I have heard from and debated with various anti-theists some of whom claimed to be former Christians with a deep knowledge of the bible who stated that they left Christianity and/or hate it because the bible supports the oppression of women so...
Oppression is synonymous with:
(according to thesaurus.com)
abuse, brutality, coercion, despotism, dictatorship, domination, injustice, maltreatment, persecution and suffering (as well as many more words).
Oppression is antonymous with:
(according to thesaurus.com)
help, kindness and niceness (amongst others)
So does the bible in fact support this?
Let's have a look at the lives of some of the major female personages as well as any laws of scriptures pertaining to women and the reader can form their own opinion. I have decided (whilst writing) to split this topic into several parts because of it's enormous length.
Rather than quoting large chunks of scripture directly (which would violate copyright) I have provided links to biblegateway.com where the scriptures can be read in context for free and in many different languages.
In the Christian bible Eve is the first woman, she is the one of two people who are specially named amongst those God created and she happens to be a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ. After Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil having listened to the advice of a serpent, she was punished by God. First she was cursed:
After being thrown out of the garden Eve is quoted twice. First when she gave birth to Cain she says:
And later after the death of Abel and the cursing of Cain when she gives birth to Seth:
Sarah aka Sarai was the half sister and wife of Abraham, the patriarch. She is the next major women mentioned in the bible. Cain's wives are recorded by name as Adah and Zillah but nothing else is mentioned about them.
One of the first mentions in regard to Sarah in the bible informs the reader that she was unable to conceive children and therefore neither she nor Abraham had any.
The bible confirms that Abraham was right, he was treated well for Sarah's sake:
God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to give him innumerable children who were to be born through Sarah but Sarah did not believe this was possible and instructed her husband to have children with her Egyptian handmaid Hagar.
When Abraham followed his wife's instructions and impregnated Hagar. According to the bible Hagar began to despise her mistress and in response Sarah blamed Abraham. Since Sarah was Hagar's mistress Abraham told her:
So Sarah abused the pregnant Hagar until she ran away. She was eventually rescued and returned to her home by an angel. Sarah's hatred and jealous of fertile Hagar did not stop there. Eventually when Sarah was able to have her own child as promised by God she wouldn't rest until Hagar and her son were out of the picture. She said to Abraham:
When Sarah eventually died (Genesis 23) Abraham paid four hundred shekels of silver for a burial place for her in what would later become known as The Cave of the Patriarchs.
Was Sarah oppressed? Did Abraham rule over her in a cruel and unjust manner? Did Abraham ignore Sarah's thoughts and wishes? Please read the entire history of Sarah in the scriptures mentioned above and do your own research. Then tell me, where is the oppression?
Does Biblical Scripture Support the Oppression of Women?
The only way to answer this or any other question regarding the bible and what it supports is to go directly to the source, the bible itself but first let's refine the parameters of the search by defining the word 'oppression'.Oppression:
(according to dictionary.com)- the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel or unjust manner.
- an act or instance of oppressing or subjecting to cruel or unjust impositions or restraints.
- the state of being oppressed.
- the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, anxiety etc
Oppression is synonymous with:
(according to thesaurus.com)
abuse, brutality, coercion, despotism, dictatorship, domination, injustice, maltreatment, persecution and suffering (as well as many more words).
Oppression is antonymous with:
(according to thesaurus.com)
help, kindness and niceness (amongst others)
So does the bible in fact support this?
Let's have a look at the lives of some of the major female personages as well as any laws of scriptures pertaining to women and the reader can form their own opinion. I have decided (whilst writing) to split this topic into several parts because of it's enormous length.
Rather than quoting large chunks of scripture directly (which would violate copyright) I have provided links to biblegateway.com where the scriptures can be read in context for free and in many different languages.
Eve
Read the story for yourself here: Genesis 2:4 - 4:26In the Christian bible Eve is the first woman, she is the one of two people who are specially named amongst those God created and she happens to be a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ. After Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil having listened to the advice of a serpent, she was punished by God. First she was cursed:
and then along with her husband who had also been cursed, she was thrown out of the Garden of Eden so that they could not become immortal by eating from The Tree of Life:
"I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labour you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you." (Genesis 3:16 NIV)
"And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22 NIV)
After being thrown out of the garden Eve is quoted twice. First when she gave birth to Cain she says:
"With the help of God I have brought forth a man" (Genesis 4:1 NIV)
And later after the death of Abel and the cursing of Cain when she gives birth to Seth:
"God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." (Genesis 4: 25 NIV)There are only quotes attributed to Adam present in the bible are these:
"I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." (Genesis 3:10)and
"The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." (Genesis 3:12)The first man speaks twice. The first woman has twice that at four, the other two examples being when she told the snake that she wasn't supposed to eat the fruit and when she explained to God what had happened. Was Eve oppressed? Does anything in how she was treated conform to or justify the "oppression" of women? Eve disobeyed a direct commandment and she was punished for it, Adam received a similar punishment for his similar sin. Where is the oppression?
Sarai / Sarah
Read about her life here: Genesis 11:27 - 23:19Sarah aka Sarai was the half sister and wife of Abraham, the patriarch. She is the next major women mentioned in the bible. Cain's wives are recorded by name as Adah and Zillah but nothing else is mentioned about them.
One of the first mentions in regard to Sarah in the bible informs the reader that she was unable to conceive children and therefore neither she nor Abraham had any.
"Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive." (Genesis 11:30 NIV)Later it is established that Sarah was a very beautiful and desirable women. She was so beautiful that on two occasions her husband felt that he would be murdered so that some other man could have her. In the first instance, upon his arrival in Egypt he instructed her not to mention that she was his wife if anyone should ask. Abraham said:
"I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you , they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.' (Genesis 12:11-13 NIV)
The bible confirms that Abraham was right, he was treated well for Sarah's sake:
"And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants and camels." (Genesis 12:15-16 NIV)God punished Pharaoh and his household for this transgression not Abraham or Sarah and when the couple finally left Egypt Abraham had "become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold." (Genesis 13:2 NIV) all of this thanks to his beautiful wife.
God made a covenant with Abraham and promised to give him innumerable children who were to be born through Sarah but Sarah did not believe this was possible and instructed her husband to have children with her Egyptian handmaid Hagar.
The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her." (Genesis 16:2 NIV)
When Abraham followed his wife's instructions and impregnated Hagar. According to the bible Hagar began to despise her mistress and in response Sarah blamed Abraham. Since Sarah was Hagar's mistress Abraham told her:
Your slave is in your hands... Do with her whatever you think best." (Genesis 16:6)
So Sarah abused the pregnant Hagar until she ran away. She was eventually rescued and returned to her home by an angel. Sarah's hatred and jealous of fertile Hagar did not stop there. Eventually when Sarah was able to have her own child as promised by God she wouldn't rest until Hagar and her son were out of the picture. She said to Abraham:
"Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."The bible records that Abraham was distressed by this request but ultimately after some reassurance from God sent Hagar and their son Ishmael away in the desert to an uncertain fate to humour Sarah.
When Sarah eventually died (Genesis 23) Abraham paid four hundred shekels of silver for a burial place for her in what would later become known as The Cave of the Patriarchs.
Was Sarah oppressed? Did Abraham rule over her in a cruel and unjust manner? Did Abraham ignore Sarah's thoughts and wishes? Please read the entire history of Sarah in the scriptures mentioned above and do your own research. Then tell me, where is the oppression?
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