THE BIBLE AND CONTEMPORARY FEMINISM

by Duane Litfin

Evangelical Christians have strong, but mixed feelings toward feminism.

On one hand, they sense there is much that is of value.

What follower of Jesus could ignore the fundamental injustice of laws

that work to the disadvantage of women? Who could fail to be outraged at

the prospect of a woman being paid a fraction of what a man earns for the

same work? What fair-minded person is not dismayed when reminded that it

has only been within the life spans of many Americans that women have

been thought worthy of the vote?

Any who are willing can find much in the feminist movement to support.

But therein lies the rub. The worthy goals of the movement occur as part

of a structure that is contrary to the Bible.

Should a Christian embrace the movement with its heresy, or reject it

with its truth? The issue is not so clear cut. Some Christians have

embraced the feminist cause entirely. Others are so incensed at the

heresies of the feminist movement that they are blinded to its worthier

aspects.

That leaves most Christians trying to find a biblical view between the

two extremes--searching to find that point of balance where we can

embrace the good aspects of feminism while rejecting the bad.

To make the decision more difficult, many Christians are unaware of the

theological choices they must make.

Feminists can be divided into three camps: Secular feminists are

humanists who disallow any voice to God, revelation, or religion. Liberal

religious feminists express an agenda that is virtually indistinguishable

from that of secular feminists, but maintain ties with the Judeo-

Christian religious establishment. Evangelical feminists hold an

evangelical view of the Bible and theology, but also seek to abolish

gender-based roles in society, church, and home.

* Feminism and the Bible

The Bible is crucial in determining how an evangelical approaches the

debate.

Secular feminists have no time for the bible and are irritated at the

very mention of it. They consider the Bible a relic of antiquity that is

useful only in showing how men have oppressed women through the years.

Liberal religious feminists vary widely in their approach to the Bible.

Some reject it altogether as an oppressive, patriarchal burden.

Less radical are those who seek to retain for the Bible some of the role

it has played at the church, and who seek feminist conclusions in the

Bible. Robin Scroggs, a respected professor of New Testament at Chicago

Theological Seminary, argues that Paul is "the only certain and

consistent spokesman for the liberation and equality of women in the New

Testament."

But to reach that conclusion, he has to reject most of the passages in

Paul's letters that contradict his view. "Ephesians, Colossians, and the

Pastorals are immediately discarded, and, for our purposes, hopefully

forgotten," he writes. "Also to be discarded as written by someone later

than Paul is 1 Corinthians 14:33-36, which prohibits women from speaking

in the Christian assemblies."

Scroggs also dismisses 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 as "hardly one of Paul's

happier compositions." Nonetheless, Scroggs proceeds in an adroit bit of

revisionist exegesis to show that no subordination of the woman is

suggested in 1 Corinthians 11. The only other "authentically Pauline"

comment on feminism is Galatians 3:28, and that verse shows Paul as a

strong spokesman for the liberation and equality of women!

Evangelical feminists take a much less critical approach. Some argue

that both ancient and modern readers have read the subordination of women

into the text. Others have suggested that the problems have to do with

the application of key biblical passages to a modern audience.

* The Feminists and God

At an even deeper level are issues dealing with traditional views of God,

especially such "patriarchal" themes as Father, Master, Lord, and King.

Secular feminists eliminate God altogether.

Liberal religious feminists are more interested in redefining God than in

eliminating "him." They see the overwhelming masculinity of the biblical

references to God as merely another evidence that sexists males have made

God in their own image.

Evangelical feminists have the precarious task of balancing an ancient,

biblical view of the Creator with a modern, egalitarian view of the

creature.

Because the two don't mix easily, a vast outpouring of literature over

the past 20 years has attempted to make the marriage. Such evangelicals

tend to downplay notions of sovereignty, authority, and immutability.

They also downplay strident feminist demands such as the elimination of

all authority-submission roles.

Evangelical feminists claim that Galatians 3:28 swept away all sex roles

and that egalitarianism is a direct, necessary deduction from Christ's

redemptive work.

* Feminism and the Doctrine of Humanity

"What is man?" the psalmist asked.

Secular feminists can claim no authority but their own for arguing that

human beings can be whatever they want to be.

Liberal religious feminists see us as God's creation, made in the image

of God, and even brought to our full potential in Jesus Christ.

But both groups seek the transcendence of maleness and femaleness. All

structures and stereotypes that emphasize sexual differences are to be

resisted. The healthiest people are "androgynous," capable of expressing

both female and male responses.

How can evangelicals, holding to traditional views of God, espouse an

unreserved feminism?

The more respected evangelical feminist theologians reject androgyny.

They see the image of God as referring primarly to human sexuality.

Male-female partnership mirros the partnership in the Trinity. They thus

conclude that the image of God concept leads to the elimination of

gender-based roles.

The greater difficulty for evangelical feminists is that the Bible

appears to teach sex roles, hierarchy, male authority, and female

submission. The biblical versions must, of course, be distinguished from

both their sinful abuses throughout history and their caricatures as

found in feminist rhetoric.

The evangelical feminist position seems to be a house divided against

itself as it pleads for traditional theology and a feminist society.

-----

Printed in Moody Monthly, November 1987.

Adapted from "Theological Issues in Contemporary Feminism," in Walvoord:

A

Tribute, edited by Donald K. Campbell (Moody Press, 1982).

 


Index of Articles of Interest    Home

  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 | 151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 | 166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 |216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 | 226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 | 256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | 271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 | 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 | 281 | 282 | 283 | 284 | 285 | 286 | 287 | 288 | 289 | 290 | 291 | 292 | 293 | 294 | 295 | 296 | 297 | 298 | 299 | 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | 309 | 310 | 311 | 312 | 313 | 314 | 315 |316 | 317 | 318 | 319 | 320 | 321 | 322 | 323 | 324 | 325 | 326 | 327 | 328 | 329 | 330 | 331 | 332 | 333

These articles are free from BelieversCafe.com, the complete christian resource site with more than 5000 webpages.  Redistribute freely with this link intact. NB:follow the respective authors copyright instructions!

Home | Bible versions | Bible Dictionary | Christian Classics | Christian Articles | Daily Devotions

Sister Projects: Wikichristian | WikiMD

BelieversCafe is a large collection of christian articles with over 40,000 pages


Our sponsors:   W8MD sleep and weight loss center