>Benjamin Ledford, a student at the University of Idaho and a columnist for the Argonaut, the university’s student newspaper, has written an article dealing with the treatment of women in the Old and New Testaments.

The following excerpt is the introduction to the article:

One accusation often leveled at God and the Bible is that of oppressive paternalism. The Bible, so the argument goes, does not convey any unique “truth,” but was written by and for powerful, selfish men in a backwards, male-dominated time, and it reflects the views of those who were in control.

Of course, those who believe the Bible to be the word of God would disagree strongly, but setting aside the origins of the book, are the contents of the Bible chauvinistic or misogynistic? Does the Judeo-Christian tradition encourage the oppression of women?

If we want to know the answer, we will have to examine the Bible on its own terms. If we view it only from our own perspective, all we will find out is what we would have meant if we had written the Bible ourselves, which is really not at all helpful in understanding the book.

Ledford has written a good article and in general, I agree with most of his conclusions. Read the article in its entirety here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Chauvinism, Feminism, Misogyny, Women

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