It also indicates that an unmarried woman is her father's "property" and a married one is her husband's. It says that if a man rapes an unmarried woman, he has to pay her father a compensation and has to marry her. The woman does not get a choice in this matter. However, if a man rapes a married woman, his punishment for this is death.
This is an extract from a letter send to the Church by Timothy (2:8-15)
"In every church service I want the men to pray…women should learn in silence and all humility. I do not allow them to teach or to have authority over men: they must keep quiet. For Adam was created first, and then Eve…it was the woman who deceived and broke God's law. But a woman will be saved through having children, if she perseveres in faith, love and holiness, with modesty."
I think this suggests that men want women to do as they're told and not complain about it. They should be invisible in the Church and learn from men. They think this is the women's punishment for betraying God through the devil. People often justified with these attitudes by saying that according to the book of Genesis, it was the woman Eve who first introduced sin into the world. This is supposed to show how weak women are. And the only way they would be saved is through having children.
St Clement of Alexandria quoted " Every woman should be overwhelmed with shame at the thought that she is a woman." - I think this quote is very controversial, as women nowadays are more improved and developed in knowledge so they are as good as men. I don't think there could be any woman in the U.K. wishing that she was the opposite sex, or maybe it is very rare. Women should be proud of themselves now, they've gotten so far, relying only on themselves. They've become more independent don't wish to have a family until they've finished their career.
Some feminists would argue that even Jesus was guilty of sexism himself:
- Jesus called God "Father", but God is a spirit: God cannot be either male or female. By calling God "Father", Jesus was making men out to be more like God than woman were.
- Jesus did not choose any women to be among his closest disciples. All of the apostles were men.
But Christian feminists accept that the history in the Bible says that:
- The Book of Genesis makes it clear that women and men are both made in "the image of God" (Genesis 1:27).
- Jesus was also friends with women.
- Several times in the Old Testament, God is pictured in female terms.
I think Christianity needs to go through itself again and explore the feminine ways of God. People have made out that God is more like men than women, but this is wrong. In general, I don't think Christianity is very supportive of women, for example, if they were, they would let women become priestesses. It only encourages them to marry and obey their husbands and start a family with them.
