The Bible And Patriarchy In Traditional Tribal Society

Chingboi Guite Phaipi examines how biblical texts reinforced female subjugation in Northeast Indian tribal societies after tribes had accepted Christianity in the early 20th century. Phaipi shows how most tribal groups reinforced women's subordinate status by invoking newly authoritative biblical texts such as the creation stories in Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Phaipi studies the creation stories in Genesis to offer broader readings for Christian tribal communities that are communal, traditional, and struggling to retain their women and girls, particularly those who are educated. This volume recognizes and respects tradition, traditional communities, and the enduring witness of faithful lives in tribal communities at the same time as offering ways forward with respect to unworthy cultural practices and preferences that have been legitimised by the Bible. This book offers a contextually sensitive and scholarly reading of the Bible, with particular attention to the ways patriarchal norms in biblical narratives are perpetuated, rather than considered and reformed.

Chingboi Guite Phaipi examines how biblical texts reinforced female subjugation in Northeast Indian tribal societies after tribes had accepted Christianity in the early 20th century. Phaipi shows how most tribal groups reinforced women's subordinate status by invoking newly authoritative biblical texts such as the creation stories in Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Phaipi studies the creation stories in Genesis to offer broader readings for Christian tribal communities that are communal, traditional, and struggling to retain their women and girls, particularly those who are educated. This volume recognizes and respects tradition, traditional communities, and the enduring witness of faithful lives in tribal communities at the same time as offering ways forward with respect to unworthy cultural practices and preferences that have been legitimised by the Bible. This book offers a contextually sensitive and scholarly reading of the Bible, with particular attention to the ways patriarchal norms in biblical narratives are perpetuated, rather than considered and reformed.

Publisher's description: Quickly changing concepts on gender roles are a pivotal issue in after-colonial African societies. Many women (and men) are calling for a radical change as they feel traditional gender concepts as being oppressive, inhuman and un-Christian. Gender equality, gender fairness is on their agenda. On the other hand, for many men (and women) these societal changes are painful "gender troubles" and seem to be dangerous for gender-based identity, threatening traditional African values. Volume 22 of the BiAS series deals with this central topic by asking what gender troubles have to do with the Bible. Are biblical texts an obstacle for women's liberation? Is the Bible a divine guaranty for male supremacy or rather an advocate for gender equality? What are "redemptive masculinities" and how do they relate to a new, truly Christian understanding of the role of women in church, society and state? - Scholars from different disciplines and several countries are dealing with these urgent questions to help scholars, students, pastors, politicians and members of Christian churches to find a way to more gender fairness and "gender joy."

William G. Dever is recognized as the doyen of North American archaeologist-historians who work in the field of the ancient Levant. He is best known as the director of excavations at the site of Gezer but has worked at numerous other sites, and his many students have led dozens of other expeditions. He has been editor of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, was for many years professor in the influential archaeology program at the University of Arizona, and now in retirement continues actively to write and publish. In this volume, 46 of his colleagues and students contribute essays in his honor, reflecting the broad scope of his interests, particularly in terms of the historical implications of archaeology.

If God is male then the male is God - PULP FICTIONS No.3 Edited by Karin van Marle 2007 ISSN: 1992-5174 Pages: 17 Print version: Available Electronic version: Free PDF available About the publication God sometimes you just don’t come through. God sometimes you just don’t come through. Do you need a woman to look after you. God sometimes you just don’t come through ... Will you even tell her if you decide to make the sky fall. Will you even tell her if you decide to make the sky. (Tori Amos, ‘God’ Under the pink (1994)) In this edition of Pulp fiction(s) the contentious issues of ‘Women and the gender of God’ and ‘Women and religion’ are discussed by two prominent theologians, Frances Klopper (Unisa) and Dirk Human (UP). Klopper and Human presented their views earlier this year at a Gender Forum of the University of Pretoria Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies. Klopper exposes the pervasive maleness of Christianity resulting from fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible and from male imagery and symbols. Feminist biblical/theological scholars, like herself, aim to deconstruct biblical texts and images to disclose multiple possibilities of meaning and representation. Human describes the ‘broken reality’ reflected by many religions in which women are invisible, inferior and subordinate. Focusing primarily on the Jewish and Christian traditions as portrayed by the two creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 he argues for ‘a balanced gender interpretation.’ In light of the continuing sexual violence and discrimination against women these perspectives urges us to reconsider women’s position in society. In the face of constitutional protection of equality, women’s rights and other laws protecting women, women still live in what Human calls ‘broken realities’. Patriarchy as a system of oppression is as forceful in private and public lives as ever. Pulp fiction(s) as a series interested in all issues regarding the tensions and transformations of societies, particularly postapartheid society, gladly creates space for the discourse on women, religion and the gender of God to continue. About the Author: Karin van Marle is a Professor at the Department of Legal History, Comparitive Law and Jurisprudence, at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria.

Quickly changing concepts on gender roles are a pivotal issue in after-colonial African societies. Many women (and men) are calling for a radical change as they feel traditional gender concepts as being oppressive, inhuman and un-Christian. Gender equality, gender fairness is on their agenda. On the other hand, for many men (and women) these societal changes are painful "gender troubles" and seem to be dangerous for gender-based identity, threatening traditional African values. Volume 22 of the BiAS series deals with this central topic by asking what gender troubles have to do with the Bible. Are biblical texts an obstacle for women's liberation? Is the Bible a divine guaranty for male supremacy or rather an advocate for gender equality? What are "redemptive masculinities" and how do they relate to a new, truly Christian understanding of the role of women in church, society and state? - Scholars from different disciplines and several countries are dealing with these urgent questions to help scholars, students, pastors, politicians and members of Christian churches to find a way to more gender fairness and "gender joy".

The Bible has been written, translated, and interpreted for centuries by men in cultures that were patriarchal. In patriarchy, women are subordinated within the gradations of a hierarchical society. Material on women, therefore has often been misinterpreted or overlooked. In some instances, generic nouns and pronouns in the original languages have been translated into English as masculine words. A careful textual study must be made using all the available tools of biblical scholarship. An accurate understanding of the meaning of words must be sought. Also, readers must try to discern the intentions of the author and try to gain a knowledge of the historical and social background of the biblical material. The demands of God must be distinguished from the demands of a particular culture. The bible as a whole makes it clear that God's people are to bring justice and wholeness to all human beings. the injunctions that degrade women do not provide principles valid for every age of Christianity but instead reflect cultural situations in which men related to women through dominance. The standard for the Christian community today should be the glimmers of female dignity and leadership that shine through the pages of the Bible.

This title was first published in 2003. Few would deny that the Bible is an overwhelmingly patriarchal book that, over the centuries, has exercised considerable influence on the way in which women are perceived in society. From the opening chapters of Genesis, where woman is created to serve as man's "helper", to the pronouncements of Paul concerning the submission of wives to their husbands and the silencing of women in communal worship, the primary emphasis of the Bible is on woman's subordinate status. Feminist biblical critics raise the obvious question: how should women in communities of faith respond to the Bible's largely negative appraisal of women and oppressive patriarchal emphasis? Eryl Davies introduces the wide range of feminist approaches to the Hebrew Bible: from critics who recover neglected perspectives in the biblical tradition and argue that the Bible is not oppressively patriarchal, to others who reject biblical traditions, arguing that they are so immersed in a patriarchal culture that no parts are worth redeeming. Davies suggests that the most promising approach deploys a reader-oriented literary approach to the Hebrew Bible: by focusing on the literary representation of women through plot, dialogue and characterization, some of the subtle ways in which biblical authors sought to reinforce patriarchal values and endorse women's inferior status are highlighted. Davies argues that readers of the Hebrew Bible must be prepared to question and challenge the values and assumptions inherent in the text: they must don the mantle of the "dissenting reader" and apply what feminist biblical critics have termed a "hermeneutic of suspicion" to its content without denouncing the authority of the Bible as a sacred text.