Feminism

Before you begin, take a look at the SPIRITUAL LAWS section; it could change your life; if I got rid of every other page on this site, it would still remain.

I created Go.to/BiblicalEquality as an activism project for my Images of Women class at Vanderbilt.  As a Bible-believing Christian, I have noticed that many people misconstrue passages about women; we really don't take the time to fully understand what scripture says about biblical gender equality.  I wanted to make this website because I feel like many Christians on this campus separate their Christian beliefs from their feminist beliefs.

Most people feel that these two sets of values are mutually exclusive, but as a feminist, I believe that we can embrace both ideologies. There are so many controversial issues in the Bible that we can really learn from and form opinions about by studying relevant passages carefully (looking up the original translations, hearing others' opinions, and asking for guidance from the Spirit).  Truthfully, I have not yet formed a decisive stance on the issue of biblical equality.

I do struggle with believing that men and women can have identical roles.  My reasoning is twofold.  First, the many passages about a "husband ruling over her wife", and even God being a "He" and "Him" (see my word study) lead me to believe that God has set up a hierarchy in the home, even though husband and wife need to both love and submit to each other with the utmost respect.  Every group, business, or family needs a leader; has God appointed men to this task in the home?  The other part to my belief is based on what I have observed in life - how most women are physically weaker than men and that even psychologically, men and women think differently.  However, the questions raised in my women's studies class have helped to examine my traditional observations.  I truly feel that our patriarchal society has programmed us to believe that men somehow have the upper hand over women.  It is a sad fact, and I hope and pray for a better understanding of issues about gender equality in the Bible.

I believe that there is one truth out there.  However, as Job learned from God after losing everything but his life and as Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians (3:20), God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."  That is the greatest and most exciting thing about faith.  I am assured of my salvation, but it is empowering to know that we can strive for the knowledge that God has about everything.  I am so thankful for a God that forgives misunderstandings and mistakes like that.  Our imperfection (mostly because of our selfishness) separates us from God's greatness, but we have Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension to reconcile us and give us life more abundantly!

I will admit that I do not know of any gender equality websites for other faiths, but I certainly welcome your input (feel free to post a message on the forum, sign my GuestMap or e-mail me).  To reiterate, you can read more of my thoughts on religion in the SPIRITUAL LAWS section as well as in my main Beliefs page.

This sub-site currently consists of a list of controversial passages and gender equality issues and of religious feminist books, links to articles, links to informative websites and a FORUM!

• Good News - I believe that, for all people, faith in Jesus Christ is our only access to the fullness of God and salvation.  The legitimacy of Jesus' claims lies in the power of his resurrection.  All have sinned (made mistakes) and our only redemption is to believe that Jesus died to take the place of all these sins!  What a gift!  "Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." ^{Rom. 6:4}  Fortunately, God alone judges us - our salvation does not depend on what other people think about us, where we go to church, what race or culture we consider ourselves to be a part of, nor the good (or bad) things we do in life.  Faith in Jesus is the only requirement.

• God(s) - I believe that there is one god whose name is Yhwh (Hebrew; often translated "LORD").  At just the right time, this same god appeared on earth as Jesus Christ.  Again, mysteriously, this same god is also active all over the world as the Holy Spirit.  These three "personalities" are usually called the Holy Trinity even though this concept is only alluded to in the Christian Bible.

• Authority - I believe in the perfect truth of the Christian Bible.   I do not believe in "literalism" (interpreting passages only explicitly), but instead that God authored every letter of the Hebrew and Greek Bible (Protestant canon) through the hands of people.  The Bible is God's living message to the world which points to Christ from beginning to end.  John 1 describes Jesus as logos (Greek; often translated "word").  The Bible also charges us to follow its teachings and to spread the gospel (the message of Christ) accordingly.

• World Philosophy - I believe in choice.  God wants everyone to have salvation, but God is also patient.  God is present in everyone's heart, but only gives salvation to those who choose to receive it.  While we clearly live in a Post-Modern world (belief that there is no one truth), I feel that if one adheres to the Christian beliefs of the Bible, that person cannot logically follow Post-Modernism.  This is a very exclusive and offensive claim to most, but again, only God can judge the inner thoughts and intentions of people. For this reason, I myself have no right to condemn or judge other people's beliefs and actions even though I claim that Christianity is the only truth.