I am so excited for this! Lately I have been hearing a lot of people talk about the ‘fact’ that the Bible oppresses women. So I want to have a look at the Bible, (New Testament this time, Old Testament another time for the sake of space) and what it says, and whether or not it calls women ‘second class’. In an extreme feminist society, people love to take verses from the Bible out of context to prove a point– that Christianity wants to trample on women’s rights, and take away their freedom. But in all honesty, this could not be further from the truth, as we are about to find out!!

Let’s start with some context– we have to understand that in ancient cultures, women had basically no rights. In many, they were considered second class citizens, they did not work, they did not learn. In Jesus’ time, the Romans had occupation of Israel, and in the Roman culture, women were property of their fathers until they got married, then they were property of their husbands. They almost never worked outside their homes, and if they did, only at selected jobs. They could not go to school or university, could not vote, could not learn with men, and many public places had seperate sections for men and women. This, along with Jewish culture, was the culture that Jesus was born into. In light of this, let’s have a look at how Jesus treated women:

• He had them among His followers.

Although the 12 disciples were men, Jesus had women among his close followers, who he taught, and played an important role in his life and death. Some that the Bible mentions are Mary Magdalene, Salome, Susanna, Mary and Martha of Bethany, and Mary mother of James and Joseph. He probably would have been called, by his opposers ‘the teacher who hangs out with sinners and women’, so great was the stigma against having female followers that you taught and cared for at that time.

• Jesus talked to women and taught them!

This might sound obvious, of course He did! But at the time, it was not normal. Take the woman at the well– he talked to her respectfully and challenged her life in a way that would have been very unusual at the time. And she became the very first evangelist! (John 4:1-42) Mary and Martha are also examples of women that Jesus taught. He had dinner with them, spoke with them, and through them, we are taught about the important things in life, listening to Jesus and spending time with Him. (Luke 10:38-42)

• He healed women.

Jesus healed lots of women during His life and ministry, but one I want to focus on is the woman who was bleeding for 12 years. She was shunned by society in the Jewish culture, and considered ‘unclean’, but Jesus praised her for her faith, healed her and called her ‘daughter’, an honour that is not given to many people in the Bible. (Matthew 9:20-22)

• Women were the first people to witness Jesus’ resurrection.

It was a group of women who went to the tomb, and Mary Magdalene who first saw Jesus alive. In first century Roman occupied Israel, women were not seen as credible witnesses in court, and yet it was not a priest, or even a man, who was first chosen to see the even that is so important to christianity, but a woman, and she was the one to spread the news to the rest of Jesus’ follower. (Mark 16:1-8)

There are lots and lots more, and I think we can say for sure that Jesus did not regard women as lowly or second class, but lifted them up. In fact, if anyone says that Jesus and the Bible are responsible for the oppression of women– girl, Christianity is responsible for giving them rights in the first place!

But now let’s jump to the early church, when Jesus was back in heaven, and Apostles were writing letters, instructing believers how to live, because this is where a lot of confusion comes from. What I want to say to start off with, is that the Bible is true, no mistake about it, and it is God’s word, inspired by God and written through people, so we know that what it says is what is best for us. And for me, there was definitely a time where I did not like what I was reading. But over time, by keeping my eyes and ears open, I am starting to see that God’s order for humanity is the best order, because He is God, and He created us, and knows what is best for us. So let’s jump right in.

There is honestly so much to unpack, and I could look into so many verses and talk about them for so long and absolutely love it. But for now, for the sake of time and space, let’s just hit a few points.

• Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as you do to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife just as Christ is head of the church, his body, of which he is the saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to thier husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22-24)

Yikes, starting off strong with probably the most popularly controversial passage about women in the whole Bible! People love to take this verse and make it mean what they want. But to understand it, we need to look at the verses around it, and bring in a little context. First of all, the verse JUST before it is this: “Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ”. SO, submission is not blind obedience, but something everyone, men and women, should do, out of reverence and respect for Jesus, as a way to respect each other. Next, I want to highlight that it says that wives should submit to their OWN husbands, it is not that all women should submit to all men. Rather, it is God’s order for marriage, because if there is no order, there will be chaos. And we know that God’s order is the best order, because He made us. It is challenging, but it is not blind obedience, but rather respect, love and trust in decisions. And I have said it before and I will say it again, I think if you don’t love someone enough to respect and trust them, your probably should not marry them. Hot take. Sorry.

Now we look at this and say “why are there so many hard rules for women?” And it’s true, submission is hard. But let’s look at the next bit–

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself up for her. (Ephesians 5: 25)

Am I hearing that right? It literally says in the Bible that husbands should love their wives like Christ loved the church, which means that he should be willing to die for her if necessary, just as Jesus did. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot harder than submission!!!

Moving right along, lets go to to 1 Timothy 2, and some more taken-out-of-context passages:

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (1 Timothy 2:9-10)

Shock horror, Paul is telling women what to do!

Wait, stop. Remember that this is God’s word, and God’s word is what is best for us. I do not think this passage is not saying that we have to be wearing loose black from head to foot, or that we can’t wear any jewellery, ever. Instead, it is saying that how we look, our bodies, our clothes, our jewellery, these things are not the most important things about us. Culture, both back then and now, puts so much worth into women’s appearance. But what this passage is saying, is that rather than appearance being the thing we focus on, we should focus on our good deeds and how we treat others. And this is so freeing, because we can’t control if we genetically line up with the current beauty standards, how rich we were born, and how much gold we have. But we can control our heart posture, our outlook on life, and how we treat those around us. And God says that is the most important thing about us!

Next part…..

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man, she must be quiet. (1 Timothy 2:11-12)

Keyword here, learn! Remember in ancient cultures, women were not allowed to go to school or learn with men. But here, they are! It is likely that because women were not allowed to learn previously, there was a lot of confusion and a lot of questions from them, that were disrupting others. What about not letting women teach? Well, we know this can’t be a blanket no teaching rule, because there are a lot of women who teach in the New Testament. Phoebe was a deaconess (Romans 16:1), and 1 Timothy 3:11 refers to female deacons also. Titus 2:3-5 says that women should teach each other (more on that passage later). Acts 18:26 talks about Priscilla and Aquila both teaching and correcting Apollos. Paul, in his writing to the Romans, also greets a long list of believers that he esteems highly, including many women; Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Julia, Junia and Persis, many of whom are commanded for their ministry or hard work in the Lord.

Jumping back to Titus 2:3-5…

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

No slander and not addicted to alcohol, that’s fair enough. Lots of people somehow get offended when it says for women to teach each other to love their husbands and children, like it’s a bad thing– it’s not! The Bible says to love everyone, so of course we should love our family, those close to us, and our husband and kids if we are married. Some people also go after the ‘busy at home’ part, and say that the Bible says women can’t work outside the home, but I really don’t think that’s true. The Bible has lots of examples of women with jobs, such as Lydia in Acts 16:14-15, the woman in Proverbs 31, Tabitha/Dorcas in Acts 9:36-39, Deborah in Judges 4-5, etc. Likely Paul was dealing with drunkenness, gossip and laziness among the female believers– women should absolutely be busy at home as opposed to not busy at all!

We have already had a bit of a look at submission, which we see again in this passage. Just to add to that, here it says ‘so that no one will malign the word of God’, and we need to remember that in these times it was normal to be a second class citizen under your husband. If outsiders saw women being ‘rebellious’, they would probably have freaked out and never had anything to do with any Christians again. So that adds another facet to the submission thing, it is to be a good example to those around us, glorify God and bring others closer to Him. Because that’s what we want, isn’t it?

Speaking of being a good example, I am very wary of the whole ‘Tradwife’ movement. While the Bible does ask wives to submit to their husbands, it does not say wives should suck up to their husbands. And if staying home and baking bread and wearing a checked apron and having babies and chickens is what both husband and wife want, that’s great and fabulous and beautiful. I do love chickens and a checkered aprons. But the way it is being portrayed online as a ‘back to biblical/traditional/Christian values’, honestly I think that is really damaging, when the women it shows are not showing biblical values or lifestyles. Women have compared themselves to each other for a long time, but now in place of a “I earn more than you” comparison, it’s a “I can accomplish my husband’s every whim better than you” comparison. Do you see what I mean? We still have the comparison, the toxic beauty standards, the envy, the showing off, the gossip, the influencer lifestyle and the immodesty, just now it’s cloaked in a pink and white checked dress, red lipstick and a broom. And when people see this and see it related to Christianity, they want to run far away. I know I would.

When I talk about these people, I do not mean the ones who have a genuine walk with the Lord and a genuine love for Jesus who choose to work at home and wear dresses. I think it’s beautiful and I applaud them, and the way they are shining light into the world. And anyone who homeschools? That could be the hardest, most rewarding job out there. It’s the influence-y influencers I’m talking about. You know who I mean.

That’s all for now, I’m there are lots of other verses we could dive into, and I would love to do that sometime, and also look at some from the Old Testament. But that will be for another day.

Also, I love digging my teeth into this topic and discussing ideas and interpretations so if you ever want to yap about it please let me know!

~Hannah xoxo