Thoughts on women...

 I love the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus has come to spend time with his friends and is staying with Lazarus and his two sisters. Martha is busily running around being the hostess with the mostest as was normal at that time. Mary had sat herself at the feet of Jesus. So far, so familiar. Except to do anything at this point but hold your hands up in wonder at just how counter culture this was would fall short of the attention it deserves. First century Israel was a time of segregated patriarchy. Men spent leisure, work and religious time with men. Women likewise with women. Learning and teaching was at that time within the exclusive remit of men. And yet here we have Mary, brazenly sat at the feet of Jesus. To sit at the feet of someone at these times was to demonstrate your discipleship. It was a posture of willingness to learn and a desire to be like the person of your focus. This was not the normal posture of women at this time because the structure of society determined the w...

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 ...

I've said before that complementarianism does not exist. For me, complementarianism rests on a spectrum, as most things do. First a definition. Complementarianism is the view that men and women are equal recipients of grace from God and have different roles and responsibilities. Sat on this spectrum you have a vast array of interpretations of this statement and from what I can make out they are largely centred around 'roles and responsibilities' and the value and interpretation assigned to them. It is this problematic inconsistency which makes complementarianism so difficult to pin down or to align with. At one end you have a version which insists on the submission of women in all aspect of life, society and church. Women serve 'at the pleasure of' the men in their lives. Education is seen as unnecessary because their role will be within the home, raising the children and supporting a husband. A man-made 1950's caricature of the well-kept home, wife and kids is ...

When I hear this phrase, my mind goes immediately to the Mel Gibson film 'What Women Want' (because, y'know, films...). For those of you unaware of the premise, Mel Gibson plays a chauvinistic business executive who, after getting electrocuted in the bath, is able to 'hear' what women are thinking. Much hilarity and eventual introspective naval gazing occurs as he navigates the implications of hearing what women really think. His initial reaction is to work out how he can manipulate this ability to his own end, reflective of his original inclination to objectify women. Eventually however, listening to the innermost thoughts of women leads to better relationships with his daughter, colleagues and potential love interests. Of course we would probably do well not to read TOO much into this film. It makes some pretty unhelpful comments about how when a man is so attuned to a woman's thoughts and desires that he must be gay for example. Does it play into and reinforc...

What is the first thing that springs to mind when you think of the word 'modesty'? Who is required to be modest and why? It is likely that you first thought of women dressing in a way that does not draw attention to their body. A moderate western conservatism would be avoiding low fronted tops or short skirts and the extreme versions of this of course being women in burkhas, required to cover every part of their body apart from their eyes, which must be lowered. I cannot comment with any authority on the religious imperative on Muslim women to wear the burkha other than to say that the spectrum to which modesty is adopted in Islam suggests that there is much in there about culture and regional adoption rather than simply a religious edict. But what about Christians? What about modesty and clothing in the Christian faith? First lets go to the Bible and see what there is to say. 1 Tim 2:9-10 Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and...

The story of the Hebrew midwives is an extraordinary tale of courage and faith. Shiprah and Puah lived at a time when increasing hardship was being imposed on the Hebrews. They were flourishing despite the culture of slavery they had found themselves under. However, they had come to Egypt in a time of hardship. God had never intended them to stay and things were becoming increasingly uncomfortable for them. The time was approaching for them to move on. The labour pangs were starting and God had granted the midwives a front row seat to the birthing process.  In the eyes of the Egytians, the Hebrews had become too numerous and too strong. The people of Joseph, and the Hebrew God who had saved them in time of famine, were now considered a threat. The famines were long forgotten and they feared a coup. The midwives were ordered by the Pharaoh to kill all of the male babies at birth. The fact that he spoke to them directly suggests that midwives were considered a respected group of peop...

A trip down the hall of fame of incredible women in the Bible, you don't have to go too far before seeing Deborah's name. Deborah was a prophet and judge in Israel and curated a time of both success in war and 40 years of peace. The judges era was a bit of an unsettled, cyclical time for the Israelites, who seemed to bounce from one end of the spectrum of being close to God, to apostacy at the other, experiencing hardship and begging for forgiveness. Deborah had her work cut out as one of the eleven judges of those times. Judges makes for interesting reading - if you are looking for drama, then look no further than this text. There seems to be no question in the book of the relevancy of her rule - she was likely to have been a local tribal leader and she spoke with authority in her decision making as Judge and in her discussions with Barak, the General in the army of Israel. As a prophet , it was considered that she spoke with wisdom and as a direct line from God. The people of...