Is Christanity a male-dominated religion?

True, and it also teaches that a man should be head of the household - what’s your point - many, many women are also in the Bible.

committedchristian, why did you say J-w? Is that a naughty word to you? Pfft. (Oh, now I see, because it’s a BANNED WORD! WTF?! No one was using it in a derogitroy way, were they?!)

captainassassin, I agree with your replies, and your second one made me giggle. :)

As a Pagan, I believe in a main god and goddess. (And many others, haha!) We believe that men and women are equal; in fact, in most Pagans believe that the woman is the most powerful of the two genders. It’s different for every Pagan though, I suppose…

Anyway…

What about all the women in the bible that get such a bad rap? Eve bit the apple; Delilah cut Samson’s hair; Mary Magdelene was supposedly a (I used a different word for this, since it was more technical for back then, but it was also a ‘banned word.’) slut; and dare I quote Kurt Vonnegut in “Slaughter House Five”: “Lot’s wife was told not to look back. But she did, and I love her for that, because it’s so human.”

Hmmm…

Personally, I believe that Christianity as a whole is male dominated religion. Yes, there are some wonderful female saints and prophets and what have you, but where do women stand today in the religion today? You’re either a follower or a nun. Yay. Nuns are actually quite amazing; who would want to live a life of chastity and sensible underwear? I certainly couldnt’!

It’s a male-dominant religion, because it was founded in a male-dominant time period. Also, religions in general tend to be resistent regarding the concept of change.

Dear ravireuben,

It is true that we have a male image, the Father, for the first person of the trinity, but that does not mean God is male. We also use female images for God: in the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15: 8-10), the image for God is the housekeeper. Another such image: Jesus in Matt 23:37 speaks of wanting to gather Israel as a hen gathers her chick under her wings. Or Deut 32:18, where it uses both genders: You forgot the Rock who begot you, the God who gave you birth. And there is the image that many see as a forerunner of Christ himself: the woman Wisdom, as we see often in the wisdom books, including for example Wisdom 6, 8, 10. True, these are a handful of female images among the plethora of male ones.

Also, while all the authors of the books that we know one way or the other are male, there are others we simply don’t know. Was Malachi, “My Messenger,” a man or woman? Some also say the author of the first kernel of the Pentateuch, the “Yahwist” document, may have been a woman of the time of Solomon.

We do know of prophets who were women. The clearest of several cases: in 2 Kings 22:14-17, the king and his officials consult Hulda the prophetess, at a time when we also know Jeremiah was a prophet. It seems that God is not limited to speaking through only men.

Then there is Mary. The Orthodox and Catholics certainly revere her as the greatest saint of all, the person most perfectly aligned with God’s will and plan. Indeed, without her agreement, when she said, “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38), God would have had to find some other way to set salvation into motion.

Also, consider the cultures of the time. They were all male dominated. Only men, for the most part, were educated enough to read, and only 10% or less of them at that! We bear that tradition, and continue to try to understand and grow beyond the limits of it, but that does not mean that we do not appreciate the gifts and contributions of women. One of Pope John Paul II’s encyclicals was precisely on the role and gifts of women. Perhaps we still have a way to go, but Christianity is not irredemably masculine.

Christianity, historically speaking, is male dominated, as were and are almost every culture, institution, and people. That is the reality we must struggle with and deal with. However, it need not be. If we take the Gospel seriously, we will have a change of heart, our leaders will be the ones who serve, and we will find ways to restore a true equity among all people so that, in Christ, there will be neither male nor female, slave or free, Greek or J-w, but that each person’s gifts will be respected and valued. I guess my point is that, yes, we do have male dominance, but it is not (quite) as complete as ravireuben describes, nor is it inevitable that it remain that way. There are signs of hope, if only we Christians take our profession seriously and live faithful to Christ’s call.

Why would God be a male or female anyway? he/she/it doesn’t have the appropriate plumbing, nor need them…

first of all i think gods a woman and yes i feel that religions are male dominated