission in marriage, female reproductive

In the Biblical account of the creation of mankind, the first woman, Eve, is held responsible for the downfall of mankind. When God questions Adam as to who is to blame for disobeying his command to not eat from the tree of knowledge, Adam replies “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the

Towards the end of ‘On the Equality of the Sexes’, Murray specifically invokes the story of Adam and Eve, a story used for centuries to depict women as the sinners, to turn the argument against itself and argue that Adam, or the men, are the real sinners in the Bible, as Adam knowingly breaks the rules while Eve was innocently deceived by the serpent. “Adam could not plead the same deception,” says Murray, “nor ought we to admire his superiour strength, or wonder at his sagacity”, implying that people overestimate the skills of men while dismissing the intellect of women as commonplace. The bigger takeaway from Murray’s invocation of Adam and Eve is that it shows the audience that she is trying to make her argument more relatable by putting gender equality in the framework of the Bible, a piece of work that was not only a religious text, but a way of life for most people in Murray’s time. By analyzing the Bible through a feminist lens and swapping the roles of Adam and Eve, Murray saved women’s reputation as the repenting sinners, but in mentioning the Bible to justify her point, Murray ultimately retreats back to the practice of relying on others’ words to make her ideas worthy of public consumption.

This view caused me to analyze the text in a different way than the other members of my group. The other members of my group read more into what the author meant by “feminist," including examples of feminist experiences and feminists involved in Christianity throughout history. This focus is especially notable in one essay that concludes that feminism is not what they thought it to be — selfish, angry, career-driven women — but instead a group of people who want equality for all. Many of the CORE essays focus similar to Japinga’s point that women deserve equal, fair treatment because they are human made in the image of God. While reading through the CORE essays and reflecting on Japinga’s main arguments, my main analysis comes in one question — what does it take to be considered fully human

In the Hebrew Bible, a significant section where this idea can be seen is in the beginning with the story of Adam and Eve, specifically in Genesis 4. When Eve is manipulated to eat the forbidden fruit, it poses the idea that the suffering of humankind was caused by a woman, showing the idea that woman react without consideration or senselessly, when really Eve was only acting on a very human trait, curiosity. When Eve convinces Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, one of gods punishment to Eve is “Your man shall be your longing, and rule over you” (p.97). Or when God describes Eve as “his woman”, God is essentially saying she is not her own independent person and is meant to be owned by men. This passage alone shows that women are viewed as people that were meant to be controlled; that men were always meant to be above them.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the question of whether or not the Bible was intended to instruct equality between men and women, or if it was intended to instruct women's submission to man. Conventional Christians and evangelicals believe that the husband should have the leadership role in the household, women should not speak in church, wives should submit to their husbands, and other ideas that put women below men. Modern Christians and feministic Christians however, believe that the Bible intended to teach equality between man and woman. The belief is that the bible is not being interpreted correctly thus leaving people with the wrong ideas on how men and women should correspond with each other.

Since the dawn of the Patriarchy there has been a very apparent attack on women and what it means to be a woman (Daly 44-45). This popular theory of misogyny in the Western world first surfaced in 1973 when radical feminist Mary Daly published “Beyond God and the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation (Daly 44-45).” Within the pages of Daly’s book lies controversial attacks of biblical text, more specifically the story of Adam of Eve alongside a call for action for women and men to undo the brainwashing that years of conditioning has caused them (Daly 44-45).

In her essay Feminist Hermeneutics and Biblical studies Phyllis Trible talks about how the interpreters of the Bible have changed it around so that it may fit the agenda of the church and tried to define the roles of both genders. She also pointed out in the bible females were often disregarded or looked down upon in the bible and how the language of the bible also negatively portrayed females in the bible. Dr. Trible argues her thesis in three points the first point is that the bible pretty much treats women worse than garbage she cites multiple verses of scripture where women are horribly treated and were told to go on their merry way. Dr. Trible pointed out that this was a blatant mistreatment of females. Therefore feminists who have read

In the poem Eve's Apology in Defense of Women, written by Amelia Lanyer, in 1611 ,Biblical reference to Adam and Eve is initially proposed in the tittle. The title expresses how the Eve takes a stand for all women and apologies for her disobedient act of eating the forbidden fruit. However, she implies although she sparked the action of damnation,Adam is also at blame because he is held a high standard for being due to the fact that he is the superior of the land. Gods first creation on earth given the initial command ,allowed the influence of one serpent to disobey his creator and bring great shame and disgrace to his very being .With the gained knowledge ,it is clear to her now that women first had knowledge ,then it was passed onto man due the forbidden fruit.

The Lenses of Gender by Sandra Bem begins by introducing the three lenses that will be discussed in the book: androcentrism, gender polarization, and biological essentialism. The most significant aspect to this reading was the concept of females being an addition to males or the ‘other’. Specifically, this idea is derived from a biblical view. When taking a look at the creation of man and the story of Adam of Eve, “Adam is explicitly given the power to name--that is, define--every single creature on earth, including women… Adam is unambiguously said to be created in God’s image. Eve, in contrast, is an inferior departure from this godly standard,” (Bem, 1993, p. 46) This perception of females being below the male standard carries out throughout

Throughout history many have tenaciously challenged to dishonor the Word of God. One argument used in subjective efforts to discredit God’s word is the view that the Bible supports a misogynistic treatment of women. For example, in Genesis 4:19 men such as Lamech practice polygamy and others sell their daughters as in Exodus 21:7-8. We see Lot willing to trade his own two daughters to save the angels that appeared in Sodom. In Genesis 19:1-11 and 19:30-38 we see the women are treated horribly and as possessions. In Genesis, Deuteronomy 21 and Numbers 5 women are treated abusively.

In the story of creation, Eve causes sin and is the scapegoat for Adam’s actions and thus God then establishing punishments for humans. Woman have more devastating punishments than men: God said to woman “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). To man God said that he shall have to grow his food, there is no desire for his wife, physical trauma when making children or for his wife to rule over him. Women also have to grow food to live, but they have the extra punishment of birth and being inferior to their husbands. These messages are quite clear, and what the men who are writing these passages are trying to convey. The silence of the story and the message that is

When God creates woman, at Genesis 2:23 Adam says, “…This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh,” other than an anatomical difference, it doesn’t appear that they’re expected to conform to gender roles. But when God punishes them for eating an apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he creates a gender divide. He chastises Adam for listening to Eve, but he tells Eve that she will exist to bear children and obey her husband. By convincing Adam to eat the apple, it was Eve who got them banished from paradise, but because of this, she also created civilization and awareness of humanity outside of the Garden of Eden.

The Bible is controversial on the matter of gender equality. There are numerous contradictions about the status of women in Christian society. Historically, the most prominent interpretation has been rather negative toward women. The Christian Church, with principally male authority, emphasizes the idea that women are inferior to man. They focus on Eve’s sin leading to a punishment that “her husband will have authority over her.” (Drury, 34)

Susan Donnelly’s “Eve Names the Animals”, is a short poem written to try to show the independence and importance of Eve which is not shown in the biblical story in Genesis. She uses this as her platform to show that women are able to do the same jobs as men, and that even one of the most important jobs, naming the animals, could be done by a woman. Eve feels as though Adam went about naming animals carelessly, and only named them based on appearance. It is a story of attempted separation and self identity, things that many people will struggle with in their lives. The story of Adam and Eve is used to help people better understand Donnelly’s views on women’s rights and abilities.