Thoughts on women...

1 Timothy 2:11-15 11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. First things first. I'm no theologian but I'm grateful to the many amazing voices and brains who've dedicated time, faith and energy to the Word. Second thing... This passage is HARD so the second thing is actually the most important thing. When reading passages like this, which on the surface really seem to subjugate women, we have to remember the premise which underwrites everything we know. God is good. That's it, full stop, no "God is good... but...", Psalm 107:1 says "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures fore...

We don't need to read far into the Bible to see Gods blueprint for the earth and humanity. All of creation was designed to work in harmony and at peace with one another. Everything was 'good' until He created mankind and it was the completion of everything including humanity, which earned his final, sixth day 'very good'. God said "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over...[every living creature].. so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (v26-27). God is fully expressed in the combination of male and female. One is not complete without the other. Not necessarily in a marriage sense, but humanity is only complete when both male and female are fully expressed as they are in God. It is here also that the counter culturedness of scripture is established. Early readers and writers of scriptures were familiar with predominantly male kings and rulers being...

Going back to Genesis in my reading has been revelatory. I have been circling the scriptures and trying to reconcile in my heart and mind why the concept of male headship makes no sense to me, despite listening to articulate folk explain the complementarian view.  Then God said. "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them ; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them , "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:26-29). Adam and Eve were both made in Gods image and God did not pronounce humanity was 'good' until after Eve had been created. In ...