Biblical Ponderings

[wlotus]

To the woman [God] said, “...Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
~Genesis 3:16b, NKJV

In the later years of my identification as an evangelical Christian, I understood this account of God's word to Eve after Adam and she sinned to be a warning: God was warning Eve that because they were no longer sinless, men would oppress women, rather than women and men living and ruling the earth (not each other) as complete equals as Eve and Adam had done up to that point (Genesis 1:27-30). But it was only this afternoon that I realized God made no mention to Adam of a backlash against men because of the way they had oppressed women. It couldn't be because God (as the writer of this account knew God) did not know; according to the Bible, God knows everything. So was that part of God's word left out by the writers (or later editors), who were products of their misogynistic culture? Or, perhaps, did God not say anything to Adam about the inevitable backlash, because he knew Adam's sinful state would not allow him to hear and understand the danger of giving in to that sinful desire to rule over women?

Discuss.

Comments

[nimbrethil.livejournal.com]

I know you were talking about your mom. The question just reminded me of my own experience growing up as such. Nearly all of my relatives are Southern Baptists, and that's the church I was raised in. Prior to having that biting-inclined friend from Massachusetts who was willing to call bullshit at the drop of a hat, I was, erm...*cringe*

[ciardhapagan.livejournal.com]

So I take it that you grew up the right wing type Southern Baptist church? Because the moderate Southern Baptist church is all about finding your own spiritual path, which is why they absolutely will not baptize anyone under 12. They don't believe children under 12 are mentally mature enough. It has to be your own free choice. We were taught to listen for that still voice within to know when we'd discovered the right path for us. I think that's good advice. It's what led me to wicca. I explored various spiritual paths and finally when I came across paganism at 17, that little inner voice finally said "yes, this is your home." My mother was a bit uncomfortable at first but made no objections, before long though she realized it was "a positive religion" and was totally cool with it. My liberal Methodist paternal grandmother was completely accepting too. My agnostic dad was kind of roll his eyes, not bothering to take it seriously, he thought it was the same as the "flakey New Age stuff". My moderately conservative Southern Baptist maternal grandmother took several years to accept it, but oddly enough she's always been a believer in psychic abilities.(Edgar Cayce, Sybil Leek, etc...) It was when she started reading the Sylvia Browne books that she finally accepted it. Apparently Sylvia Browne (even though I think the woman is a con artist) explained Wicca in a way that my grandmother could accept. It also helped at the time the SBC finally went to far right wing for her to tolerate- the stupidity about women being subordinate to men and not being allowed to be missionaries, deacons, or pastors. That made her really angry. She stopped going to her church, and switched to another SBC that had a woman pastor.

[nimbrethil.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I did. My family isn't ultra-conservative, but they are somewhere to the right of of moderate, enough so that their sympathies lie with all but the most batshit of the theocons.