Is The Bible Anti-women?

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.Here’s this week’s question:“Dear Dave and Tom, I have a friend who I’ve been witnessing to, and her objection to becoming a Christian is what she believes is the low view of women found in the Bible.There are some difficult verses that I have no explanation for, such as Lot, and another person I can’t name, offering his daughters to the men who wanted to rape the angels that came to rescue him and his family.In the New Testament Paul says that women are to remain silent in the church.My friend is not a feminist, she just thinks the Bible is biased against women.What can I say to her to change her mind?”

Tom:

These are the kind of questions that I think, in all reasonableness on my part, I’ll just leave the room, and leave this to you to answer, okay?

Dave:

Well, Tom, it’s very simple.Apparently, a woman asking this question, or on behalf of a woman friend.If she believes the Bible is the word of God, and that God doesn’t make mistakes, and that He is never wrong, and that He loves us all, then she couldn’t possibly have those thoughts.How could the Bible be biased against women when it’s written by the God who created them, and the Christ who died to redeem them, okay.So, first of all, we have to get rid of that attitude, I mean, I guess I could find all kinds of complaints.If you approach the Bible with the idea, Well, so long as it agrees with what I think, then it’s okay, but if it’s going to meddle with my life, or going to try to change my thinking, then it’s got to be wrong, there’s got to be some explanation, we can explain it away.

Tom:

Dave, that’s real important, because we do---never mind a woman’s concern about its bias, but all of us, we do bring our own thoughts.I guess the phrase would be we anthropomorphize God, that is, we try to bring God down to our level so He thinks the way we think from our cultural standpoint, from our own biases and prejudices.But still, Dave, God says, Come let us reason together.What’s a reasonable answer for this woman on behalf of her friend who she is trying to witness to?

Dave:

Well, God has given us a conscience, and this relates to Calvinism because when, for example, when I title a book, What Love is This? and I say, What love is this that God predestines people to eternal torment before they are even born?Doesn’t Jesus say, Do unto others as you have them do unto you, and is God doing unto some of these people as He would have us do unto Him?Or, when He says, You should be a good Samaritan, you find anybody in need you ought to meet their need.And here is God, not only does He find people in need, my gracious! He predestines them to the worst need you could ever have, that’s being eternally tormented in the Lake of Fire, now what love is this?And then the Calvinist says, Well, wait a minute, you can’t lower God to your level.Okay, so that applies to what we are talking about here, too.No, we’re not lowering God to our level, we haven’t gotten to that part of it yet, Tom.We do have common sense and we do have a conscience.Now what is there against common sense and against conscience that the Bible says about women?It’s talking about leadership here.It does say that the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church.Now, the husband has got to subject himself to God.Then what would be wrong with the wife subjecting herself to the husband as the husband subjects himself to God?Okay, you couldn’t go wrong there.So, the Bible says, Husbands, love your wives.So, you don’t lord it over someone, and you don’t beat them and you don’t abuse them, you love your wife.

Tom:

As Christ loved the church, and look what He did.I mean, it’s a sacrificial love, isn’t it?

Dave:

Exactly.So, the husband, really he’s got something pretty heavy laid on him, that he is to love his wife as he loves himself.Well then, you’re not going to rule over her with an iron hand, and in fact, you know, I find that my wife is very often wiser than I am.We have partnership, but there are two people, if you are going to come to a decision, one of them has to have the authority to make the final decision.

Tom:

Has to be an order, a divine order.

Dave:

Now you’re talking about something else, a divine order, because there’s order in the Godhead.My Father’s greater than I, I only do what the Father tells me to do, etc.It’s all through creation.But now, then, we’re talking about the Church.Let your women keep silent in the Church as well.I think it explains it.I think that it’s talking about leadership there, because he says, “I will not have a woman teach nor usurp authority over a man.”She’s not to take the leadership, in other words.Ask a question?OK, so long as it’s not pugnacious and trying to correct everybody.If that’s her attitude then it says, “let her ask her husband at home, and he can explain it to her.”It says a woman may pray or prophesy.Now, I grew up in a fellowship of believers, there may be some of them listening out there, I hope they don’t get angry with me, but we were very strict about this.One of the things we were strict about was that a woman had to have head covering.Well, some of them I can remember as a boy were the most beautiful hats you ever saw.It wasn’t really a head covering which is supposed to show subjection, but it was kind of beautification.But, that seemed to go okay, but not to pray or prophesy.My gracious, nobody was supposed to prophesy, that would be a teaching, you know, speaking from the scriptures, exegesis the scriptures, forth telling from the scriptures.But wait a minute, it says, If she prays or prophesies---we are now talking about 1 Corinthians 11---she has to have her head covered.So, they were very strong on the head covering, but the head covering was in case she was praying or prophesying, but they wouldn’t allow the woman to pray or prophesy, but she must have her head covered.Tom, I’m not trying to criticize these dead people, they loved the Lord, and we try to follow the word as it is.But first of all, it’s God’s word, it’s not wrong, it’s going to teach me, it’s going to humble me, and I’m going to obey whatever it says, and I think if you obey what the Bible says, the husband obeys, the wife obeys, it’s going to be a beautiful relationship in the church and in the home as well.

Tom:

Dave, just one last item, going back to Lot, what he did was wrong, he should have trusted God in that, and nobody is backing that up, and saying, Yes, this is what the Lord would have you do, absolutely not.

Dave:

Absolutely. Thank you, I forgot about that, that was terrible.