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by Katie Erickson

A few years back, I had the opportunity to preach at my congregation on the passage of 1 Timothy 2, where the apostle Paul offers some instructions for worship. We had staged a number of women purposefully doing distracting things as I began preaching, including talking loudly, being obnoxious, and even throwing things! That in itself was pretty ironic given the content of the passage, as well as me reading aloud and preaching on verses such as verse 12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” I respect the fact that some denominations of the Church prefer that women do not preach, but I do not practice that restriction myself.

But, the point of this blog post is not to discuss specifically the roles of women in ministry, but what the Bible says regarding women as a whole and their role in society. The question that provoked this post was someone asking us, "If the Bible is such a great book, why does it seem to suppress women and their advancement in society?" It may seem to some that God oppresses women and treats us as lesser beings in the Bible, but follow along here and see what conclusion you come to after reading some passages.

First off, what does oppression mean? According to Google, oppression is defined as “prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control.” Keep that in your mind as we go through this post.

It all starts with creation, of course. Take a look at Genesis 1:27: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Men and women were created as distinct but the same in that they’re both created in God’s image. In the detailed account of the creation of humans in Genesis 2, the man was created first then the woman was created out of the man. But both genders still seem pretty equal, right? In Genesis 3, both the woman and the man ate of the fruit that they were not supposed to eat, thus both sinned. Again, still pretty equal, and women aren’t yet seen as oppressed.

But, that’s the root of the problem right there: sin. If there is one sin that I would bet we commit more than any other, it’s pride. In our prideful, competitive, “all about me” culture, somebody has to be the best. We can’t all consider everyone as equals because of our pride. We’re always finding ways to make ourselves look better, often by putting someone else down. Although the means and methods have changed, the fact that humans always want to be better than each other hasn’t changed since Genesis 3. Very early on in the history of mankind, man got the idea that he was created first, therefore he should be better than woman. Men started treating women as their possessions, as property, and for whatever reason, women let this happen; perhaps it was due to men having more physical strength and therefore more pride. But whatever the reason, men have considered themselves better than women since essentially the fall into sin.

The Bible is a book that is inspired by God and the true Word of God, and much of the Bible’s content is reporting human history. The Bible tells it like it happened. Because humans are sinful and men did treat women as property, that is how the Bible reports it. Does that mean that is how God sees women? No; that is how men in that culture saw women, and the Bible is reporting that historical fact. Men did oppress women in that culture, but that doesn’t mean God did. For a few examples, take a look at Rahab, Ruth, Esther, or Deborah.

Later, in the New Testament, we see passages in Scripture such as Ephesians 5:21-33 and 1 Peter 3:1-7 that seem to confirm that men should be in authority over women. If men are in authority, that means the women are oppressed, right? Wrong. Take special note of Ephesians 5:21: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Submission is not taking orders from someone; it is honoring their wishes and honoring God. Yes, women are commanded to submit to their husbands, but men are also commanded to submit to women (hence the “to one another”) out of reverence for Christ. Is that oppression? I’d definitely say no.

So yes, there are times in the Bible that we see women oppressed. But does that mean God oppresses women? Nope. I see nothing in the Bible that says He loves women any less than He loves men. Men have treated women poorly throughout history, but that doesn’t mean God does. Men and women are different, but yet we are all created in God’s image and He loves every one of us (1 John 4:9-10). We, too, are called to love one another. Oppression is only in the picture at all because of sin, which was caused by both the first man and the first woman.

What are you doing today to perpetuate the love that God has for all people? How does your life show that love and cause no one to be oppressed?

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