Research Paper on Patriarchal and Misogynistic Teachings in the Bible

Introduction

Patriarchal teachings that are found in the Bible, also referred to as Biblical Patriarchy, refers to a set of beliefs found within evangelical Christianity that mainly focus on gender relations and their manifestation in institutions, such as the family, marriage, etc. The teachings tend to see the father as the leader of the home and responsible for how his family conducts itself. Some of these teachings are as follows. In the Bible, God reveals Himself as masculine and not feminine. During the creation process, God gave and ordained specific roles for both man and woman. According to the Bible, the father or husband is the head of his house, the leader, protector as well as the provider.

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According to these teachings, the responsibilities are given to a man on a household level trickle down over into the church. This explains why only men are permitted to have leadership positions in the church. Therefore, a society that honors God will advocate for male leadership in other positions such as public positions and other leadership positions of the same nature including government. The teachings cite that during the creation process, the woman was created as a helper for her husband with her primary objective being the bearing of children and checking on the household.

The teachings emphasize on the command God made to Adam and Eve - 'Be fruitful and multiply.' This command continues to apply to the married couples. Parents that are Christian must provide their children with the right Christian education for them to learn the Bible and how the Bible views both the world and God. Finally, the teachings indicate that children (sons and daughters) are under the authority of their fathers as longs as they leave under their father's roof or are either the recipients of their father's protection and provision.

In some cases, these teaching have been taken literally, and some societies continue to follow them to the latter. According to Michael Farris, some of these teachings are translated to that women should be denied the right to vote - something many people, especially women themselves, are against. Other patriarchal teachings indicate that higher education is not important when it comes to women. In some societies, the teachings indicate a woman who is not married is subject to her father's authority until the day is getting married. It should be noted that most of these patriarchal teachings are obtained from the Old Testament section of the Bible.

Biblical patriarchy has come under heavy criticism over the last couple of years for having views that seem to demean women or view them as some form of property to be owned by the husbands. People like Don Veinot and Joy Veinot have indicated that women cannot be trusted to make certain decisions and unless a woman marries, she is her fathers 'property' until the day she dies. Others have criticized patriarchic teachings indicated that the Bible teaches that authority belongs to both the father and the mother and that it does not only belong to the fathers. In this argument, people like Andre Sandlin have indicated that the when the Bible talks about the child's obligation to his/her parent, it talks about a parental hierarchy system and not a paternal one.

Many have criticized the issue on women not voting indicating that some of the teachings have been twisted to suggest that women should not vote the Bible yet mainly explains the roles of man and a woman in the institution of marriage. Others have termed Biblical patriarchy as an intolerant ideology which has arisen in some Christian societies especially the Christian homeschooling movements.

It is evident that there is a lot of similarity between Biblical patriarchy and patriarchy. In patriarchy, the males hold executive roles in society including political positions, social privileges, the control of the property and moral authority. The only difference is patriarchy justifies male dominance using inherent natural variations that exist between men and women.

Misogyny, in general, refers to attitudes and behaviors that tend to demean women in one way or another, e.g., abusing, insulting or degrading them based on their gender. One example includes the treatment of women as intellectually or morally inferior to their male counterparts which in turn advocates for female abuse. The Bible has been said to contain several misogynic teachings by various critics. Some of these teachings are, however, are said to be taken out of context and used to advocate for misogyny.

One if the most commonly used Bible verses is "Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything," Ephesians 5:22- 24 (NIV). Such are the verses used to advocate for Biblical misogyny. In the following Bible verse is interpreted to teach that women are to be subjected to a man's authority. However, in the verses that follow, men are expected to love their wives 'the same way Christ loved the church," verse 25.

In the ancient Christian community, misogynistic treatment of women was a common thing, and the effects have continued to be felt to date. In fact, the Church of England's General Synod has only recently fast-tracked the legislative process that allows women to be appointed as bishops. However, the process has not been easy especially with the proceedings containing misogynistic teachings such as the following: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner," (1 Timothy 2:11-14).

The following are other misogynistic teachings that have been used in the past that are - in some cases - directly quoted from the bible. In the book of Genesis 5:32, the bible talks about Noah and his three sons whose names are mentioned. However, the wives of the three sons are not mentioned in the Bible including Noah's wife. Another example is found in the Ten Commandments where a woman is labeled as property like work animals or slaves. It is clear that a person shall not convert another's wife but does not indicate that one should not covert another's husband.

There are examples in the Old Testament that have been used for misogynistic teachings that researchers found to form a basis for Christian traditions (Pevey, Carolyn, Christine &Christopher). The book of Deuteronomy indicates that an unmarried woman would be compelled to get married to the person who raped her as long as the rapist could afford to pay the bride price and the father to the woman was comfortable with this marital arrangement (Rollston). In several other books in the Bible, polygyny (the act of having several wives at the same time) was allowed and in some cases, legal. It was impossible for a woman to have more than one husband. In fact, those found to be having multiple husbands were punished severely.

In the book of Numbers, a woman's religious vow could be nullified by her father or husband (Rollston). The book of Leviticus gave the impression and assumption that priesthood was only meant for all male and not female. Legally, the Bible contains several accounts that indicate that women were not provided with the same status or rights as men.

Conclusion

Patriarchal and misogynistic teachings in the Bible have significantly influenced the role of women in the church and some cases, the society. Although the Bible still takes highly about women both in the Old and New Testament, there are those that believe that the Bible is discriminating when it comes to women. Some of these teachings explain why women are prohibited from taking up religious, social, or political positions. However, in the modern Christian world, it is important for people to understand and correctly interpret the Bible especially on matters of gender and equality and therefore not sexist (Bloesch). The same Bible talks about equality before the eyes of the Lord regardless of gender.

Works Cited

Bloesch, Donald G. Is the Bible Sexist?. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001.

Pevey, Carolyn, Christine L. Williams, and Christopher G. Ellison. "Male God imagery and female submission: Lessons from a Southern Baptist ladies' Bible class." Qualitative Sociology 19.2 (1996): 173-193.

Rollston, Christopher. "The Marginalization Of Women: A Biblical Value We Don't Like To Talk About". Huffpost, 2012, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-rollston/the-marginalization-of-women-biblical-value-we-dont-like-to-talk-about_b_1833648.html. Accessed 4 Aug 2018.