A Woman's Place in Christianity
Thursday March 10, 2005
Christianity has not been very supportive of women, historically speaking. Much of the time women have been denigrated and forced into a second-class status. This was true right from the earliest years of Christianity and has continued down through today.
The Holland Sentinel offers some quotes:
Clement of Alexandria (150?-215?): "Every woman should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman."
Tertullian (160?-220?): "Woman is a temple built over a sewer, the gateway to the devil. Woman, you are the devil's doorway. You led astray one whom the devil would not dare attack directly. It was your fault that the Son of God had to die; you should always go in mourning and rags."
Ambrose (339-97): "Adam was deceived by Eve, not Eve by Adam... it is right that he whom that woman induced to sin should assume the role of guide lest he fall again through feminine instability."
Augustine (354-430): "Woman was merely man's helpmate, a function which pertains to her alone. She is not the image of God but as far as man is concerned, he is by himself the image of God."
Pope Gregory I (540-604): "Woman is slow in understanding and her unstable and naive mind renders her by way of natural weakness to the necessity of a strong hand in her husband. Her 'use' is two fold; [carnal] sex and motherhood."
Thomas Aquinas (1225-74): "[Woman] was made only to assist with procreation."
John Knox (1513-72): "Woman was made for only one reason, to serve and obey man."
John Wesley (1703-91): "Wife: Be content to be insignificant. What loss would it be to God or man had you never been born."
Southern Baptist Convention (2000): "A wife should submit herself to the leadership of her husband. Leadership in the church should always be male."
Local church in Holland (2004): "More and more we see women being placed in the position of Elder or Pastor in churches. Is this a good thing? Well, if your goal is to undermine the authority of the Word of God, it's a good thing."
The position of women in Christianity is much better today than it was even just a few decades ago, never mind a few centuries ago, but it's interesting to note the degree to which many traditionalists continue to fight against treating women as if they were fully equal. They insist that women have a "different" role in life than men, conveniently ignoring the fact that this "different" role inevitably becomes a "lesser" role as soon as the cameras leave the press conference.
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Comments
I have to smile when I read this about women being lesser than men. The comments were made by men who did not have the godly attitudes of what womanhood is.
It is sad when the feminist movement destroys the most cherished role in the world…that of being a woman. I not only believe a woman’s place is to be sheltered from harms way but a woman’s place is in the home most of the time. She is like the female birds. She needs protection for her joy and peace and serenity to take place within her. for her to make a “nest” of security for her young and herself and husband.
She needs to be a queen reigning in her home.
It is sad that a feminist is always searching for her self and dignity and never will reach it being in a man’s world. Her dignity is within the sheltering love that God wants her to have. Tell me, why do women spend millions of dollars buying romance novels where the man sweeps her off her feet and she sucumbs to his manly leadership? They do this during their off hours of being masculine. They still believe in the Chivalrous man who wins them and leads them. NOT ONE PERSON can nullify this. God wants woman to be cherished and honored and she cannot do that by being a second class man in the work place. Marie.
I smiled whilst reading “Marie’s” commentary…or gagged rather.
Proud to be an atheist!
Why should a wife submit to and obey her husband if the husband doesn’t have to submit to and obey his wife? And why should a woman be punished for being born female? Even as a Christian, I find this both degrading and extremely offensive, and I can’t believe that a woman would actually want to support such garbage, especially now that we are living in the 21st Century. What about the women who enter the work force and send their children to child day care to help their husbands make ends meet? Is God going to punish them just because they can’t afford to stay home with the children, barefoot and pregnant? I’m so glad I’m not getting married! I refuse to be a man’s slave!