Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation
In the opening paragraph of her article "Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation," Phyllis Trible says that the task she has set before herself, that of relating the words of Hebrew Scripture to the ideology of the Women's Liberation Movement, is considered by many to be "impossible and ill-advised." (Trible, "Depatriarchalizing," 30) Some would suggest, she supposes, that "[t]he two phenomena have nothing to say to each other." (Ibid.) She then quotes Kate Millet expressing one of the more radical views of feminism: that much of the body of scripture in question was written with the express intent of turning the female gender into scapegoats for the ills of the world.
One would suspect that Trible disagrees with Millet's viewpoint, since she forges ahead regardless in her effort to evoke a dialogue between these two towers of thought. By no means, of course, does she pretend that there is a certain enmity between the Bible and women. Quite to the contrary, she treats it as a given. "It is superfluous to document patriarchy in Scripture," she writes (Ibid.), proceeding to list in a footnote a number of other sources that have done so before her. A few sentences later, she states, "Considerable evidence indicts the Bible as a document of male supremacy." (Ibid.) But despite this damning testimony, Trible maintains a faith in the usefulness of the Bible--and specifically, chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis, on which she focuses--to females and supporters of the Women's Liberation Movement. "The more I participate in the Movement," she says, "the more I discover my freedom through the appropriation of Biblical symbols. Old and new interact." (Ibid., 31) She concludes her introduction...
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...ered Ancestress'?" in Fragmented Women. Trinity Press International, 1993, pp. 94-169.
Meyers, Carol. "The Family in Ancient Israel" in Families in Ancient Israel. Westminster John Knox Press, 1997, pp. 1-47.
Meyers, Carol. "The Genesis Paradigms for Female Roles, Part I: Genesis 2-3 and Part II: Genesis 3:16" in Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 72-121.
Ruether, Rosemary Radford. "Anthropology: Humanity as Male and Female" in Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology. Beacon Press, 1993, pp. 93-115.
Saiving, Valerie. "The Human Situation: A Feminine View" in Womanspirit Rising, Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, eds. Harper & Row, 1979, pp. 25-42.
Trible, Phyllis. "Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation." Journal of the American Academy of Religion XLI/1 (March 1973) pp. 30-48.
Murray, Judith Sargent. "On the Equality of the Sexes." Ed. Paul Lauter.The Heath Anthology of American Literature, third edition. Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1992. 1058-1064.
Looking back through many historical time periods, people are able to observe the fact that women were generally discriminated against and oppressed in almost any society. However, these periods also came with women that defied the stereotype of their sex. They spoke out against this discrimination with a great amount of intelligence and strength with almost no fear of the harsh consequences that could be laid out by the men of their time. During the Medieval era, religion played a major role in the shaping of this pessimistic viewpoint about women. The common belief of the patriarchal-based society was that women were direct descendants of Eve from The Bible; therefore, they were responsible for the fall of mankind. All of Eve’s characteristics from the biblical story were believed to be the same traits of medieval women. Of course, this did not come without argument. Two medieval women worked to defy the female stereotype, the first being the fictional character called The Wife of Bath from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. The second woman, named Margery Kempe, was a real human being with the first English autobiography written about her called The Book of Margery Kempe. In these two texts, The Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe choose to act uniquely compared to other Christians in the medieval time period because of the way religion is interpreted by them. As a result, the women view themselves as having power and qualities that normal women of their society did not.
Halberstam, Judith. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. from Masculinity Studies & Feminist Theory. ed Judith Kegan Gardiner. New York, Columbia University Press. 2002
Numerous women in history, have negative stigmas attached to them simply for, well, being women and just like a phrase in the Bible says; “Sin began with a woman and thanks to her we all must die”. However, the Bible states that all men are created equal, that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”, however, as you read through the passages and see the roles each human plays in them, which greatly differs depending gender, one can easily come to the realization that this is not entirely true. Jacobs writes that “Married women are not allowed to sleep around… Married men on the other hand… well they have more leeway…” (page 135) noting that there is in fact inequality and he tries to show this as much as he can throughout the book. As one reads through the Bible, and tries to grasp and follow every rule given, one learns not to be and feel equal but to behave and act “correctly” and accordingly to gender roles, roles that gives too much liberty to men and very little to women when clearly the Bible says we are ...
In Women, Church, God: A Socio-Biblical Study, Caleb Rosado uses a socio-biblical approach to discuss the role of women in the church today and how they were treated in the Bible, during the patriarchal times. Rosado looks at the connection between what people believe now, their culture, and how they treat women in regards to how one perceives God. This book contains ten chapters in which several topics are discussed, including the nature of God, the treatment of women in the Bible, patrimonialism, servitude, and servanthood.
We are all familiar with the creation story in Genesis of the Bible—a rib was taken from Adam (man) in order to create Eve (woman). Did this set the tone for women’s submissive role in society? History shows us that this is not true, since women dating as far back as the 6th century had power and were taken seriously. Strong women, such as Perpetua of Carthage, used their faith as a means of helping others and asserting their power in a male-dominated culture. As the years went on, though, women experienced a loss of power and control. A woman’s worth was directly associated with h...
The United States has for over two centuries been involved in the growing world economy. While the U.S. post revolutionary war sought to protect itself from outside influences has since the great depression and world war two looked to break trade restrictions. The United States role in the global economy has grown throughout the 20th century and as a result of several historical events has adopted positions of both benefactor and dependent. The United States trade policy has over time shifted from isolationist protectionism to a commitment to establishing world-wide free trade. Free trade enterprise has developed and grown through organizations such as the WTO and NAFTA. The U.S. in order to obtain its free trade desires has implemented a number of policies that can be examined for both their benefits and flaws. Several trade policies exist as options to the United States, among these fair trade and free trade policies dominate the world economic market. In order to achieve economic growth the United States has a duty to maintain a global trade policy that benefits both domestic workers and industry. While free trade gives opportunities to large industries and wealthy corporate investors the American worker suffers job instability and lower wages. However fair trade policies that protect America’s workers do not help foster wide economic growth. The United States must then engage in economic trade policies that both protect the United States founding principles and secure for tomorrow greater economic stability.
Reflection has its importance in clinical practice; we always seek to be successful and that can be achieved by learning every day of our life through experiences we encounter. In that way we can reconsider and rethink our previous knowledge and add new learning to our knowledge base so as to inform our practice. Learning new skills does not stop upon qualifying; this should become second nature to thinking professionals as they continue their professional development throughout their careers (Jasper, 2006). According to Rolfe et al. (2001), reflection does not merely add to our knowledge, it also challenges the concepts and theories by which we try to make sense of that knowledge. Acquiring knowledge through reflection is modern way of learning from practice that can be traced back at least to the 1930s and the work of John Dewey, an American philosopher and educator who was the instigator of what might be called ''discovery learning'' or learning from experience. He claimed that we learn by doing and that appreciating what results from what we do leads to a process of developing knowledge, the nature and importance of which then we must seek to interpret (Rolfe et al., 2001).
Despite the patriarchal society from the biblical days, God is taught as being just as much a Mother as God is a Father (102). The willful ignorance of religious scholars of the time just show that they were making a conscious effort of trying to keep women from retaining any power that they had. This relegation of religious roles in an effort to keep Men in power is a poor example of how Christianity is a religion which promotes for the love and care of all people, no matter their status. The interpretation of God from these times clash severely with my notions of what is now considered to be an all-loving entity. Women of these times were obviously not equal to their male counterparts. In modern days however, women are thought of as equals in society. The problem is that they are still not being treated as equals in a religious aspect as well as many other aspects.
...ction of Classic Texts." Special Issue: Feminist Philosophy of Religion. Hypatia. 9/22/94. Retrieved from Electronic Library April 16 2001. http://www.elibrary.com
The stories about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Women were slaves, concubines, and child bearers; they were also wives, matriarchs, and prophets. Although, some women had less important titles than others each served a purpose. Even if the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates the love and dedication women had for Him. The scriptures describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bell Hooks; Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. c.1984 by bell hooks; South End Press 2) Freud, Sigmund; "Femininity" from Juanita H. Williams, ed. Psychology of Women. NY: W.W. Norton, 1979 3) Hunter College Women's Studies Collective; Women's Realities, Women's Choices NY: Oxford University Press, 1983 4) Smithsonian World; Gender: The Enduring Paradox NYC: UNAPIX Entertainment Inc., 1996 5) Williams, Juanita H.; Psychology of Women NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987
Ancient literature often is used as a lesson for future behaviors as it is filled with moral lessons. The Bible has been a source for definitions of gender and morality for centuries. In the Holy Bible: New International Version, the book of Genesis does a good job of showing how history told by men writing history ca...
Then, the review analyses the client’s decision-making processes and consultant’s role in it, with help of authors like Wickham and Wickham (2008), Schein (1997) and Turner (1982). It specifically outlines the differences in Expert and Facilitator role of a consultant to highlight the difference in their impact on client’s decision-making process. It finally examines the Facilitator role of a consultant to facilitate client’s decision making process with the help of supporting theories.
Thiselton, A.C. (2005). Can the Bible mean whatever we want it to mean? Chester, U.K.: Chester Acadamic Press, 10-11.