Written by Paul to the churches in Galatia, this means that Christians need to treat everyone equally, no matter of their nationality, social status or gender.
Revelations 7:9 “from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the lamb”
Revelations is the book of the Bible depicting the apocalypse and the final battle between Satan and God written by John. This quote means that at the end of the world, everyone, regardless of race or nationality, stands before Jesus to be judged.
Luke 10:25 - THE GOOD SAMARITAN (30-35) “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when e saw him, he took pity o him.
He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
The next day he took out two silver coins and gave tem to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’”
This is a parable from Jesus as an answer to the question: ‘who is my neighbour?’. As an answer, this means that anyone who has mercy on you is your neighbour, and you should have mercy on others. The Samaritan is used as the neighbour because the society Jesus lived in didn’t like the Samaritans. Jesus was telling them that Samaritans, a different race, can help them and they can help the Samaritans back.
Conclusion
From the Bible quotes, it seems that Christians are taught to believe that prejudice and discrimination are wrong and that everyone should be treated equally and with respect.
CHURCH TEACHINGS
Conservative (Roman Catholic)
Racism
The Conservative churches oppose racism and in 1965, the Roman Catholic Vatican Council announced that there should be no discrimination on basis of ‘race, colour, condition in life or religion’.
Sexism
The Conservative churches are generally against female ordination. This is because they believe that priests should be representatives of Jesus, and Jesus was male, therefore priests should be male too. Also, Jesus’ 12 disciples were all male so, again, the leader of a church must be male too.
In the Bible, in 1 Corinthians, Paul suggests that women should not be leaders:
1Corinthians 14:33-35 “As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. Hey are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to enquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”
Also in 1 Timothy he suggests that women should not be involved in church:
1 Timothy 2:11-15 “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was no deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But woman will be saved through childbearing-if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.”
However, Christians of this view do say that women are ‘equal but different’. This is shown in Galatians 3:28: “there is neither Jew nor Greek…male nor female, for you are all one in Christ”. This means that men and women are equal before God but good at different things. In Romans 16, there is a list of people whom Paul wants the church in Rome to greet. Some of the people on the list are female, and Paul says they help in the church: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus” Priscilla is Aquila’s wife. The fact that Priscilla is written before Aquila suggests that Priscilla has a prominent role in the church or that she has a higher social position and this is the same in other parts of the Bible. This contradicts Paul’s comment that women should not have roles in the church.
The Roman Catholic Church does not allow female priests as they believe a priest is a representative of Christ. Women can, however, lead prayers ad read the Bible, although they can’t read the gospels. Women cannot teach or give sermons.
The sexual ethics of the Roman Catholic Church reflects a sexist attitude. For example, the Roman Catholic Church does not allow contraception or abortion, when the people involved who end up with the results of these rules are women. And women aren’t allowed to be priests, so can’t go on the Vatican Council and change these rules from a woman’s point of view.
Liberal (Church of England/Protestant)
Racism
The Protestant Churches also oppose racism.
- The Church of England’s General Synod has two committees: Race and Community Relations, and The Committee on Black Anglican Concerns.
- The Baptist Church opposes discrimination and work to bring about the Kingdom of God, which is living Jesus’ values and using his teachings.
- The Methodist Church says that ‘whatever our skin colour or background we are one in our common humanity and one in Christ’. The Methodist Church also believes that racism is a ‘direct contradiction of the gospels’.
- The Quaker denomination was formed t the same time as the campaign for the abolition of slavery. They say that ‘being aware of injustice and doing nothing about it condones the injustice’.
Sexism
The more Liberal churches are generally in favour of female ordination. This is because in the Bible, Jesus had high regard for women for example in John 8:1-11, Jesus forgave a woman caught in adultery who was sentenced to stoning. They also believe that the 12 male disciples in the Bible were not literal and only symbols of the 12 regions of Israel and that, really, there was many more followers, some of whom were women. This would mean that priests didn’t have to men because the 12 disciples were men. Women are also much better at the caring side of being a priest.
The letters from Paul to the church in Corinth and to his friend, Timothy, need to be read in context. The situation in Corinth was very different to our society today and the Corinthians needed strict rules to ring them from a life of sin to a life with God.
The Church of England, Methodist and United Reformed Churches allow female priests. In 1992, the Church of England’s General Synod allowed female ordination, which caused some Church of England churches to join the Catholic Church.
Conclusion
My conclusion from this is that, generally, Christians believe that prejudice and discrimination is wrong and the Roman Catholic Church supports their sexism in the church by saying that men and women are equal but different
