What Feminism is about for me (4) The Origins of Patriarchy and Today’s Church

 

Patriarchy is a social system in which society is organized around male authority figures. In this system, fathers have authority over women, children, and property. It is about male rule and privilege and is dependent on female subordination. Feminism characterizes patriarchy as an unjust social system that is oppressive to women. 

History shows us that women have lived in patriarchal social systems as long as we can think. The women’s movement came about because women refused to continue to live in a system where they could not make their own decisions. I am sure we would not like to live in a world where women are completely dependent on men because they have no other financial alternatives. We know about the injustice inflicted upon women for hundreds and thousands of years.

Beth Allison Barr recently published her book: The Making of Biblical Womanhood,[1] in which she as a medieval historian shows where patriarchy originated. It is an interesting and enlightening reading. Barr concludes that what the churches teach about Biblical womanhood is in fact not Biblical at all. I will pick up some of her arguments and explanations about patriarchy. For many of us in Europe the notion of “Biblical Womanhood” doesn’t ring a bell like it would in the USA. We are not usually confronted with this terminology. However, we do encounter the underlying theology in many of our conservative churches. Many evangelical churches (at least in the USA) have turned back the wheel and put women back under male patriarchal rule. All the progress made on women’s rights is discarded in what they call “Biblical Womanhood,” where women are subjugated under male headship. They have even made this a test of faith and true Christianity. Barr says it in her subtitle: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth. The message of the Bible has been seized and misrepresented.

I have always understood that patriarchy is explained by the texts in Genesis 3, where God showed to Eve the consequences of her disobedience. God’s plan for men and women as equal partners, created in the image of God, was distorted at the fall and men thereupon took to ruling over women.

The proponents of Male Headship and Biblical Womanhood – patriarchy - have gone one step further. They insist that patriarchy was established already at the beginning of creation when God created a divine order in which husbands rule over their wives. They conclude that men were given authority over women, not only in the home but also in the church. According to this interpretation, the Bible gives men the leading role. Men lead. Women follow. The Bible tells us so. Patriarchy is the will of God. Period.

Barr says that gender hierarchy in which women rank under men can be found in almost every era and among every people group. When the church denies women the ability to preach, lead, teach, and sometimes even work outside the home, the church is continuing a long historical tradition of subordinating women. It is patriarchy, although today it is called complementarianism. Calling patriarchy by any other name is still patriarchy. Complementarians have to admit that God created both women and men in the image of God as equals, but they add that they have different, unequal, roles.

In her book, Barr tells of a case where a male student needed a job and applied for a job as a part-time church secretary. He was told that this was a woman’s job and he could not be expected to do all the menial tasks involved in the job. It was a woman’s role, obviously of lesser value than a man’s task. Patriarchy has degraded the value of women’s work and led to unequal pay as well. The student didn’t get the job.

Evangelical Christians today, like Mohler, the current president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky writes that it is an „undeniable historical reality that men have predominated in positions of leadership and that the roles of women have been largely defined around the home, children, and family.“…‘“The pattern of history affirms what the Bible unquestionably reveals, that God has made human beings in His image as male and female… We understand the Bible to present a beautiful portrait of complementarity between the sexes, with both men and women charged to reflect God’s glory in a distinct way.“ Just as women in ancient times cared for home and family and supported men, they would probably continue to do so today if not for the disruptive (and „unbiblical“) influence of feminism. History has convinced Mohler that complementarianism must be God’s design.

The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest existing texts, describes life as it was four thousand years ago. Women are portrayed in subservient roles, needed for sex, procreation, care for the family and household. This is a portrayal of patriarchy at the beginning of history. Proponents of patriarchy claim that women should continue to be what they were in the past: subordinate.

Barr questions this approach. Patriarchy looks right because it is the historical practice of the world. In ancient Mesopotamia, women were treated as property. They had less opportunity for education; they were mostly defined by their relationships to men; they were legally disempowered as wives; they were subject to legally sponsored physical violence; and they rarely got to speak for themselves in the historical narrative.

She writes, “Patriarchy still continues. Shouldn’t Christians, who are called to be different from the world, treat women differently? What if patriarchy isn’t divinely ordained but is a result of human sin? What if instead of being divinely created, patriarchy slithered into creation only after the fall? What if the reason that the fruit of patriarchy is so corrupt, even within the Christian church, is because patriarchy has always been a corrupted system? Instead of assuming that patriarchy is instituted by God, we must ask whether patriarchy is a product of sinful human hands.“

The Vulgate Bible translation of Genesis 3:16 has influenced thinking through the centuries: “In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’s power, and he shall have dominion over thee.“ This has led to patriarchy contrary to God’s original intention in creation. Patriarchy wasn’t what God wanted; patriarchy was a result of human sin. Before the fall, both Adam and Eve submitted to God’s authority. After the fall, because of sin, women would now turn first to their husbands, and their husbands, in the place of God, would rule over them.

Barr quotes Kristin Kobes Du Mez, who writes[2]:
“Male authority over women contradicted God’s will and perpetuated man’s original rebellion against God.“ Women thus „continued to commit the sin of Eve when they submitted to men, rather than to God.“ Adam’s rebellion was claiming God’s authority for himself, and Eve’s rebellion was submitting to Adam in place of God.“

In his book The Book of Eden[3], Bruce C. E. Fleming writes about the doctoral research of his wife Joy, who studied the original meaning of the language of Genesis 2 and 3. The common interpretations of Genesis 3:16 have negatively impacted countless lives throughout the centuries. The idea that God cursed the woman in the Garden of Eden has become the basis for patriarchy and women’s oppression. But accurate reading shows that God only cursed the serpent and the ground. Adam was to have sorrowful toil (itsabon) when working the ground, and the same (itsabon) would apply to Eve. In addition, she would have the privilege of bringing forth children, with God increasing her pregnancies. Dr. Joy Fleming revealed a very complex structure of Genesis 2 and 3, containing a literary chiasm. This little book is a very interesting reading that I would like to recommend.
A correct translation of Genesis 3:16 would read as follows according to Fleming:

I will surely multiply your sorrowful toil
in fieldwork and your conception.
With effort you will bring forth children.
Your (loving) desire (is) to your husband.
But he (is rebelliously ruling over himself and)
will rule over you.

Bruce Fleming writes, “Only God was in authority over Adam and Eve. Neither of them had the right to usurp God’s rulership rights over either of them. Any teaching that inserts an authority structure between Adam and Eve in God’s creation design is to be firmly rejected since it is not founded on the biblical text.“

The Bible passage describes what will happen. It does not mean that God instituted male rule over women, or what is called patriarchy. Patriarchy is associated with systemic oppression and that has been the consistent model throughout history.

The early church was trying to make sense of its place in both a Jewish and a Roman world, and this largely influenced the development of the church. But that will be the topic of another blog. Patriarchy exists in the Bible because the Bible was written in a patriarchal world. Turning back the wheel to patriarchy is about making Christianity look like the world instead of trying to make it look like what Jesus wanted it to be.

Barr concludes, “Patriarchy may be a part of Christian history, but that doesn’t make it Christian. It just shows us the historical (and very human) roots of biblical womanhood.“ What the churches call biblical womanhood is not biblical at all!

But why should I be concerned about something that is not affecting me? After all, in my mind patriarchy has been eliminated. Is that true? Why are women in many churches not allowed to use their God-given gifts and serve according to their calling? Why are women excluded from leadership positions? Why are women pastors being treated without respect? Why are young girls being taught patriarchal principles? The answer is clear: patriarchy has distorted our culture and thinking to a much greater degree than we think.

"The gender gap has widened in the EU as a result of the pandemic. Its social and economic consequences could also have a long-term impact on gender equality. They jeopardize the progress made so far and could push another 47 million women and girls into poverty worldwide."[4]

When, in addition, conservative forces in churches try to turn back the clock on women's rights, the situation becomes even more dangerous. Many evangelical churches in the U.S. have succeeded in making complementarianism and patriarchy a tenet of their faith. We need to be vigilant in our churches and protect the gospel of freedom in Christ from attacks that seek to make the subjugation of women a fundamental belief.

Graphic: European Parliament

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[1] Barr, Beth Allison, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, Brazos Press, April 21, 2021

[2] Kristin Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, LIVERIGHT PUB CORP, June 23, 2020

[3] Fleming, Bruce; Fleming, Joy; Hagemeyer, Joanne, The Book of Eden - Genesis 2-3: God Didn't Curse Eve (or Adam) or Limit Woman in Any Way, March 8, 2021

[4] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/de/headlines/priorities/internationaler-frauentag-2021/20210225STO98702/auswirkungen-der-coronavirus-pandemie-auf-frauen-infografiken