Gender Politics within the Church

The beginning of Christianity was marked by the elevation of women by Jesus' impartiality and Paul's words, "In Christ there is neither male nor female." However, Western culture has caught up with the New Testaments teaching and goes farther than the teachings of the Church at large. Some Christians oppose the secular intrusion, while some Christians believe the Church succumbed to historical sexism and no longer teaches God's original equality.

Divisions of thought are not well defined. Many Christians don't know what they believe or may believe very differently from the creed of their attending church.

Conservative Christians, the majority of devout Christians in the West, say that men and women are equal but have different gender roles in accordance with how God created them. English Bibles are almost always translated with this perspective.

Orthodox share the same basic view as conservatives on gender roles, but tend to be more limiting to women. For example, conservatives and the orthodox agree men have more authority in the household than the women, but disagree as to how much more.

Egalitarianism, in its extreme form, says that the gender roles of men and women are the same, that God may (or may not) call either sex to perform any duty. Many egalitarians support their view from the Bible, holding that the Bible has been mistranslated and/or misinterpreted. Some egalitarians refer to themselves as "feminists" as a synonym, not the way "feminist" is normally defined.

Issues

• Head Coverings
• Headship in Marriage
• Teaching of Women

Issues by Reference

• Genesis 2:24 "A man will leave his family . . .
• Genesis 3:21-22 Adam's Rib
• Genesis 3 Eve's Role
• 1 Corinthians 14:34 "Women must keep silent . . ."
• 1 Timothy 2:8-15 Paul's words to Timothy
• Ephesians 5:21-33 Submission in marriage

Conservative Books

• None yet

Egalitarian Books

• God's Word to Women Katherine Bushnell