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Women in bible essay
Pdf women empowerment in the Old Testament
Summary of genesis 1-2
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Juskiene, Vaineta. "Female Image in the Biblical Text: Aspect of Creationsim." Feminist -------------Theology. Journal Biblical Literature, 1 Dec. 2010. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.
Rooke, Deborah W. "Feminist Criticism of the Old Testament: Why Bother?"Libraries.Slu.Edu. ----Journal Biblical Literature, 1 Jan. 2007. Web. 6 Apr. 2012. .
Feminism in the Old Testament
The first article that is discussed in great proportion is called ‘The Feminist Criticism of the Old Testament: Why Bother?’ by Deborah W. Rooke. Rooke voices her opinion quite clear by making the statement that within the Western cultural mythology people have been engrained with the story of Adam and Eve on the biased notions that the woman (Eve) is to be subordinate to the man (Adam) because that is the common interpretation society is presented with. However, that notion as expressed by Rooke is in dire need of a feminist reading of Genesis 2-3 which will highlight the difficulties with the traditional subordinations’ reading, and ultimately will suggest other possibilities for interpretation and not just the one-sided “patriarchal authority claims, thereby making it possible to envisage, and work towards, a different world-order” (Rooke, 1). Taking the standpoint of what seems to be the polar opposite of a patriarchal world order Rooke explains how in essence the voices of the silenced women from within the pages of the book needs to be recovered. Rooke makes the point that the narrative of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2-3, a narrative “is widely understood to show women as being intrinsically inferior ...
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... punish mankind with an ending life. Rooke states that this confirms why women have been discriminated on by men throughout time in religious scripture.
Juskiene explains that they (Adam and Eve, Man and Woman) both need one another in order to flourish. Rooke’s argument is one-sided and biased as she makes claim to a lot that the woman has done correctly and only switches the “blame” from one to the other. This weakens her argument immensely, had she taken a more facilitative standpoint her argument would have been more persuasive. Rooke attempts to connect that God and man between them are scheming and are responsible for creating the conditions where something is bound to go wrong, and that they do it before the woman is created, so to put the blame on her when things do go wrong. This idea only proves the biased nature of Rooke’s argument.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
Females in both texts, Gilgamesh and Genesis/Exodus, are not talked about very much at all and I think that in its self says a lot. When women are brought up they are either being used or doing something great. Even though they are only talked about a few times, when they actually are talked about it makes an impact on the story. Women are put into this story to make a difference to one of the other characters in the story.
The Status of Women in New Testament and Lysistrata & nbsp; Since the beginning of time, the treatment of women has improved. dramatically. In the earliest of times women were mere slaves to men. Today women are near equals in almost all fields. In 411 B.C., when Lysistrata was written, men have many stunning advantages over their female counterparts. Women's rights between 30 and 100 A.D., the time of the New Testament. were still not what they are today, the treatment of women was far better. Overall, the equality of women in the New Testament exceeds that of the women in Lysistrata in three major ways: physical mobility, society's view of women.
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.
In the Hebrew Bible, women are viewed as minor and inferior figures. Women are given a secondary place in society, nonetheless they play a crucial role and have a number of vital figures in the Biblical history.
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.
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.
In her article, “Feminist Hermeneutics and Biblical Studies”, Phyllis Trible discusses the issues centered toward women in the bible (Trible). She addresses issues not just concerning equality, but also how men viewed women in biblical times. Trible examines the role of women in the bible, and the misconception they carry, that leads many into harms way.
Schungel-Straumann, H. (1993) ‘On the Creation of Man and Woman in Genesis 1-3: The History and Reception of the Texts Reconsidered’. In: Brenner, A. (ed.). A Feminist Companion to Genesis. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. pp.53-76.
In Genesis the way women are treated directly displays all the work women have gone through to achieve equality.
Elizabeth A. Johnson draws attention to how, despite being considered equal in Genesis, women had their worth ignored “Consistently subordinated and demeaned in the theories, symbols, rituals,
Corinthians 14:34 states, “Let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law” (Holy Bible, King James Edition). Edith Hamilton, "recognized as the greatest woman Classicist", says that the Bible is the only book before our century that looked to women as human beings, no better nor worse than men (Tanner). However, it cannot be said that this book was consistently favorable to women. Maybe not absolutely, but conditionally in personal opinion, the Bible shows numerous examples of a woman’s inferiority to men, an assessment that has been translated into the cultures of generations. In this essay I will address briefly instances in the bible pertaining to women, and continue on with thoughts on how I believe these notions have been interpreted into society.
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.
In our present era, there is no doubt that the evolution of women's rights has come a long way. It is in the Western Culture that these values for which women have fought for generations, are in conflict with Genesis 1-3. The events that occur in this "creation story" are crucial in that it begins when God creates man in his own likeness and man is given domination over all living things. The significance is the prominence given to men; God is male and his most important creation is male. The biblical account underlines the supremacy of man while making it clear that women play an inferior role. Furthermore, the biblical account also describes how woman are disobedient and yield to temptation, the result of which is the expulsion of both Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. In the poem "How Cruel is the Story of Eve", Stevie Smith's castigation towards the biblical story of Eve demonstrates how women have been victims of despair and suffering since the beginning of time. She holds it responsible for cruelty towards women in history, she implies that the values derived from the story of Eve were forced upon women without choice, and finally, she challenges the authenticity of the religious tale on a whole. Without a doubt, women have fallen victim to an untrue, religious tale from the beginning of time, and the poem is an outcry representing the suffering of women throughout history.
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...