The Assignment

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Genesis 2:22 NASB

Brought – Why is the role of women in the family and in society so misunderstood? Why are challenges to the typical characterizations of women seen as threats? Why does the Church in general continue devaluing women? Consider some insights from Claudia Camp and Terrance Fretheim.

The role of women underlies “every important personal, social and religious experience to the ancient Israelite.”[1]

Fretheim notices that our idea of power is significantly altered when we view God’s handwork with women: “Might a right definition of power be at stake in the use of female imagery for wisdom? The power of wisdom is a power in, with, and under rather than power over; it is a power that is committed to the dynamics of genuine relationship.”[2]

“That means that Woman Wisdom opens up the world rather than closes it down; she is always ready to take new experience into account, recognizing that God may be about to new things for new times and places. Such is the life of a genuine Creator.”[3]

Are these scholars wrong? They aren’t the only ones, of course. We could list dozens of well-recognized biblical scholars who question of current misogyny of Church theology. But why should this even be an argument? Isn’t Scripture clear that God created woman as the epitome of His handiwork, her equal to the Man in every important way; that the Man recognized that equality and that she was assigned a role that the Man could not possibly play, a role absolutely essential to the success of the couple? Isn’t it just as obvious that there was no hierarchy of authority in the original design? Man and woman were both given the prime directive (Genesis 1) and were both reinstated by God Himself after the Fall.

Ah, but then there’s this verse. God made the woman and brought her to the man. Some have argued that this implies male authority, as if God had given her into the man’s care. They contend the God’s action is like giving a gift, which, of course, is owned by the one it is given to. But the text says only that God brought her (Hebrew bo’), the same verb for common actions like “go, in, enter” and idiomatically for “die” and “have sexual relations.” In fact, most of the occurrences of bo’ are concerned with the sanctuary, the Messiah, the covenant threats and promises and personal visitation. A prior misogynistic theology is required in order to read this verse as a statement of male supremacy.

It’s time, actually way past time, to put aside the devaluing of women found in the history of the Church and its teaching. Woman is God’s final work of creation, the best that He could do. When civilizations honor women, great changes occur. It can start with us—today.

Topical Index: women, brought, bo’, Genesis 2:22

[1] Claudia Camp, “Woman Wisdom as Root Metaphor: A Theological Consideration,” in A Listening Heart: Essays in Wisdom and the Psalms in Honor of Roland E. Murphy (eds. K. Hoglund; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987), p. 45.

[2]Terrence Fretheim, God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation, p. 211.

[3]Ibid., p. 218.

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Alfredo

Just for the record: Who was the first person to actually “see” the World to Come? A woman… Mary Magdalene was the first one to see Yeshua resurrected! Right there… in front of her… Life in all it’s glory…

The same happens every time we celebrate Shabbat… that special time when the World to Come will be so at hand in the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom when Yeshua comes back… who is the one to share the Light of the Lord to everyone in the room, by announcing “Shabbat Shalom”? A woman…

Church don’t realize the huge role women have in this world… but I think that this view is changing in many small circles of Yeshua’s disciples…

Laurita Hayes

I have been thinking about what Skip said to Kyle Malkin about discerning good and evil. When people attempt to retrofit the created order of the cosmos in their own image – and the subject of the subjugation of women looms large as exhibit A – that attempt does not actually CHANGE that order. Attempting to recast women as subordinate does not mysteriously take away any of their original authority or alter any of their original designated role in that cosmos. All it does is make men (and women) become disfunctional in that cosmos to that degree. This misogyny may be one of the main reasons why we see man-made social and religious systems that revolve around that misogyny (such as Islam, for example) producing more destructive than creative effects in the world.

Christianity does understand that women are created equal and function equally in the Kingdom; it does, because the Good Book spells it out “so that they are without excuse” (gotta love that phrase!); but the creative way that it has traditionally attempted to do an end run around that obvious fact makes that “discernment of good and evil” so much worse. (Why am I selectively picking on Christianity? Because I can speak for it; being one, of course.)

If we are going to be judged by the light we were given, then that has to make the abuse of women (and children, for that matter) by the church and by individuals in that church so much more egregious. We are stuck with a selective history that highlights the men as great church heroes (by the world’s discernment of what constitutes good and evil, anyway), but I wonder if I would want to be at least some of those men before the Judgment Seat one day when the true Arbiter of good and evil comes back to set the cosmos straight again.

Mark parry

Having seven step sisters, two step mothers, two sisters a feminist mother and one singularly gifted, capable and godly wife for 26 years (Kathryn) I can speak with some experiance regarding woman. Besides being amazing creatures, they seem to overcome what obsticals culture, cult or creation puts before them. Yes they truly are a higher form of creation and releasing rather than limiting them will better the world. Yet my experiance has also been that woman need men as much as men need woman. We where made to enhance and enrich each others experiance. Adam was not satisfied until Eve came on the scene yet Eve needs Adam’s giftings. Our mutuale subission one to another, our subordination of will to a path of mutuale agreement allowin the others particular strengths to inform or amplify our own is neded. It’s really hard but very good to work in interdependencey. It’s the way we where designed .

Andrea

So true – “Woman is God’s final work of creation, the best that He could do”