Many religions are androcentric and focus on the viewpoints of male and tell male narratives, Christianity is not an exception. This is problematic for many reasons and the largest reason why this is problematic is it marginalizes women in the bible and has far-reaching implications on how women are viewed and treated. Women and their voices are marginalized in many religions outside of Christianity but I have chosen to focus on women in the Bible specifically. In the words of Greg Carey “The Bible was written by men largely for men, and women’s contributions are scattered pretty thinly through its pages”. Since men are the primary authors of the book – David, John, etc. it is feasible that they would not be able to tell the stories of women because they are not women but, the way that women are painted in the Bible is more than unfair. The way that women are treated and written in the Bible has problematic far-reaching implications in the way that women inside the Christian church are viewed.
There are 93 women who speak in the bible. Only 49 of them have names and altogether women speak 14,056 words in the bible – about 1.1% of all the words in the Bible – a majority of these words said by Judith. The Bible’s most well-known women Eve and Mary mother of Jesus speak 74 and 191 words respectively. There are also many other women who are unidentified that are mentioned and appear in the bible and are mentioned in the text. The leader of this study Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman said of the women in the bible “We found that all these books looked at what women did, but not what the women said,”. The actions of women are judged by the men writing of their experience and the words of women are ignored. In this way, men are allowed to control the narrative of women in the bible. Also not giving women names is a way to subjugate women and negate their importance. It is easier to refer to someone of importance by their name were as nameless people are harder to refer to and acknowledge, or even remember. Another woman within the Song of Solomon an “unnamed Shulamite woman” speaks 1,425 words yet we do not know her name. Another woman who has the longest recorded conversation with God is also unnamed. However, because these women are unnamed their contributions to the Bible can easily be forgotten.
Eve – the first women – is one of the most well-known women in the bible. She is mostly known for her treason against God. Eve’s story begins the narrative of women who are easily corrupted. A narrative that continues with Jezebel’s portrayal as a false prophet in the Book of Kings. She is manipulated into eating the sacred fruit from the tree of knowledge by a serpent. She then convinces Adam to eat the fruit as well, an act of betrayal that leads to their banishment from the garden of Eden. a banishment that comes with a severe punishment for Eve. “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor, you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16. Eve’s punishment becomes a punishment for all women as well as a reward and added responsibility for men who have now been named rulers over their wives – a school of thought that still exists in the Christian church. It is clear that Eve deserved punishment for her infraction and Eve does not have the most gruesome fate of women in the bible by any means. Eve’s punishment though does not only hold punishment for her but for all women. Eve becomes a monolith for all women but Adam does not become the monolith for all men even though he also committed an infraction albeit through Eve’s initial encouragement.
Mary Magdalene one of Jesus’ disciples and one of the most notable women in the Bible has long been a controversial figure. Mary Magdalene over the years has been crowned a ‘prostitute’, and ‘a sinful woman’ amongst other things. Many an article has been written regarding the status of her relationship with Jesus speculating on their marital status. The one thing does not change is the fact that Mary is never defined for her role in the Bible outside of her relationships or her sexual past. Her devotion to the word, her long-lasting commitment to the man himself is overshadowed by the blurry lines that defined her relationships. Mary Magdalene was one of the disciples to follow Jesus to his crucifixion and claimed to have been visited by Jesus after his death. After seeing her vision and running to tell the apostles her story is ridiculed and the apostles do not believe her story. Paul is particularly disbelieving. Mary faces hostility from many of the male disciples which may lend many to believe that many that the male disciples view her lesser primarily because she is a woman. Many women in the Bible are often discounted in their roles for no other reason than the fact that are are women. Their narratives are ignored in the church – like the Gospel of Mary which is not included in the bible – and women are often ignored in the church in terms of leadership. The Bible seems to insinuate that women are less capable of being faithful, adhering to the word, and so on and so forth. The Bible is a man’s game often glorifying the feats and challenges of men and erasing the narratives, and bloodying the images of women.
Women are often made into beings that are easily manipulated, and manipulate others. Women in the bible are always open to corruption by sinister forces in a way men are not. This stereotype of women leads men to think that women need to be controlled and handled in order to stay true to the will of God. This coupled with the virtuous reputation of men in the bible lead many men to assume the position of protectors over women with or without their consent. Women are often subjugated to harsher restrictions than men. They are often required to dress a certain way, act in a particular manner, and carry themselves with an air that men are exempt from. They are required to do this to seem virtuous in the eyes of the church. The lack of words that women speak in the Bible in hindsight could lead to the assumption that women should not speak for themselves. In fact, some interpretations of 1 Corinthians record Paul as saying women “should remain silent while in church.”. Women have long been absent from leadership in the church with one too many articles questioning “Should women become pastors?” Female leadership has doubled in the past ten years according to Christian Today International and a study by Barna Pastor Poll and a recent study from the Hartford Institute for Religious Research found that “roughly 10 percent of congregations have a woman in senior or solo leadership”. With more women becoming prominent figures in the Church the stigma put on women in the bible may transfer to women in the church and can discourage women from becoming the leaders that women in the church want to see. The Bible as aforementioned is a book written for any by men and the men of the Bible, unfortunately, left the women of the Bible behind.
The way that women are written in the Bible affects the way that women in the Church are treated. The marginalization of women is more than problematic and still exists today. Women are not treated as equals in the eyes of the church, in fact, they are deemed to be lesser.