Bible is sexist?

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An atheist friend asserts that the Church and the Bible are sexist in they make women into second class persons. Can some you more Bible oriented Catholics help me find some scripture and sources to refute this? Thanks and God Bless.
 
this might answer your question…

Ravi Zacharias was asked a very similar question when giving a presentation at Penn State University

Feminism and the Bible

It’s pretty good. Zacharias is a really smart guy! lol
 
By the very fact that the first people to see Jesus and to believe that he was risen were women, while the male apostles did not, shows that the New Testament is not sexist. Furthermore, a woman was allowed to bare Jesus, not man. Also, when you look at Paul’s letters where he tells women to submit to their husbands, there is actually a lot more that Paul tells men to do than women to do. Paul actually tells husbands to lay down their life for their wife.
The Church is also not sexist. We all have different roles to fill. I would not make a good bride of Christ, and so I cannot be a nun. I cannot bare children, it is not my role and it is not what G-d intended for me to do. Many people complain that women cannot be priest. These people are confused on what a priest is. When you become a priest, you actually take a step down from being a layman because you are now even more of a servant. Just as the Pope says that he is a servant to the servants.
I know that it seems a little hurried, and that’s because it is. If anything didn’t make sense just ask and I will clarify later. Thanks!
 
Magnus467 said:
An atheist friend asserts that the Church and the Bible are sexist in they make women into second class persons. Can some you more Bible oriented Catholics help me find some scripture and sources to refute this? Thanks and God Bless.
Click to expand...
on what proof does she have that the Bible is sexist. It isn’t. Christinaity as whole gives women the most out of anything
 
I think that the one thing that one must remember at first is that the Bible is a product of another time and another culture, vastly different from ours. To apply our 21st century “politically-correct” views into it would be just plain wrong.

That being said, the Bible doesn’t really discriminate against women. While it does draw some distinctions between the roles of men and women in marriage and in the authoritative teaching of a church, the Bible actually emphasizes the equal value of men and women in the most important matters. In fact, compared to the literature and religions of Israel’s neighbors, the books of the Bible have a far better view of women.

Another thing. Given that women are still very much treated as objects of pleasure and men as disposable objects in modern-day society (while we often deny this with our mouths, our deeds usually prove such), would it not seem presumptuous for modern men to attack the Bible’s “sexism”? We would be better off using the Bible’s insights to correct our own individual and collective chauvinism.

There was this interesting quote from [a book](Ask the Bible: The 400 Most Commonly Asked Questions about the Old Testament‎) that said, “It is a mistake to talk about the Bible as a sexist book. Rather, the Bible is an honest book, which reflects a sexist time in history (which certainly did not end with the biblical period).”
 
Omyo12 said:
this might answer your question…

Ravi Zacharias was asked a very similar question when giving a presentation at Penn State University

Feminism and the Bible

It’s pretty good. Zacharias is a really smart guy! lol
Click to expand...
Yea i hear dude is killin em with the knowledge. I definately have to check out his work.
 
The burden of proof is on the accuser. It is up to them to provide you with evidence from the Bible that the Bible is indeed sexist. Then when the evidence is produced, show them how historical, cultural, and literary context is important.
 
The Bible distinguishes men and women, and each are given roles with respect to God and each other. So, that, in the first instance, may be the subject of the charge of sexism.

But, then, to anyone who accepts the Bible as the inspired word of God, how can they criticize God for what He has done and how He has revealed himself?

True, there may be some translations of the Bible that had some sexist language that was not present in the original text, and that should be corrected on general principles.

In Leviticus, there are prescribed longer periods of purification when a woman bears a female child as compared to bearing a male child. But, you have to go to reasoned exegesis of this and not jump to pre-ordained conclusions.

To charge the Church with being sexist demands specifics; it is too broad a subject to discuss.

The verses in Paul’s epistle about women being silent in the assembly are interesting. He advises that if a woman has a question, she should ask her husband about it at home. What a great way of encouraging communication between a husband and a wife, and what a responsibility for a woman to ensure that her husband “got” the message of the sermon. (there’s at least two ways of understanding the purpose of Paul’s directive.)
 
Thanks for the great ideas and points guys! The accuser in question is a man, btw.
 
I got to confess that I kept reading your post wrong and was very puzzled until I finally read it correctly. I was thinking that you were saying “the Bible and the Church are the sexiest.”
 
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