Paul a chauvenist or early feminist?

[proverbial student]

I went to a lecture tonight. The lecturer is a biblical scholar and studies Ancient Hebrew and Greek especially as it relates to the Scriptures. His opinion was that Paul was actually a progressive and was very favorable to women seeing them as equal to men in the eyes of God.

One caveat he added: some people are literalists while others are contextualists, so I am sure there will be varied responses, however, I would still like to hear other opinions.

Note to Moderator: I'm not sure I have this in the correct forum. Please move me if I am in error here. Thanks.

[BeHereNow]

[Overcomer]

I went to a lecture tonight. The lecturer is a biblical scholar and studies Ancient Hebrew and Greek especially as it relates to the Scriptures. His opinion was that Paul was actually a progressive and was very favorable to women seeing them as equal to men in the eyes of God.

That lecturer is bang on! I wish more people would take a look at what Paul really said by going back to the original languages, by looking at the number of women in ministry with him, by remembering that in Galatians he said that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male or female, ALL are ONE in Christ.

You would enjoy reading the book What Paul Really Said About Women by John Temple Bristow and I Suffer Not A Woman by the Kroegers. Phoebe Palmer is another on who is good to read. She wrote in the mid-19th century.

I see Paul criticized at lot, including on this board, by people whose knowedge of this issue is superficial at best.

[BeHereNow]

A truth so obvious it only took 2000 years to uncover?

[pepo1]

Let's just read the bible and humour the opinions of lecturers.

[micatala]

[McCulloch]

These and a few other passages certainly seem quite chauvinistic, but perhaps not compared to the society current at the time. I have read scholars who have made the case that some of these, in particular the second one I quote, are really later additions and not original to Paul. Bart Ehrmann for example.

I would say that 'gender equality' is more consistent with the central message of Christianity than chauvinism. In general, any 'inequality' or 'discrimination' that is not based on spiritual aspects, but on the physical or biological, seems to me should be irrelevant to Christianity.

That is one of the contradictions of the Bible. There are clearly places where it seems to be taught that equality not discrimination are taught in the Bible. There are others, such as the passages cited by Paul or pseudo-Paul, where it is the other way around.

It matters little if the passages were written by Paul or not. They are an accepted part of the Christian canon. Until a breakaway group of Christians publish a corrected Bible, Christians are obligated to deal with the paradox.

[youngborean]

I personally don't see a paradox. There are distinctions for behaviour in families, church bodies and society at large. As citizens and God's creation women and men stand shoulder to shoulder. Within church bodies (large families) and families god has ordained an order to combat our insecurities. It's only a paradox if you don't agree with this order.