Well, she started to read the bible more often, and her conclusion was that God definitely favored men over women.
Hello Matthewww
DD has put you in the role of defending the Faith with what appear to be some fairly generalized statements. What I have seen and heard from Apologists is to turn the tables, instead of having to argue against a twisting snake, instead, ask her to give you specific objections instead of the generalities.
Get DD to support her position that God the Father Favored Males over Females. I am guessing here, that in most cases, she’s going to cite examples of Male leadership - especially in passages from the Old Testament which I’ve found to be a very common approach used by some feminists. There is one important concept to make a point of when this happens: the culture of that time was very Male oriented; thus, God the Father worked thru mankind using that which we could understand at that time. How many times have we heard Mr. Akins on the radio say something like… “… the Jews at the time would have understood this to mean …” All too often we get trapped by using today’s understanding of the words and culture against the original intent of the words and we forget the culture of the time when the Bible was written was very different than today’s - hmm… I see the Evil One working there - trap us by misinterpretation (
Genesis 3:4 )!
So, from the other posts, you have three points with which to respond: God worked with Mankind from the point where Mankind was in understanding ( for example under the Mosaic Law divorce was allowed; however, Christ voided that as read starting on
Mathew10:5), CCC 355 and 369, and the original intent of Woman’s role in The Book of Genesis - to be Adams (therefore all men’s) equal and support.
By the way, I found what I thought was a very interesting answer to the question:
“Why did God use Adam’s rib to create Eve?” (link) (amazing what the search engines will pull up when you’re looking for something totally different). This article goes back to some of the original language used in the Bible, personally I like it when people go back to the original languages, or even the Latin, to get proper perspective on the intent. Our English translations don’t always seem to match up very well! Following is the last part of the Q&A answer, just in case the link breaks…
** (…) **Other passages, including Deuteronomy 33:7, 29, and Exodus 18:4, use the same phrase to discuss the potent interventions and deliverances of God Himself. Woman, therefore, was created as a complement to man, as an integral part of man, and as a powerful and influential companion for man.
Furthermore, the Hebrew word translated “suitable,”* k’negdo*, carries much more meaning than simply “fit” or “appropriate.” This word also means “opposite or contrasting.” This implies that the two beings were designed to work and fit together perfectly, not just physically but in all ways. The strengths of each compensated for the weaknesses of the other. It was “not good” for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18), but, together, Adam and Eve were something far stronger and more magnificent than either of them could have been alone. Adam had to lose a rib, but he gained so much more.
Why did God use Adam’s rib? A closer examination of the Hebrew also reveals another surprising element of the story. The Hebrew word translated “rib” in Genesis 2 is
tsela. The only other instance of the English word rib in the Bible occurs in Daniel 7:5, but the Hebrew word used there is different. In other passages where* tsela
or its variants are used, the word is translated “side.” For example, in Exodus 25, 27, and 35, the words tselo
(variant) and tselot *(plural) are used to refer to the “sides” of the Ark of the Covenant or the “sides” of the altar. In 2 Samuel 16:13, David encounters a cursing Shimei moving along the side (
tsela) of a hill. In these contexts, translating the word *tsela *as “rib” would not fit.
This raises the possibility that Eve could have been fashioned of more than just Adam’s rib. In the Genesis 2 passage, *tsela *could actually be translated as Adam’s “side,” rather than Adam’s “rib.” If the appropriate translation is that God removed Adam’s side, how much of his side did God remove? It is possible that Eve was constructed literally from half of Adam. This would bring added meaning to Adam’s declaration that Eve was “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).
Whether God created Eve from Adam’s rib or from his whole side, He accomplished the act in such a way that showed the woman was to complement and complete man in the integral union of marriage. Woman was created to be “beside” man, not beneath or above him. In salvation, man is no more “worthy” and woman is no less a citizen of God’s kingdom. “There is neither . . . male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” ([
Galatians 3:28](
Douay-Rheims Bible, Galatians Chapter 3)). They stand side-by-side as fellow “heirs . . . of the gracious gift of life” (1 Peter 3:7).
