Here we are at Sunday again. Sunday is for worship! Yeah, I wish.
I can’t wrap my mind around the idea of going to church, worshiping the Christian God, and not fully accepting who the Bible says he is.
I don’t get it.
I keep trying to figure out a way to justify going to church every Sunday and worshiping because I miss the community and social aspect of it. There just doesn’t seem to be a way to be honest and do that, though.
I mean, the God of Christianity – both Biblically and in church practices today – seems misogynistic, among other things. I know that sounds blasphemous and even as I type it I start thinking, These are not words that you will ever allow other people to read because they could get you harmed or killed, either by God or his followers.
Misogynistic is an adjective that means “strongly prejudiced against women.”
The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (I Corinthians 14:34-35)
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22)
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (I Corinthians 11:3)
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. (I Timothy 2: 11-15)
In Leviticus, chapter 12, a woman is told that she’s “unclean” for seven days after giving birth to a son. But if she gives birth to a girl? She’s now “unclean” for two weeks. Why?
When I tentatively raised my questions about why women seem to be treated so unequally, I was always told that I should realize the historical context within which the bible was written. I was told that women were treated better in Israel than they were in other cultures of the day.
Turns out, that’s not true.
Even if it was, though…
Let’s say all the people on the planet other than the Israelites for the entire time of the Old and New Testament were being treated as property, raped, beaten, shut out of public places, unable to speak in their places of worship, unable to marry and divorce as they saw fit, etc. Isn’t it reasonable to expect that a loving God who shows up and declares one particular people to be “His” people, is going to set a new standard for them that actually does treat women as being of the same value and worth as males?
Instead, all of those evils I just listed are exactly what is in the Bible, happening to and reality for Israelite women throughout scripture.
The Bible does NOT have a verse that says, “Blessed be the woman, whose body grows and gives life to generation after generation.”
That’s something that the OTHER religions of that day practiced, according to the archaeological record of their art, sculpture, jewelry and everyday living items. (See Chapter 2 of Riane Eisler’s The Chalice and the Blade)
The Bible does NOT have a verse that says, “Behold the woman, who goes down to the underworld and returns with life, bringing fertility and abundance to the land.”
That is descriptive of the goddess Inanna, worshiped 4500-1900 B.C. in Sumeria and later known as Ishtar by the Assyrians and Akkadians and Sauska by the Hittites. All of those peoples are identified in the Old Testament as enemies of Israel – at the very time they were worshiping the female alongside the male.
So, no, it doesn’t seem that all the peoples around Israel treated women horribly and the God of the Hebrews made things better for women. It seems like the opposite is true. The people around Israel worshiped goddesses alongside gods. They revered female and male.
The Bible doesn’t do that – right from the start! It opens with the story that makes the female responsible for the death of all mankind (eating the forbidden fruit) – and that story takes a further swipe at religions of the day because she is told to do so by a snake.
Throughout the time of the bible, snakes were symbols of life, fertility, renewed life, and regeneration. (Snakes shed their skin and emerge as fresh creatures of growth.) They were a symbol, though, that usually appeared with the female – since life comes from her body. Females were worshiped as givers and bringers of life. People of the biblical days had stories and worship rites about a woman laying down her life for people to have new life. The stories’ symbols included a woman, a bird, and a snake.
So, with the opening salvo, the bible wipes out both female life-giving awesomeness and a symbol of life (snake) that was associated with her. Pretty clever if you’re trying to create a religion that makes male dominant over female.
This is the kind of info that goes through my head when I wonder every Saturday night if I should get up the next morning, get the fam ready, and head to church.
I can’t raise my hands and bow my heart and mind to the god whose book tells me – purely because I’m a woman – to be silent in his house while the men talk.
It doesn’t feel healthy for me to teach my daughter or son that warped idea, either.
My son needs to know that females are equal to him because I’m raising him to be a good husband, father, and all around human being. In a country where 1 of every 3 women experiences sexual violence, my daughter needs to know she is equal to a man and her voice can be heard in every place that his can.
Is there a church for people who acknowledge there is something Greater, and want to worship that Greater and be in community with like-minded people in seeking out more about the Greater, but who eschew misogynistic parts of scripture and god-character?
Susan Renee Hawks says
You and I are definitely on the same road. I wish there were a church that felt the same way we do. Growing up Southern Baptist in Kenton didn’t leave me much wiggle room to ask questions about the discrepancies I read in the bible. I even started going to the Methodist church at 16 just to see if they were doing something different……the only thing different was the pomp and circumstance of their service.
When I married my children’s father and moved to Milwaukee, I became Catholic. I loved the tradition of the church. The message was still the same. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that most of the messages in the bible are true and good……loving one another, turning away from evil ways, living for Christ, etc. However, most of the bible is a history book and full of parables. It was written by humans who were not perfect, yet they were inspired by God and their writings reflect the laws and traditions of their time.
The bible isn’t perfect. In my opinion, it is a collection of historical stories and parables and documentations. With that being said, more editions of the bible could be written today based on the inspired lives of Billy Graham and Martin Luther King Jr., and many, many more Godly people.
My questions are; why were 4 books of the bible removed under the rule of King James? I love the book of Wisdom! NKJV excludes it. Why do so many churches put so much stock in the bible when it is a version of a version of its self? Why are so many churches focused on teaching our children to memorize the bible, rather than simply sending them a message on how to be a good person? Some of the meanest, most judgmental, hypocritical, sinful people go to church every Sunday and listen to the bible. Some of the most exclusionary cliques I’ve ever come across were in church.
I stopped going to church and my faith became stronger, my inner peace grew and my ability to see God at work in the world changed me.
What’s most important about leaving the church is that I became a Warrior Christian. I left behind the meek and mild, good Southern Baptist girl, who sat quietly and listened to the sermon and just tried to be nice to people all week. Being a Warrior Christian, I stand up for what’s right. I defend the weak when they cannot defend themselves. I started a charity. I’m a court appointed advocate for foster children. I’ve given speeches to other women on how to start homeless shelters for other women….. I guess what I’m saying is that leaving the church allowed me to put my own experiences with God to work in real life.
I’m happier now because I don’t have to go to Church to find God…..God is always with me and presents me with ways to let others see Him in me through my works. I’m so happy to find another person on the same thought path as me. I hope you have a very blessed Sunday!
Rebeca Seitz says
“I stopped going to church and my faith became stronger, my inner peace grew and my ability to see God at work in the world changed me.”
This part of your reply, Susan, especially resonated with me. I love that you’ve found a way to live out your experience with God and bring joy, happiness, help, and love to your part of the planet! That’s utterly awesome. In our little family, we jokingly call ourselves BAHNians. It stands for “Be A Nice Human.” You sound like a true BAHNian!
As for folks putting so much stock in the bible when it’s gone through iteration after iteration and even had parts removed…here’s what I was taught: Throughout the process of the Bible becoming what we read today, God has kept His hand on it and the people working on it just as He whispered the original words into the original writers’ ears.
That shut me down every time. Because, for that to be true, it means the Bible has to continue to be taken in its entirety as God-breathed, God-inspired, infallible, unerring, Word of God.
I love your idea of seeing it as a book with wisdom, but not a perfect book. I really love the idea of seeing it as a book to be on the shelf with other books that have wisdom but are not perfect (probably because I’m a bookworm and have spent 15 years in the publishing industry – ha!). That idea resounds with wisdom in my mind, even as it clangs up against my raising.
Thank you so much for joining on the journey here. I hope your Sunday is amazing!
Dominic says
I’m one who believes we do not always read the Bible correctly. Often we confuse the genres in this library of writings, giving equal weight to God’s revelation of God and humanities commentary on that revelation. As for “church”, most are doing what they can to hold people together in a common narrative grace in the midst of a really screwed up reality. True “Ecclesia” is a gathering around God’s words, living and active, filtered and interpreted in the collective experience while, hopefully, guided God’s Spirit who reveals the truth of grace for all. Peace on the journey-
Rebeca Seitz says
Your initial response here, my friend, is an argument I’ve encountered a lot and been exhausted by. “…we do not always read the Bible correctly.”
This is saying that, if we read something in scripture and it strikes us as wrong/mean/hateful/misogynistic then the fault automatically lies with us, not the Bible. Even if the BODY of scripture (not just one verse) supports a wrong/mean/hateful/misogynistic viewpoint toward women, still, the fault must lie with the inability of the reader to truly understand, right?
No.
I am sorry to be disagreeable here. Truly. This idea is important to me, though. Important enough to speak. Your premise is the very idea that caused me to set the Bible aside that morning in my kitchen and walk away. After all, we’re talking about a Biblical God that requires my total one and only earthly life. That’s an ENORMOUS price.
While I don’t know everything (duh) and certainly can be counted among the humans who may not initially grasp the full meaning and weight of something without deep consideration/thought/discussion/study, I completely and wholeheartedly reject the premise that ANY AND ALL perceived fault with scripture (and the characteristics of God it reveals) lies solely with the human.
When I really stepped back from the idea and considered it – this idea that any imperfection in the Bible or the God of the Bible is always my misunderstanding, never indicative that there’s something imperfect about the Bible or the God of the Bible – it struck me that this characteristic in a human would be recognized as controlling and abusive.
If God spoke scripture to its writers, why don’t we just let His words say what they say?
If I’ve misunderstood your premise, please forgive me and grant more words so that I may try again to understand. You and I haven’t had thousands of years to hone our words, so we definitely can’t pretend that they’re perfect and right in all ways, at all times! Ha!
Thank you for being on this journey with me. Your presence and input are gifts.
Susan Renee Hawks says
I am in total agreement with your response to Dominic. As an English major/History minor who grew up Southern Baptist, I consider myself to be well educated on interpretations of literature.
I don’t believe the bible is misread as much as it is misinterpreted. Unfortunately those that misinterpret the bible are usually in a position of leadership and congregations blindly follow.
It is that blind following that usually gets us in trouble. Wars have been fought and people have died over the following of another’s interpretation of the written word. Religions are formed based on their interpretations of the bible. Again, this is a huge battle ground among bible belt churches. One religion presumes their interpretation is correct and all others are sinners going to hell.
Religion is simply the “vehicle” we choose to carry us through our spiritual journey, based on personal preference and what we’ve been taught.
When you are able to pull away the confinement of religion and focus solely on your own personal relationship with God, then you have realized true faith. Faith is bigger than any religion.