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Is the Bible Sexist?
TimesOnline ^ | October 6, 2008 | Bess Twiston Davies

Posted on 10/06/2008 3:12:50 PM PDT by RogerFGay

Delilah is dangerous, Jezebel, wicked, and as for Eve... Whether they are temptresses, harlots or simply Old Testament chattels, women (it is often argued) get a raw deal in Scripture, with the odd saintly exception (the virgin Mary).

But new research into Biblical women shows that the majority receive positive or matter-of-fact write-ups. Words such as "blessed", "righteous" "outstanding" and - of course - "beautiful" crop up in descriptions of 60 of the Bible's 175 female characters, according to research from The Bible Society.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: bible; christianity; jesus; sexist
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1 posted on 10/06/2008 3:12:50 PM PDT by RogerFGay
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To: RogerFGay

What?


2 posted on 10/06/2008 3:13:42 PM PDT by Texas4ever ( Who is the real Obama?)
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To: RogerFGay
Is the Bible Sexist?

It sure is. In fact, God was extremely sexist for not making men and women exactly the same. Perhaps we need to send Him to diversity training.
3 posted on 10/06/2008 3:28:10 PM PDT by fr_freak
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To: Texas4ever
You know, there are quite a few programs on TV that delve into "the Bible: Fact or Fiction" type stuff (NATGEO, Hint, etc.).
I've yet to see anyone testing the truthfulness, or historicity, of the Bhagavad Gita or the Koran. I wonder why . . . . . .
4 posted on 10/06/2008 3:31:12 PM PDT by jeffc (They're coming to take me away! Ha-ha, he-he, ho-ho!)
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To: RogerFGay

Compared to the Quran, the Bible is a paragon of sex equality.


5 posted on 10/06/2008 4:10:09 PM PDT by attiladhun2 (Obama is the anti-Reagan, instead of opposing the world's tyrants, he wants to embrace them)
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To: RogerFGay

What is an agreed upon definition of sexist?


6 posted on 10/06/2008 4:20:12 PM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: RogerFGay

They missed our job description...

Proverbs 31: 10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.

16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.


7 posted on 10/06/2008 4:20:26 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
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To: RogerFGay; DieHard the Hunter

Deborah. Esther. Rachel. Hannah.

Need I go on?

Bess would be more informed if she were to read the book she seeks to criticize.


8 posted on 10/06/2008 5:00:09 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: DAVEY CROCKETT

Thanks, but I didn’t get my job description from my prospective mother-in-law :-).


9 posted on 10/06/2008 5:09:57 PM PDT by Tax-chick (This is embarassing! Have a Guinness and pull yourselves together!)
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To: Grizzled Bear

Leah, Rahab, Jael, Bathsheba. The Bible is full of complex and multidimensional women - just as it’s full of complex and multidimensional men. If you believe they’re all real people, as I do, why should this be a surprise. Human beings come in all kinds, and few of us are just “good” or just “bad.”


10 posted on 10/06/2008 5:12:50 PM PDT by Tax-chick (This is embarassing! Have a Guinness and pull yourselves together!)
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To: Tax-chick

My point was that the article’s writer seems to believe the Bible has nothing positive to say about women.


11 posted on 10/06/2008 5:16:44 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: Grizzled Bear

I understand. I was adding to what I perceived to be your point, rather than disagreeing.


12 posted on 10/06/2008 5:18:39 PM PDT by Tax-chick (This is embarassing! Have a Guinness and pull yourselves together!)
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To: Grizzled Bear

> Bess would be more informed if she were to read the book she seeks to criticize.

AMEN, and her time would be better occupied putting into practise what she read, rather than writing pointy-headed intellectual discourses on subjects about which she knows naught.

And if perchance it can be demonstrated that the Bible is “sexist”, then I suggest such a finding proves that her brand of feminism is an Evil and contrary to God’s wishes. Therefore it follows that pursuing it will ultimately result in her burning in Hell for eternity, along with anybody else dam’nfool enough to be drawn away by her specious arguments.

Bess can therefore litigate her grievance against God: He has very deep pockets and is the highest Court of Appeal in the land.


13 posted on 10/06/2008 11:51:23 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: RogerFGay

lol...i’m sure it is to non believers


14 posted on 10/06/2008 11:55:39 PM PDT by wardaddy (i can see now why despots always purge the media)
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To: Grizzled Bear; Tax-chick; All
From the article:

"Some people have the impression that the Bible is very negative about women," says David Ashford, the Society's Media and Development Officer.

Ashford's research, based on analysing the words used to describe Biblical females, found that "there are four times as many saints as there are sinners," and that "individual women are often described in the Bible in glowing terms."

Hang on, what about the Jezebels, and Biblical harlots? Where do they fit the narrative? "Only 13 women are described negatively with terms such as 'nagging, intimidating lustful or provocative'" asserts Ashford, whose list of Bible heroines includes Sarah, Ruth and Mary, while Jezebel, Delilah fall into the villain camp.


The opening of the article was meant to draw readers in. The conclusion of the article is that the Bible is not, in fact sexist, no matter what the popular secular idea is. Actually, I found that there were a couple good facts in the article for use in arguments against more liberal believers, and non-believers that think they can speak against the Bible without knowing the Bible.
15 posted on 10/07/2008 6:35:56 AM PDT by raynearhood ("As for you, when wide awake you are asleep, and asleep when you write..." - Jerome)
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To: raynearhood

In the U.K. no less. How did that slip past the censors? Search Google, “police in UK raid hate crime”


16 posted on 10/07/2008 6:47:49 AM PDT by daniel1212 ( Give your sins and life to Him who died your us and rose again. Jesus is Lord.)
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To: RogerFGay; newgeezer

Back up a step, is the Bible politically correct? NO WAY. The bible is the definition of Politically Incorrect. That is so true that it kind of redefines Politically correct as.....Satanic doesn’t it.


17 posted on 10/07/2008 7:14:13 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to CHANGE)
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To: RogerFGay

Correct first response: “Define ‘sexist.’”


18 posted on 10/07/2008 7:14:55 AM PDT by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: RogerFGay

Arguments by feminists who seek to attack the God given positional headship of the man (which does not make one necessarily more superior spiritually), especially as regards being authoritative theologians (1 Tim. 2:11-14), are their own worst enemies, as the exegesis they proffer is actually eisegesis, that of reading into the what is not there: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/WOMENPASTORS.html

The article itself manifest such, supposing that the Hebrew word ‘ezer’ (which means ‘helper’) most often connotes superiority, since it is almost always refers to god being one’s help, but that word denotes neither superiority or inferiority, rather it is how it is used in the context that conveys the meaning, as well as how the rest of Scripture defines this relationship.

In so doing, it is the Holy Spirit, not Phyllis Tribble, who authoritatively interprets Gn. 2:18, clearly stating, “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (1 Cor 11:9).

For “the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor 11:3). This positional distinction is one of the clearest doctrines in the Bible, patterned after the Divine order, which we dare not convolute.

Of course, in the face of such lack of support, feminists, like homosexual apologists, must resort to attacking the Divine inspiration of the texts they war against, thereby negating (they suppose) it’s authority over them.


19 posted on 10/07/2008 8:23:33 AM PDT by daniel1212 ( Give your sins and life to Him who died your us and rose again. Jesus is Lord.)
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To: daniel1212
And also here.
20 posted on 10/07/2008 10:41:37 AM PDT by RogerFGay
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