Posted on 10/16/2012 7:09:14 AM PDT by trailhkr1
A blogger who spent one year following all of the Bible’s instructions for women, from making her own clothes to 'submitting' to her husband, has now written a book about her experience.
Rachel Held Evans’ book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, chronicles her 12 month attempt to obey the Bible's commandments for women.
The Bible gives hundreds of rules for women to follow, both explicit and implied, in the Old Testament and the New.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I’ve tried to sew several times. It takes either talent or patience I haven’t found yet.
The New Testament tells uis the answer is no. No, she did not keep all the commandments. And in her silly little excercise to live like an authentic Old Testament wife; she failed.
That's why Christ came. To fulfill the law and offer a perfect plan of forgiveness that the Law never offered. But of course - you know this.
Also, I wonder if she included in her book any of the Bible's instructions on how men are to treat their wives...i.e., cherish them and love them as Christ loves the church. I'm guessing she didn't. Her book seems like an attempt to paint the Bible as anti-woman.
As an aside, I really don't get some females' fascination with the vagina, and the fairly recent tendency to revere it as some kind of sacred object.
Speaking through the Holy Spirit, Paul explains it completely in Galatians 3.
Acts 15 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
The Council at Jerusalem
15 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]—
18 things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
Why sew other than the fun of doing it if you are into that?? Clothes are so cheap with 3rd world labor I would think it would cost more just to buy the material...
Last month bought some Dockers short sleeve dress shirts (normally priced at $35-40) for $10 each, combination of Sears wanting to get rid of summer clothes, on sale + a coupon.
If you are still interested in learning to sew, I taught myself using this book, Sew What Skirts and another book listed on that page, "The Sew Everything Workshop."
We had to take sewing in junior high and I was terrible at it. I figured I didn't have the sewing gene. But in 2011 I wanted to see if I could teach myself to do it (I couldn't find anything I liked in stores). Those two books made it really easy to learn. I started with some easy projects before going to the skirts. But the nice thing about the Sew What Skirts book is that you actually draft your own patterns, using your own measurements. It sounds intimidating, but trust me, I'm horrible at math, have absolutely no patience and I have drafted several of the patterns with no problem at all. I mainly used the drawstring waist A line and the wrap skirt, but they are perfect for summer and warmer fall days with tights.
I wouldn’t dream of making clothes from scratch. I was just trying to do basic repairs on things too good to discard, like the inner lining on a favorite jacket and a 90° snag on a brand new pair of insulated Carhart jeans.
I enjoy sewing and I have made everything from a suit for my husband to wedding dresses and prom dresses.
I am also a Christian who is on my third reading of the Bible. I can honestly say that I have yet to come across a scripture that commands women to make their own clothes!
I know the Proverbs 31 woman is mentioned as making clothing for her family but in those days it was a necessity, not a God given requirement.
That said, I’m headed to Amazon to purchase “Sew What Skirts” both for myself and to teach my granddaughters to sew!
As a Christian I firmly believe that Jesus fulfilled the Law and replaced it with Grace. My relationship with God is no longer dependent on my actions.
However, something that has fascinated me for years is the science aspect of Kosher and other hygene laws in the Old Testament. God provided Isreal with rules to follow to not only show obedience, but as a loving Father would, He gave rules that were also good for the health and well being of His children.
Preppers should take note of the Old Testament - God has provided rules to help live healthy in a more primitive infrastructure world.
Without actually reading the whole article, I presume that she did this, not as a religious act or experiment, but solely to announce what she had done, become famous, write a book, go on talk shows, and make money.
And, incidentally, to try to undermine religion.
Agreed.
What is the difference between saying one believes something and actually believing it?
Can people make themselves truly believe something that they once could not believe? If so, how is that accomplished?
Do those books teach you how to adjust the top and bottom tensions? I never sew because I can never get the tensions right. :~/
She should have learned that long ago, as any gender of child growing up.
“During the days she was menstruating...[she] grew her hair out and slept in a tent.”
She should have been walking the perimeter. Nobody, but nobody would hassle her!!
I imagine back then, it was more the other women in the household that took over her duties, not the men. They just didn’t want her around because she was unclean.
If you are talking about Christian faith, the belief comes from the work of the Holy Spirit plus the life lessons we encounter. From that, yes, we can change our spiritual beliefs.
However, not all who claim to believe do so with their heart but do so to influence others or to hope to escape punishment.
For example, some prisoners claim to become Christians while in jail. Some do it in hope of more leniency from the prison system or because they think they can get sympathy from judges or jurors. Some do it to try to avoid punishment. But some truly believe and change their lives. Personally, I don’t believe a religious conversion should change anyone’s punishment with regard to crimes against the state but if the heart truly changed, it is up to that individual to seek forgiveness from those who he/she wronged and pay one’s debt to society in full then demonstrate their changed lives if/when they are released.
If you ever decide to pray about it, pray for talent. NEVER pray for patience. I learned that lesson the hard way.
That’s more your sewing machine operation then actually sewing pieces together, but The Complete Sewing Workshop book probably addresses it. They go over basic operations that are similar on most machines, loading the bobbin for example.
I’ve never adjusted the top tension on my machine. I don’t even think I would know how, but I did adjust the bottom tension because the factory setting seemed to be really loose (who knows, it could have loosened in shipping or something). I still consider myself a mega-novice, but my advice about adjusting the bottom tension is to go slowly and turn it very, very slightly then test it on scrap fabric. When I adjusted mine, I think I turned it around an eighth of an inch or less. The stitches should lie flat, look neat, and have no pull or slack.
It may sound silly, but check out You Tube. There are tutorials on everything and I would not be at all surprised if there were at least a dozen videos on adjusting your sewing machine tension.
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