The sexist writings of St Paul
Facing the misogyny of the Bible honestly: Part Seven
So we come to the New Testament, where Jesus treats women with respect, and everything looks as if it’s going in a far better direction.
Equality and dignity are on the horizon — and along comes St Paul, who messes it all up with a handful of verses that, when taken at face value, and many people do take them at face value, very firmly put women in their place.
You may well be familiar with these little nuggets of St Paul’s. Things like:
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing — if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. (1 Timothy 2:11–15)
and:
As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to enquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14:33–35)
So that sorts out women in the church. And at home?
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22–24)
Although Paul is the New Testament author most quoted on this matter, Peter, too, gives his opinion about the behaviour and dress of women:
Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives…Your beauty should not come from outward adornments, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. (1 Peter 3:1–5)
Peter also reminds husbands to be considerate of their wives:
…and treat them with respect as the weaker partner… (1 Peter 3:7)
I was once part of a church where that verse was actually used as part of the wedding service.
Reading these verses leaves me feeling crushed. As you have probably worked out by now, I don’t think literal readings of these passages are either appropriate or helpful.
But even so, they make pretty depressing reading. I hate the way they have been used to oppress women over the centuries. Taken literally, they rob women of their voice and influence, both within the church and the home. And they deny women the chance to use many of their gifts to the full. I also find myself rolling my eyes at the oh-so-predictable judgement and control of what women wear.
But it’s not just about roles and clothes. Paul’s reference to Eve as a reason for stopping women from holding authority and Peter’s assertion that women are weaker than men fire arrows into my very being. Just being female, apparently, makes me weak and easily deceived.
And my bolder characteristics are apparently not really very suitable.
Women are supposed to be quiet, submissive, obedient and gentle. That’s where they get their beauty, according to Peter. But what if your natural character and your gifts and talents make you bold, opinionated, passionate and energetic? Where is the space for that?
You may well be shouting at me right now. Telling me that we should not read these verses literally. Telling me that read in their cultural context, we can find liberation rather than oppression in the writing of Paul. I agree with you. But they are still there. In the text. Staring us in the face. And the fact remains that for centuries, the church has taken these writings very literally, and the impact that has had on the lives of women is huge.
If you’d like to keep reading, the final part of this series is here:
https://medium.com/inspire-believe-grow/misogyny-in-the-bible-a-summary-a254e3905f0b
If you’re interested in this series and would like to start at the beginning:
If you want to discover the beautiful, feminine imagery of God in the Bible, you might like to have a look at my previous series, which starts here:
If you enjoyed this, you might like my Loved Called Gifted podcast, available on most podcast platforms, or you can find it here.
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