Women and the Curse

Rodney L. Thomas

Description

Women have been abused, belittled, and ignored, throughout history because men believe that women are cursed. This is wrong and fails to understand grace.

The book explores the matter of sexuality from the creation into the long history of Judaism and the church. In this book I highlight how many of the preconceived notions of how God perceives women and roles that He has for them are not the way most people that attend our churches perceive them. We have been dramatically effected by Greek thoughts regarding women and have also been dominated in our thinking by warfare mentality. The value of a person has been weighted by their ability to wage war. Even in this arena there are women who have proven their giftedness and their skill.

I believe that if you carefully examine the matters set out in this book you will come to understand that so much of the evidence for the role of women in the church is based upon flimsy and biased evidence. If you open your heart and mind I believe this book can help you to see a new way forward in helping the church promote the spirit of unity and respect between human beings that God desires and has Himself.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Women's Interests
• Christian Living
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 16 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664276017
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

WOMEN and the CURSE
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
RODNEY L. THOMAS


Copyright © 2022 Rodney L. Thomas.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7602-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7603-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7601-7 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022915531
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 10/11/2022

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture in this manuscript is the author’s own translation.
 
Scripture quotations marked (CEB) from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission. ( www.CommonEnglishBible.com ).
 
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
 
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
 
Scripture quotations marked (REB) taken from the Revised English Bible, copyright © Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press 1989. All rights reserved.
Contents
Introduction
 
Chapter 1 Genesis 1:26-28
Chapter 2 Genesis 2
Chapter 3 Genesis 3
Chapter 4 Examples of Women in the Time Before the New Testament among the Jews
Chapter 5 1 Timothy 2:8-15
Chapter 6 Ephesians 5:21-33
Chapter 7 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Chapter 8 1 Corinthians 14:34-36
Chapter 9 Galatians 3:28
Chapter 10 Examples of Women in the New Testament
Chapter 11 Some Excerpts from History
 
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
All biblical citations in this work are translations from the original languages, unless a citation is given referencing a specific translation.
As we come to any issue of practice or belief regarding the Kingdom of God, we surely must seek to understand the directions and teachings of our King. Especially in the tradition of those known as Churches of Christ, it has been understood that of the highest earthly authority regarding such questions is the Word of God. We have in the past understood this; and, still today, this is very much our understanding and desire, though at times much less our actual practice. We are people of the “Book,” and we believe we must look to the Book for our answers. As we approach this topic of study, Scripture will stand at the core of our discussions as it stands at the core of our motivations for looking at issues that concern our working together as God’s community of faith.
As we do this, however, we must ensure that we do not become hardened into believing our relationship with God is in some sense a contractual arrangement that leaves us in the position of becoming like the Pharisees were in the time of Jesus. They were hardened by their belief that they understood the Law and what it meant to be righteous in a way that hardened their hearts, clouded their understanding, and brought them into conflict with Jesus at every turn. We certainly are not immune to the same things as we hold tightly to long-held traditions and beliefs without really understanding what the Scriptures say and being open to the possibility that there might be something more for us to learn. We have not yet arrived at the fullness of Christ, or a full understanding of the glorious riches brought to us through the power of His grace and lovingkindness.
Rabbi Yochanan makes what some see as an audacious claim about the cause of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A. D. 70, which led to approximately two thousand years of exile for the Jewish people:
Jerusalem was destroyed … only because [the judges] based their judgments [strictly] upon biblical law, and did not go beyond the line of the law. (b. B. Metz. 30b 1 ). 2
There is the recognition, at least by some, that there is a connection between the disfavor of God expressed in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the overly strict adherence to the letter of the law without applying the spirit of the law.
One of the difficulties involved in this endeavor, however, is found in defining what an interpretation and understanding of Scripture means for the Church. We today are separated by many centuries as well as by significant cultural differences from the audiences for which these writings were initially produced. Throughout the history of the Church there have been many different methodological approaches used in the quest to comprehend the message of Scripture, the meaning that God intended to convey to His people. In our own era, the historical-critical approach has been the most widely accepted and certainly has been the methodology that has been dominant among Churches of Christ throughout their history as a modern movement.
The historical-critical methodology grew out of the Age of Enlightenment. This age values reason, logic, and systematic methodology. With such an approach comes a certain amount of baggage that would not have been borne by the original audiences of these sacred texts. Our perception of how the world works is just one example. They would not have shared our modern conceptual understanding of how the world operates at all. For historical-critical methodology to be truly good methodology, it must consider matters like this and a host of others as well, especially culture and language. Things like idioms that are unique to a particular language and culture can prove critical for understanding. For us today, reading scripture can be fraught with a great many pitfalls. We are reading a document produced in another language, for another culture, in another era, in another place, for specific people. Opportunities for misunderstanding abound, and, without careful research, careful consideration, and detailed analysis, we are bound to come off the rails and miss the original point intended by those Scriptures. If we misunderstand the message of God for that original audience, we will also miss His true message for us today.
Hopefully, we are not so arrogant as to believe that we have God and His message for us all figured out, so that we understand perfectly and precisely what He means and what He wants from us in every instance. Do those of you who are married fully understand your spouse? Is there never any misunderstanding? If you can answer each of these questions in such a manner that shows that you have these things figured out perfectly, I would say that you are either deluded, or that we need to talk so that you can share with the rest of humanity your great wisdom and understanding! God is far more complex and far more difficult to understand than your spouse. Certainly, a part of what makes God who He is, is the fact that He knows and understands far more than we do. God is, in so many ways, still mysterious to us. One of those ways is His capacity for infinite love; a love that knows no bounds and moves God to perform unfathomable sacrifices on behalf of His beloved. Another difficulty is that God communicates to us using human language with all its frailties, nuances, and inherent difficulties.
All these thoughts must act as a prelude to this study, indeed to all good study of Scripture which seeks to explore the will of God and His desires and goals for His children, His image-bearers, as participants in His Kingdom and as participants in His plans of redemption for His creation. We seek His face and His will with all our being and with all our heart. While we know that what we seek is lofty and grand beyond even our wildest imaginations, it is still our goal. We must approach God, and the seeking of His face, with a certain humility and with the realization that, in our weaknesses and limited understandings, there are a great many opportunities for misunderstanding. We approach the presence of God as we seek His will, with reverence and humility, knowing that He seeks to guide us and that He sent His Holy Spirit to aid us in this task. Please be prayerful and open to His Spirit as we seek to examine the Scriptures for the will of God in our lives as His people. We will examine many intricate details and our hope and prayer is for “unity.” A “unity” that can only come through the interceding of God’s Spirit, a “unity” that is the true mark of the presence of God, a “unity” that stands near to His heart. God has a desire for our relationship with Him and with each other to become as “one,” a “unity”