Monthly Archives: May 2013

Must Women Obey their Husbands?

corruptionThis topic of “obedience” to one’s spouse, co-mingled with “submission” to one’s spouse, has been a weapon the church has used throughout history to subjugate women to men. Throughout the many articles on this blog, I have consistently exposed the many “lies” that have been inserted into the English translation of the Bible in order to direct women everywhere to these two things. Religious men of old have consistently written women out of places of autonomy, equality, honor and dignity in the scriptures. As a result of this, women have borne the brunt of some of the most atrocious abuses known to man – sexual exploitation, rape, incest, murder, mutilation, isolation, psychological abuse and trauma, physical abuse, emotional abuse, etc.  Inequality will always lead to abuse. Knowing this, it is very important that the twisting of scripture, the lies, the preconceptions and the opinions of men be rooted out of the scriptures and the REAL TRUTH exposed regarding women. This said, the next topic I wish to cover is this: Must Women Obey their Husbands?

As Christian women, we have been taught from an early age that we MUST obey our husbands. Men interchange “obey” with “submit”. Because of this teaching, women have been domestically abused throughout history by their husbands. Many religious sects, like the one I came out of – –  the Independent Fundamental Baptists – – teach this very concept. Not only this, because of this teaching, this sect is filled with egotistical and self-centered men that throw their weight around and “bully” their wives into submission to them.  They have adopted the attitude of, “It’s my way or the highway!”  Or, worse, “Do as I say, or else!”  The pride and arrogance of these men lead them to publicly degrade women and treat them as though they are ignorant, subhuman beings that MUST have them and their “wisdom” and “direction” in order to exist.  Ignorantly, we have blind leaders leading the blind and, as a result, they both fall into the ditch. So, let’s talk about this subject.  Once again, I quote a Greek and Hebrew Scholar, Katherine Bushnell from 1923:

MUST WOMEN OBEY?

The word “obedience” hupakoe, is quite different from the word “subjection.” Its corresponding verb from which it comes, is hupakouo, and means literally, “to listen to,” with the derived sense of “to obey.” It has always been translated “obey” in the New Testament excepting at one place, Acts 12:13, where Rhoda comes “to listen to” Peter’s knocking. This word has been used nowhere in respect to the wife’s duty to her husband, with one safe exception, in an illustration. In 1 Pet. 3:6 the Apostle points women to the example of Sarah, who “obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord,” or “Sir, as the same is often translated (Matt. 13:27; John 12:21, etc.). So did Jacob call Esau “lord,” though it was God’s revealed will that Jacob should hold the place of superiority; and Aaron called Moses, his younger brother, “lord,” and Moses called the striving Egyptians “lords” (Gen. 33:8, 14; Exod. 33:22; Acts 7:26). There was a rabbinical saying which Peter may have known and quoted here: “The wife of Abraham reverenced him and called him lord.” It is to be noted that Peter’s admonition is “subjection;” his illustration is subjection carried to the point of obedience. When giving a pattern for incitement we are very apt to take an extreme case, “Be unworldly; as Francis of Assisi, a wealthy young man, who renounced all his inheritance, and lived on alms.” By these words the spirit of Francis is the point urged; not the literal copying of his acts. So with Peter’s words here. And that spirit becomes all Christians alike. “In honour preferring one another.”

As far as Abraham and Sarah are concerned, we are left in no doubt as to this relation of obedience and respect being mutual and reciprocal; God commanded Abraham to call Sarah by the very respectful name of “Princess,” Gen. 17:15; and the strongest passage in the Bible seeming to enjoin obedience, as between husband and wife, is at Gen. 21:12, “And God said unto Abraham. . . in all that Sarah saith unto thee, obey her voice.” The Hebrew verb used here, translated into English, “hearken unto,” is the same word translated “obey” at Gen. 22:18. It means “to listen to,” as does the Greek word “to obey,” but it has been translated “obey” in 89 places in the Old Testament, and carries the sense “obey” as proved by the context, in scores of other places, just as it does in this passage, concerning which there is no doubt that Abraham was to obey in what Sarah told him to do,– “Cast out the bondwoman and her child.”

The question naturally asked: “But in the unique relation existing within the marriage bond, is not the wife bound to unquestioning obedience?” We do not so read the Bible. Turn to Lev. 20:18, where exists a commandment to prevent unhygienic conduct within the marriage relation. There is no question here but that God held both man and woman equally responsible for trampling upon this hygienic law; and this could not have been the case had the wife been bound to unquestioning obedience to her husband in this matter. In both the Greek and the Catholic Church, we understand that in the marriage service the conditions laid upon the bride and bridegroom are identical. In the United States the word “obey” is seldom used in the marriage ceremony. If, under the Mosaic law, the obligations and responsibilities of the matrimonial relation were identical for man and woman, as the passage cited from Leviticus seems to prove, it is exceedingly difficult to believe that the Gospel message is meant to place women on a lower plane of moral responsibility than the Mosaic law did.

To sum up: It seems clear that Jesus Christ MEANT WHAT HE SAID in the words, “No one CAN serve two masters.” It amounts to an impossibility, and God never demands the impossible. Mutual respect, honour, humility, meekness, forbearance, and the yielding of one’s preferences, are incumbent upon all believers to be exercised under all circumstances short of making allegiance with man such as one owes to God only. Sarah made a greater declaration than her limited intelligence in that age could have fully grasped, but God ordered Abraham to act in accordance with its inexorable law: “The SON of the bondwoman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” Let us pass over the circumstances that led to that decision in the Household of Faith,– and an utterance on Sarah’s part that has been misunderstood and misjudged, but we have not space to enter into it now,– and learn the lesson of the words themselves. God establishes no covenant relations with one in bondage. Moses’ words to Pharaoh knew no variation: “Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may SERVE ME.” They could not BOTH serve the Egyptians as bondsmen, and God. “No one CAN serve two masters.” God would not take them into full covenant relations with Himself until they were FREE. It is so today. Thousands of Christians, held in bondage by human companions, are crying out for a clearer realization of covenant relations with God, and God’s demand is ever the same: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” God may remember His covenant with our fathers, but nevertheless we are NEVER in full covenant relations with Him until FREE. And this applies to women as well as to men. The freedom or bondage of the mother, moreover, both Sarah and St. Paul declare, shall determine the status of the son. No son of a bond-woman, because her spirit in him, can, as such, enter into full covenant relations with God. Fathers of sons, who hold their wives in sensual bondage, doom those sons to a personal sensual bondage. It is God’s own law, then, that one sex cannot get free and the other sex remain in bondage. It is impossible to understand the enormous extent to which all Christendom has been morally crippled in its progress by the attempt to keep the female sex in bondage, especially to the husband’s sensuality.

Let us remind ourselves again that when the women of apostolic times, who laboured with Paul in the Gospel, either listened to, read, or taught others from the text, Gen. 3:16, they must have understood and taught it as meaning, “Thou art turning away to thy husband, and he will rule over thee,”–for this is the reading of the Septuagint version, which they universally used, and this is the way early Church Fathers invariably quote the verse. These women would not have read, “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee”  (a corruption I have already exposed on this blog). Now without this verse, translated as we have it, and used as an index to Paul’s meaning when he talks on the “woman question,” we may well inquire how these women would have interpreted his words. What sense would Paul’s language about women have conveyed to women who had not been taught “the curse of Eve?” To women who never knew that Genesis taught (?) that God subordinated woman to man at the time of the Fall? To women who had never heard the Bible taught the wife to obey the husband, because Eve brought sin into the world? Or to a woman who had never heard that, according to the Bible, her “desire” must be under the husband’s control. Such was the condition of mind of the Gentile women, at least, who heard Paul’s letters read. They knew that their heathen religions taught that woman was her husband’s subordinate. But they did not have this teaching from Gen. 3:16, and if not from there, then they found it nowhere in the Old Testament. How differently they must therefore, have construed Paul’s language!

In place of such teachings as this about woman’s “desire,” they would have, rather, the recently uttered sayings of our Lord, standing out to their minds with startling clearness, because so unlike their Gentile teachings: “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them: and they that exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so.” They were not to look upon this exercise of authority as a benevolent thing, but quite the contrary. “No one can serve two masters,” then how could a woman “serve” her husband and her God? And how could her husband be a “benefactor” to her, while exercising authority over her? “Be not yet called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ. . . Neither be ye called Masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased.” What a totally different sense have such words as these! And these are the teachings which would be much in the mind and thought of those early Christians, because so recently uttered by their Divine Master.

– – Katherine Bushnell, 1923

The magnitude of the corruption in scripture regarding “women” is mind-boggling. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out WHY MEN have made these changes to write women out of power and authority, honor and dignity….they are self-serving and self-seeking. They desire all power and control. They want their sexual desires met however they so desire and want their women to shut up about it. Self-serving and self-centered men, show no mercy, compassion, ethics or morality when it comes to women. Not all men are this way, but enough are, and have been, this way, that it has cost women everywhere their FREEDOM in society, in marriage, and in the “church.”

Marriage is a partnership where there is equality, honor dignity and respect shared between partners. It is not a dictatorship that produces abuse and bondage. The church is the same way; yet, has become a dictatorship to the point of using unethical means to silence and shame women everywhere and keep them in bondage and out of leadership.

Do You Know the WARNING SIGNS of ABUSE?

There’s a lot of sexual abuse going on underneath the shroud of “religion.”  It’s time we all became aware of it so we can watch out for ‘signs of abuse’ and protect women and children from this abuse. Also keep in mind that domestic abuse is a HUGE part of religious abuse, especially, in fundamentalist religious sects. It’s time we became aware of what the WARNING SIGNS of abuse are.

Recognizing the warning signs of domestic violence and other abuse

It’s impossible to know with certainty what goes on behind closed doors, but there are some telltale signs and symptoms of emotional abuse and domestic violence. If you witness any warning signs of abuse in a friend, family member, or co-worker, take them very seriously.

General warning signs of domestic abuse

People who are being abused may:

  • Seem afraid or anxious to please their partner
  • Go along with everything their partner says and does
  • Check in often with their partner to report where they are and what they’re doing
  • Receive frequent, harassing phone calls from their partner
  • Talk about their partner’s temper, jealousy, or possessiveness

Warning signs of physical violence

People who are being physically abused may:

  • Have frequent injuries, with the excuse of “accidents”
  • Frequently miss work, school, or social occasions, without explanation
  • Dress in clothing designed to hide bruises or scars (e.g. wearing long sleeves in the summer or sunglasses indoors)

Warning signs of isolation

People who are being isolated by their abuser may:

  • Be restricted from seeing other family members and friends regardless of beliefs.
  • Rarely go out in public without either their partner (adult) or parent or guardian (child)
  • Have limited access to money, credit cards, or the car
  • Be restricted from going places (like the movies or the park) with friends, family or, other adults

The psychological warning signs of abuse

People who are being abused may:

  • Have very low self-esteem, even if they used to be confident
  • Show major personality changes (e.g. an outgoing person becomes withdrawn)
  • Be depressed, anxious, or suicidal
  • Become afraid of others, especially, of the authorities that are there to help them
  • May result to cutting themselves or hurting themselves
  • May result to drugs and alcohol

Speak up if you suspect domestic violence or abuse as a result of a religious organization

If you suspect that someone you know is being abused, speak up! If you’re hesitating—telling yourself that it’s none of your business, you might be wrong, or the person might not want to talk about it—keep in mind that expressing your concern will let the person know that you care and may even save his or her life.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do:

  • Ask if something is wrong
  • Express concern
  • Listen and validate
  • Offer help
  • Support his or her decisions
  • If it’s a child, contact Child Protective Services or the Police immediately

Don’t:

  • Wait for him or her to come to you
  • Judge or blame
  • Pressure him or her
  • Give advice
  • Place conditions on your support

Adapted from: NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence

If you suspect that someone you know is being abused, speak up! If you’re hesitating—telling yourself that it’s none of your business, you might be wrong, or the person might not want to talk about it—keep in mind that expressing your concern will let the person know that you care and may even save his or her life.

Do:

Ask if something is wrong
Express concern
Listen and validate
Offer help
Support his or her decisions if an adult

Don’t:

Wait for him or her to come to you
Judge or blame
Pressure him or her
Give advice
Place conditions on your support

If an adult: Talk to the person in private and let him or her know that you’re concerned. Point out the things you’ve noticed that make you worried. Tell the person that you’re there, whenever he or she feels ready to talk. Reassure the person that you’ll keep whatever is said between the two of you, and let him or her know that you’ll help in any way you can.

If a child: Call Child Protective Services or the Police right away! Child abuse and Child Sexual Abuse is rampant in this country and we must protect our children from it. Your silence may cost a child his life in the aftermath of the abuse.

Remember, abusers are very good at controlling and manipulating their victims. People who have been emotionally abused or battered are depressed, drained, scared, ashamed, and confused. They need help to get out, yet they’ve often been isolated from their family and friends. By picking up on the warning signs and offering support, you can help them escape an abusive situation and begin healing.

If you can think of other warning signs to add to this list, please feel free to do so by leaving your comment.

Paul’s Real Teaching as to Veiling – Part 2

truth_lieLately I have been covering the topic of Sex Bias in translation and how it has affected “meaning” of passages of scripture. These changes in translation have affected women throughout history in a very abusive way by subjugating them to men and their abuses. One of the many  teachings to help in subjugating women and taking away their power and authority and autonomy, is the following that I have been covering these last couple of weeks:  1 Cor. 11: 1-16

I would sincerely ask that you please click on these links to read the eight MISFITS of these verses by Hebrew and Greek Scholar, Katherine Bushnell: Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4.  Also read, Paul’s Real Teaching as to Unveiling – Part 1

Picking up where I left off in part one, we notice that Paul considers it his duty,  to go further, and tear away any remaining prejudice among Christian men, against women unveiling. Verses 7-9 are intended for this purpose, showing what “headship” in Christ means to the believer, and that woman’s relation to man is not unlike man’s relation to God (and woman’s to God also, for that matter), so that the same argument that would lead to his unveiling before God applies to her unveiling before man.

Verses 7-9 mean,–

7. For a [Christian] man ought not to veil the head because he is the image and glory of God. But woman is [also] the glory of man.

8. For man is not originally from woman [as from a despised and inferior source], but woman is from man.

9. Nor was the man created for the woman [to help her], but the woman for the man [to help him,–will cover what this means later.]

Poor, fallen, sinful man does not bear God’s image and likeness simply because he is a male! God is not male or female, so that one SEX bears His image more than the other. It is the glorified Jesus Christ who bears that image and manifests that glory (Heb. 1:3). It is only in HIM that humanity takes that standing before God. He is our Representative, our Head. It is because Christ, the Head of the redeemed man, is in heaven, there “to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24), that man is permitted to cast aside all tokens of guilt and condemnation on earth. As for us, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “But woman is the glory of man,” for she reflects credit on him. This is what the Apostle meant when he said of the Thessalonians, “Ye are our glory” (1 Thess. 2:19, 20); “glory” means “an outshining,”–the very opposite state of a veiled person. Read its Scriptural import in Prov. 17:6; 20:29; Psa. 3:3; Isai. 13:19; 20:5; 60:19; Ezck. 20; Luke 2:32; etc.

But why is Paul so interested in this matter as to veiling or unveiling in worship? In what way did it dishonour Christ? 2 Cor. 3:16-18, gives interesting light as to Paul’s teaching and Jewish practice. The Jew was expected to wear the tallith, in worship, as a sign of guilt and condemnation before the law; but Paul tells us that “When it (the Jewish nation) shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.” It was not the veil itself, but what the veil signifies to Jewish converts, that  made it objectionable. The atonement of Jesus Christ had removed guilt and condemnation, from the heart of those who trusted the sufficiency of the atonement. And growth in grace depended upon trust in the removal of these, and hence the unveiled face. “We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image, from glory to glory.” This truth applies to women as well as to men.

Verses 10-16 —

10. For this [additional] cause ought the woman to have authority over head [to unveil it] because of her angels [ who always behold God’s face].

11. Nevertheless, in the Lord, [i.e. among believers,] the woman is not [to be legislated for] apart from the man, nor the man from the woman.

12. For just as woman came out of man, so is man [born into the world] through woman and all Christians born of God. Judge of this matter among yourselves.

13. It is proper for a woman [at least] to pray unto God unveiled.

14. Nor is there anything in the nature of hair itself that teaches you that if a man wear it long it is a dishonour to him, while if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her, for her hair has been given her instead of a veil.

16. But if anyone thinks to be contentious [in defence of such a custom as either men or women veiling for worship], let him know that “we have no such custom, neither the Churches of God.”

We come now to the 10th verse, of which Dean Stanley says: “In the difficulty of its several parts, it stands alone in the New Testament, unless we except, perhaps, Rev. 13:18, or Gal. 3:20.” But the only difficulty encountered is to MAKE Paul say the precise opposite to what Paul clearly says here. That has indeed proved a difficult task. The real sense can be found through humility of spirit, where egotism fails. When the disciples asked the Lord which of them would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus set a child in their midst, and informed them that until they humbled themselves as such they could not even enter that kingdom. From the child He transferred the lesson to “one of these little ones that believe on Me,” i.e. to the believer humblest in rank among them, saying, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father who is in heaven,” Matt. 18:10. The words in verse 10 bear the translation, “because of her angels,” the definite article in Greek often having the force of a possessive pronoun, and thus the verse should have been rendered. Paul taught that “angels” were inferior in rank to redeemed man, 1 Cor. 6:3. They are ministering spirits to us, Heb. 1:14. Yet the most despised women’s angels stand before God, with no intervening veil, and behold His face. Shall not woman be permitted to do as much as her “ministering spirits” are allowed to do? Man unveils because Christ, his Head, is unveiled before God. woman “ought to have the right” to unveil because not only is Christ, her spiritual Head, unveiled before God, but man, her matrimonial head, also; and, if this were not enough, then her ministering spirits “do always behold the face” of God. This is the Apostle’s argument. Shall man attempt to require that woman veil out of respect for his authority (?) over her? Not when God does not require man to veil out of respect for God’s authority over man.

To meet the prejudices of man against woman, the Apostle has been obliged to discuss the sexes apart from each other, as though set in contrast, and he must now renounce this conception as unchristian. Verses 11 and 12 declare there is no such disunion “in the Lord,” but, as he says in Gal. 3:28, “There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (R.V.).

(Verse 13) Then the Apostle declares: “It is proper that a woman pray unto God uncovered.” This is Paul’s simple statement of fact, and not a question. Greek does not alter the order of the words of a sentence to distinguish a question from a simple statement, as we do in English. We only need to altar the punctuation (of uninspired and recent invention), to change from one to the other, since there is no interrogative word in the sentence.

(Verse 14) “Nor doth even nature itself [of hair] teach you,” etc. Our idiomatic English would say, to express the same idea, “There is nothing in the nature of hair itself to teach you,”–a simple statement that appeals to everybody’s common sense, while, as a question, this is an absurdity. The entire Chinese nation of men disproves the statement of theologians that Nature gives women long hair and men short hair. No artist would dare paint a portrait of Jesus Christ with short hair. Is His hair “a shame” to Him?

But why does Paul discuss hair here? Because he has just said it was a fitting thing for a woman to uncover the head in prayer, and Jewish women would find it most difficult to overcome a false sense of shame in doing so, or in seeing other women do so, since uncovering the hair in public amounted to proof of adultery in Jewish estimation (see Paul’s Real Teaching as to Unveiling – Part 1).

Then comes Paul’s concluding statement, that if anyone is going to contend for either sex veiling for worship, or women for modesty, “We have no such custom”–veiling,–though we may have to make allowance for it, out of regard for the welfare of women, to save them from “disgrace.” John Stuart Mill has wisely remarked: “To pretend that Christianity was intended to stereotype existing forms of government and society, and protect them against change, is to reduce it to the level of Islamism or of Brahmism.”

— Katherine Bushnell, 1923

Men have changed scripture to “force” women into a place of servility and submission to them. The Bible has been used for centuries to subjugate and control women only because MEN have translated their preconceptions and opinions into them for dominance and control. Power, control, Ego, pride and arrogance are the root causes for these changes, pointing women toward subjection and abuse.  It’s time for the truth to be told and the lies exposed. Women need to have their honor, dignity and autonomy restored and all the many “labels” placed on them by religious, self-centered and self-seeking men, removed once and for all. Do any of these changes “look to the benefit” of women? Think about it. Answer: No. They have all been done to the benefit of men.

Paul’s Real Teaching as to Veiling – Part 1

truth
Through translation, man has corrupted scripture in order to have power and control over women. The TRUTH we are taught regarding women, is nothing more than lies wrapped up with the palatable (for men) trappings of men’s interpretations, preconceptions and opinions.

Now that we have covered all the changes to these passages due to preconceptions and opinions of men, let’s look at the real meaning of the following passages. What one will realize is that women have been done a great injustice on this subject because of translation. Instead of these passages covering the truth, they have been “pointed” by translators to a LIE. . . a “subjugation and control” lie where women bare the brunt of the abuses, as a result. Here are the verses once again:

1 Cor. 11: 1-16 – The usual sense (not ours) put upon these words by expositors, beginning with verse 3, we give in the language of Dr. Weymouth’s Modern English translation:

(3) “I would have you know that of every man, Christ is Head,  that of a woman her husband is the Head, and that God is Christ’s Head. (4) A man who wears a veil praying or prophesying dishonours his Head; (5) but a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her Head, for it is exactly the same as if she had her hair cut short. (6) If a woman will not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair, but since it is a dishonour to a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her wear a veil. (7) For a man ought not to have a veil on his head, since he is the image and glory of God: while woman is the glory of man. (8) Man does not take his origin from woman, but woman takes hers from man. (9) For man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s. (10) That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels. (11) Yet, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man independent of woman. (12) For just as woman originates from man, so also man comes into existence through woman, but everything springs originally from God. (13) Judge of this for your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God when she is unveiled? (14) Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonour to him, (15) but if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because her hair was given to her for a covering? (16) But if anyone is inclined to be contentious on the point, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.”

I would sincerely ask that you please click on these links to read the eight MISFITS of these verses by Hebrew and Greek Scholar, Katherine Bushnell: Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4.

SO, WHAT IS PAUL’S REAL TEACHING AS TO VEILING?

The real purpose of these passages was to stop the practice of men veiling in worship, as Dr. John Lightfoot so ably contends. The Jewish man veiled as a sign of reverence before God, and of condemnation for sin. This sort of head covering was called a tallith, and is worn, to this day, “by all male worshippers at the morning prayer on week days, sabbaths and holy days: by the hazzan at every prayer before the ark: by the reader of the scroll of the law when on the almemar,”–so states the Jewish Cyclopaedia. The hazzan is the chief functionary of the synagogue, and the almemar is the reading-desk. The Romans also veiled in worship, and the Corinthian church was made up in large part of Roman converts. The testimony disagrees as to whether Greeks veiled in worship, or did not. The question therefore arose, were women to be forbidden veiling, as the Christian men, or not? Paul, in the passage, (1) forbids men to veil (since “There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”); (2) permits women to veil; (3) but guards against this permission being construed as a command to veil, by showing that ideally  the woman should unveil, before God, man, and angels; (4) shows that there is special propriety in women unveiling when addressing God in prayer; (5) declares that (contrary to the teaching of the Jews) there is nothing for a woman to be ashamed of in showing her hair, for it is a “glory” to her; (6) and disavows veiling as a church custom.

St. Paul’s words are to be interpreted as follows:

3. But I wish you to understand that of every [Christian] man Christ is the Head; but of a wife the husband is a head [also]; and God is Christ’s Head.

4. Any [Christian] man praying or prophesying, having his head covered [as is required among the Jews, in sign of guilt and condemnation] dishonours his Head [Christ, who has atoned for all his sins.].

5. But any wife praying or prophesying bare-headed dishonours her [other] head [her husband], for it would be one and the same thing as [having] her head shaved.

6. For [Jewish law provides that] if a woman is not covered, let her be shorn. Now if it would bring disgrace to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

First of all we wish to say, where the practice has ceased of veiling in sign of guilt and condemnation before God and His law, this whole teaching, in its literal sense, has no application; the veil has no significance, and can be worn or rejected in worship. But the spiritual teaching remains, that among those who believe that Christ has made for them a full and SUFFICIENT atonement, any badge that signifies guilt or penance for sin is out of place, for women as much as for men. This is the lesson for all Christians to learn. Women need to especially learn a lesson here; what have they to do with wearing a badge of servility to the male, because of Eve’s sin? Has not Christ atoned for Eve’s sin also? Does that remain as the ONE point where Christ’s atonement failed?

(Verse 3) We add the word “Christian”, to verse 3, because, as Chrysostom says: “He cannot be the Head of those who are not in the Body. . . so when he says ‘of every man’ one must understand it of believers.” We add “also” because woman could not be a believer at all, and in the Body, unless Christ were likewise her Head. The word used here and throughout this passage, for man, is aner, meaning “the adult male, or husband.” Dean Stanley rightly explains, “Anthropos [“man” without regard to gender] would have been the natural word to use with reference to Christ. . . but for the sake of contrast with ‘woman’ he has changed it to aner.” But there is further reason: according to the Oral Law of the Jews the aner alone was obliged to wear the tallith.

(Verse 4) “Every man (aner) . . . having his head covered dishonoureth,” not “his own head, by wearing the token of subjection,” as expositors say, but dishonoureth Christ. The symbolic language of “headship” having just been introduced, in all fairness it requires its application to what follows. Besides, Paul taught actual “subjection” of man to man, and to religious leaders, Eph. 5:21, 1 Cor. 16:16, and hence would NOT teach that the mere symbol of “subjection” was not to be allowed the male. The meaning is, “every man. . .having his head covered dishonours Christ his head,” by wearing the tallith.

(Verse 5) If I should describe how I had burned down a house, I should have small chance of escaping punishment by a mere denial, later, that I had done so. A sufficient proof that I had done the deed is “But you have even told HOW you did it.”  So here; a description by the person as to HOW a thing may be done nullifies the force of a seeming denial by that same person of that deed. Says Dr. A.J. Gordon: “It is quite incredible that the Apostle should have given himself the trouble to prune a custom which he desired to uproot, or that he should spend his breath in condemning a forbidden method of doing a forbidden thing.” These words prove conclusively to an unprejudiced mind that Paul DID NOT silence women praying and prophesying in the churches, as is claimed in the ordinary interpretation of 1 Cor. 14:34.

“Dishonoureth her head,” i.e., her husband rather than her own head, in analogy to the argument of verse 4. This is because she would lay herself open to the charge (before Jewish law at least), of being an adulteress, and such a charge is always considered dishonouring to a husband. In what sense it would amount to having the head shaved, the next verse explains.

(Verse 6) “For if the woman be not covered, let her be shorn.” Paul refers to the Oral Law of the Jews. Says Lightfoot: He “does not here speak in his own sense but cites something usual among the Jews.” It admits of proof that such was the Oral Law. A woman “sinner” is described in the Talmud as “she who transgresseth the law of Moses and the Jewish law.” The gloss explains: ” ‘The Jewish law, that is, what the daughters of Israel follow though it be not written” (i.e. the Oral Law). The question was asked: “How does she transgress the Jewish law? Answer: “If she appear abroad with her head uncovered, if she spin in the streets,” etc., etc., through a long list. For the offences here enumerated, one of which is uncovering the head, it is prescribed that the wife should be divorced “with the loss of her marriage portion.” (Kethuboth, fol. 7, col. I). Furthermore, in that section of the Talmud called “Sotah,” which treats of unchaste women, under the sub-head, Of the duty of Repudiation of a Wife for adultery, we learn that this DUTY rested upon a Jew whose wife was seen abroad with her hair “not don up”, i.e. not covered. Thus we learn that a Jew, even if favorably disposed towards his wife’s profession of Christianity, and towards the practice of unveiling in worship, might be compelled by his relatives or the synagogue authorities, much to his regret, to divorce his wife, if she unveiled. The rest of the story, as to what would be done with the woman who unveiled, and thus furnished sufficient proof of “adultery” to compel her husband to repudiate her, we learn from Dr. Edersheim’s Sketches of Jewish Social Life, p. 155: “It was the custom in case of a woman accused of adultery to have her hair shorn or shaven,” at the same time using this formula: “Because thou hast departed from the manner of the daughters of Israel, who go with their head covered. . . therefore that hath befallen thee which thou hast chosen.” An unveiled Jewish wife might, then, be tried for adultery; and when so tried, be “shorn or shaven.” Paul here cites this obstruction to commanding women to unveil, but her permits it (verse 10).

“Now if it is a shame,”–The word translated “but” (de) readily admits of the translation “now” in this sense, see Jno. 6:10, 19:23, 1 Cor. 15:50 etc. That is, if it be a case which disgrace and divorce would follow, she is permitted to cover the head,– “Let her be covered.”

A little historical evidence at this point ought to go a long way. If the Apostle, as is so often assumed, was accustomed to forbid women unveiling, how did it come to pass that women “sat unveiled in the assemblies in a separate place, by the presbyters,” and were “ordained by the laying on of hands,” until the eleventh canon of the Church Council of Laodicea forbade it, in 363 A.D.? I give the account in the words of Dean Alford in his comments on 1 Tim. 5:9; the same admission is made by Conybeare and Howson in their Life of St. Paul, and stands undisputed in church history. (to be continued)

— Katherine Bushnell, 1923

There is so much more to come on this topic that I must stop here and continue in another lesson. Please remember that thus far, what has been taught has been skewed to put women in a place of subjugation and control that the Bible did not authorize nor command.  History must be studied in conjunction with scripture to ‘unmask’ the MISFITS used by men to point women to a place of servility to men.  You won’t want to miss the continuence of this “unveiling” of the real meaning behind these passages! Please subscribe to the news feed so you do not miss the next article.

Sex Bias in the New Testament – The “Veil”- Part 4

genderbias2Taking up where I left off in Part 3, we will finish with Bushnell’s lesson, quoting what is taught in these passages by Bible commentators.  Once again, remember that we are talking about the following passages that have been changed by translators to point women toward powerlessness and servitude and, have exposed women to all manner of abuses from men.

1 Cor. 11: 1-16 – The usual sense (not ours) put upon these words by expositors, beginning with verse 3, we give in the language of Dr. Weymouth’s Modern English translation:

(3) “I would have you know that of every man, Christ is Head,  that of a woman her husband is the Head, and that God is Christ’s Head. (4) A man who wears a veil praying or prophesying dishonours his Head; (5) but a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her Head, for it is exactly the same as if she had her hair cut short. (6) If a woman will not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair, but since it is a dishonour to a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her wear a veil. (7) For a man ought not to have a veil on his head, since he is the image and glory of God: while woman is the glory of man. (8) Man does not take his origin from woman, but woman takes hers from man. (9) For man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s. (10) That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels. (11) Yet, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man independent of woman. (12) For just as woman originates from man, so also man comes into existence through woman, but everything springs originally from God. (13) Judge of this for your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God when she is unveiled? (14) Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonour to him, (15) but if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because her hair was given to her for a covering? (16) But if anyone is inclined to be contentious on the point, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.”

I would sincerely ask that you please click on these links to read the eight MISFITS: Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.

Dean Alford says, “Man is God’s glory: He has put him His majesty, and he represents God on earth; woman is man’s glory: taken from the man, shining not with light direct from God, but with light derived from man.”  Jamieson, Faussett and Brown, in their commentary, say: “As the moon in relation to the sun, so woman shines not so much with light direct from God, as light derived from man . . . Through him it [the veil] connects her with Christ.” But quaint old Dr. John Lightfoot, who at many points gives the best interpretation of the passage extant, is the funniest of them all on two phrases in it. He says, here, “A woman praying not veiled, as if she were not ashamed of her face, disgraceth man her head, while she would seem so beautiful beyond him, when she is only the glory of man; but man is the glory of God.” To be sure! When the “moon succeeds in outshining the “sun,” of which it is merely a reflection, it is time for the “sun” to cry, “Disgraceful!”

To sum up, these men affect to be more wise than Moses, who “whist not that the skin of his face shone.”

As to the veil, some declare that it is to be worn as an “authorization” to pray and prophesy; others, that it is a “power,” because worn by married women, who are raised in dignity because married. (How about the Christian wife of a libertine or drunkard?) But the attempt to substitute the idea of “subjection”– no power– for the word “power” is shameful. Prof. Lias, for instance, editor of the Cambridge Bible for Schools, for this Epistle, makes this remark:  “The abstract is put for the concrete, the authority itself for the token of being under authority.” If it be allowable to treat this verse so, then we may read elsewhere, “The Son of Man hath a token of being under authority,” instead of reading that He “hath power” to forgive sin. “Behold I give you power . . . over all the enemy,” might read, “Behold I give you a token of being under the power of the enemy,”–and other passages may be corrupted after the same manner. Edwardes, quoted by Weymouth and others with approval, substitutes “subjection” for “authority,” declaring, in explanation that “Authority and subjection are opposite sides of the same fact.” Certainly they are, and so are love and hate, black and white, honesty and dishonesty, the truth and a lie, and those who substitute “subjection” where the Word of God reads “authority” change the truth of God into a lie.

 As to the phrase, “because of the angels,” Bishop Ellicott’s commentary says, “They are good angels, and should not be tempted” by the sight of a woman’s face. Stanley adds to the thought by saying that women must defy the authority of even the angels before God’s throne. But if women had done so badly, no Christ would have been born; there would have been no Gospel for men to preach. To such views, Dr. Agar Beet rightly replies, “If the angels of God are in danger of being led into sin by the sight of a woman’s face, the angels of God are much weaker, in the matter of sensual desire, than are average Englishmen of the present day.” In all this, we are to SUPPOSE that angels are all of the MALE SEX (Note: The Bible says they are neither male nor female); that they cannot see through a woman’s veil; and that women have no other opportunities for “tempting angels” excepting when praying or prophesying in church. Others teach that the angels come to church to see if the women are veiled or not,–not the best motive for church-going. Still others, that “angels” mean “spies.” But Dr. John Lightfoot taught that these were seeking mates for young men; and St. Paul rules that girls have a right to unveil their faces, to catch husbands!

As to Paul’s transition from the veil to hair, in general the expositors ASSUME that the woman’s hair indicates where the veil should go, and translate the Greek preposition anti (always implying substitution, or barter) as “for,” when it should be rendered “instead of,”–“hair is given her INSTEAD OF a covering.” Alford gives us logic of this teaching:

“When we deal with the properties of the artificial state, of clothing the body, we must be regulated by nature’s suggestion: that which she has indicated to be left uncovered, we must so leave; that which she has covered, when we clothe the body, we must likewise cover.  This is the argument.” The italics are Alford’s. His reasoning is surprising indeed, when reduced to the syllogism,–as contradictory as most of the reasoning on this passage:

“That which Nature has left uncovered, we must so leave.” Nature has left the face of woman “uncovered.” Ergo: “We must leave” the face of woman “uncovered.” Again: “That which nature has covered, when we clothe the body we must cover likewise.” “Nature has covered” the face of man–with a beard. Ergo: “When we clothe the body” man “must cover” the face “likewise.”

Having convinced himself that Paul teaches in this passage the supremacy and splendour of the male sex, next the commentator grows ashamed of the weakness of the reasoning which leads to these conclusions, and apologizes, not for himself, but for St. Paul. The lameness of Paul’s logic  is due to “his early training in the great rabbinical schools.” “He is not free,” says Sir Wm. Ramsey (for example), “from the beliefs and even the superstitions of his age. . . In the non-essentials he sometimes, or often, remains impeded and encumbered by the tone and ideas of his age. . . The instructions which he sometimes gives regarding the conduct of women are peculiarly liable to be affected by current popular ideas. . . Where both angels and women are found in any passage, Paul is peculiarly liable to be fettered by current ideas and superstitions. (As though Paul had about a thousand passages relating to “angels and women” instead of one!)

The truth is, had some of these expositors been one-tenth as broad as St. Paul on the “woman question,” and honest besides, we should never have been taught these pitiful, puerile and ego-centric perversions of Paul’s meaning. If there had been any reasons for ordering women to veil in church, would not the Holy Ghost have seen to it that those reasons were properly voiced by the Apostle, whether Paul approved of the ruling personally or not? The Holy Ghost–the Spirit of truth–does not descend to sophistry, to induce women to do the will of God; and when we find sophistry in association with the Word of God, we may rest assured that it is always because of man’s UNLAWFUL MANIPULATION of the Word; it cannot belong to the original text. . .  (to be continued)

— Katherine Bushnell, 1923

The next lesson will be what Paul’s REAL purpose of these passages was. You do not want to miss the true meaning of these so that “what man has taught for truth” can be compared to “what God teaches” and the light of truth may shine and expose the corruption and lies of ego-centric men that changed his words into a lie– a lie that has caused women much suffering and hardship throughout history! It is time to expose the “doctrines and commandments of men” for what they are.  Please subscribe to the news feed so you do not miss the coming lessons!

Sex Bias in the New Testament – The “Veil” – Part 3

genderbiasFinally, the last two MISFITS are unveiled regarding these passages of scripture. Hopefully, one will realize that the changes made due to Sex Bias have had profound repercussions to women worldwide; especially those that still have to “veil” today due to men’s interpretations of “scripture.”  One must realize that men have kept women from translation and, have changed the original manuscripts, so that THEY can determine what the scriptures say regarding themselves and women. Without fail, men have made absolutely sure that they are written into scripture as the dominant and “most beloved of God,” people.  Rest assured, that women would not make changes that would be to their detriment and cause the sexual exploitation, abuse and subjugation that women have endured throughout history as a result. Let’s look at the last two MISFITS. Here’s the passages, once again, in question:

1 Cor. 11: 1-16 – The usual sense (not ours) put upon these words by expositors, beginning with verse 3, we give in the language of Dr. Weymouth’s Modern English translation:

(3) “I would have you know that of every man, Christ is Head,  that of a woman her husband is the Head, and that God is Christ’s Head. (4) A man who wears a veil praying or prophesying dishonours his Head; (5) but a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her Head, for it is exactly the same as if she had her hair cut short. (6) If a woman will not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair, but since it is a dishonour to a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her wear a veil. (7) For a man ought not to have a veil on his head, since he is the image and glory of God: while woman is the glory of man. (8) Man does not take his origin from woman, but woman takes hers from man. (9) For man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s. (10) That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels. (11) Yet, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man independent of woman. (12) For just as woman originates from man, so also man comes into existence through woman, but everything springs originally from God. (13) Judge of this for your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God when she is unveiled? (14) Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonour to him, (15) but if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because her hair was given to her for a covering? (16) But if anyone is inclined to be contentious on the point, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.”

I would sincerely ask that you please click on these links to read the first six MISFITS: Part 1 and Part 2.

The Seventh MISFIT

Verse 14 purports to be a question asking, “Doth not nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair it is a shame?” Now every candid person must answer this question with a “No.”  It is not nature, but a barber who keep’s man’s hair short.  In China, millions of men wear long hair, and nature has never taught them that it is a shame.  Furthermore, the last time the Corinthians saw the apostle Paul before he wrote this Epistle, he himself had long hair (Acts 18:18); and to the Jew, accustomed to religious vows (Num. 6:1-21), long hair, religiously speaking, was more of a “glory” than a “shame.”  Additionally to this, the native Corinthians would have thought this a strange question to submit to them, for they would boast that they were descendants of the “long-haired Achaeans,” celebrated as such on almost every page of that most famous and most ancient Greek Poem, Homer’s Iliad. Therefore we do not believe that St. Paul asked a question, here. His simple statement of fact, “Nor doth nature teach you,” has been changed into a question by the uninspired men who put in the punctuation marks centuries later than St. Paul wrote these words. As a question, this is a TREMENDOUS MISFIT. It contradicts a fact of nature; it makes St. Paul inconsistent in his practice with his teaching; it is an entirely unsuitable question to submit to Achaeans.

The Eight MISFIT

Verse 16, “We have no such custom.” What custom? Most commentator’s assume that this means, “We have no such DEFIANCE of custom, as women unveiling.” But this is not what Paul says, but the exact contrary. We cannot insert “defiance of custom” in the place of “custom” without introducing a contradiction. Paul is talking of some custom, which he repudiates. What is it? Veiling, of course; this is the only custom mentioned (unless it be that of wearing long hair, a custom for women; or wearing short hair, which was the usual custom for men,–and no one thinks it means these latter). Paul has been talking, almost wholly, of the custom of veiling, and he now says, “We have no such custom.” He renounces the custom. this verse cannot be easily reconciled with the teaching that St. Paul is here strengthening a prevalent custom.

Now we have discovered that every portion of St. Paul’s argument (if we change the punctuation of verses 13 and 14), and certainly his plain statement that women “ought to have authority” over their own heads, fits better to an argument for UNVEILING than for veiling. But there remain the statements in verses 5 and 6, where Paul says that the woman who unveils dishonours her head. Can they be explained to accord with the idea that St. Paul is not teaching the veiling of women? We promise a satisfactory explanation to that effect in due course.  But before we leave our present topic, we must consider how at variance with COMMON SENSE and true religion as well as sound logic is the whole tenor and spirit of this traditional MISINTERPRETATION of St. Paul. So true is this, that after standing for its teaching, as to the main points (those that appeal to the vanity of the male sex, and the love of dominion over the female sex), the men apologize that such (worthy) points are not supported by worthier arguments on the part of St. Paul,– as though the Holy Spirit could not have caused the Apostle to set forth God’s GOOD reasons for veiling women, had God wished women to be veiled!

To impress the need of a more intelligent interpretation of this passage, we must give some further idea of what has been taught by commentators. If after this general survey you want to cling to the traditional misinterpretation, then it will not be for the lack of knowledge that something better is sadly needed.

“The image and glory of God.” The comments here must needs remind one of the words of the Psalmist, “Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity.” Dr. Agar Beet says, “Man is an outshining of the splendour of God. By looking at him we see in dim outline what God is.” Dr. Kling, “Paul indicates the godlike rule and lordly majesty which the position of man as the head of his wife involves.” He explains the meaning of “the woman is the glory of the man” thus: “In her management as his housewife, the exalted position of man is manifest.” Men would have made precisely the same sense out of the words, doubtless, if Paul had said instead, “The man is the glory of the woman.” Dr. Cruden says, “Since God would have the male sex to be a kind of representation of His glory, majesty and power, a man ought not, by hiding his face, . . . to conceal the glory of God shining in him.”  Dean Stanley says, “Man, therefore ought to have nothing on his head which represents so divine a majesty–nothing on a countenance which reflects so divine a glory.” Dr. Adam Clarke says: “Man is, among the creatures, the representative of the glory and perfections of God. . . So woman is, in the house and family, the representative of the power and authority of the man.”  . . .(to be continued)

— Katherine Bushnell, 1923

As always, I must stop for brevity’s sake. These lessons need to be easy to read and quick to read. I will continue the last parts of Bushnell’s lesson in the next article entitled “Sex Bias in the New Testament – The “Veil” – Part 4.  If ever there was a Bible lesson that one needed to partake of, it would be these lessons on this topic of veiling that have caused women so much abuse throughout history and even today, the world over. Once I have covered the corruption in these passages, I will then show what Paul’s real teaching as to Veiling, is. Be sure to subscribe to my news feed so as not to miss these important lessons!

Sex Bias in the New Testament – The “Veil”- Part 2

veil debatesIn part one of “Sex Bias in the New Testament” I started covering passages of scripture that have been used for centuries to subjugate and control women. What people do not know about these passages, due to lack of education in Hebrew and/or Greek, is that men have changed the meaning of scripture through translation to insert their own preconceptions and opinions about women. They have substituted and/or changed words or, changed or added punctuation that will change meaning and take authority and power away from women. Many of these words that they substitute, have nothing to do with the original words in the manuscripts.  Thus, the end result being subjugation and abuse of women throughout history.

Since this is a long topic and I have eight MISFITS in these passages to cover, it is imperative that I break it up into several articles for ease of reading as well as for brevity. Let’s review the passages in question:

1 Cor. 11: 1-16 – The usual sense (not ours) put upon these words by expositors, beginning with verse 3, we give in the language of Dr. Weymouth’s Modern English translation:

(3) “I would have you know that of every man, Christ is Head,  that of a woman her husband is the Head, and that God is Christ’s Head. (4) A man who wears a veil praying or prophesying dishonours his Head; (5) but a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her Head, for it is exactly the same as if she had her hair cut short. (6) If a woman will not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair, but since it is a dishonour to a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her wear a veil. (7) For a man ought not to have a veil on his head, since he is the image and glory of God: while woman is the glory of man. (8) Man does not take his origin from woman, but woman takes hers from man. (9) For man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s. (10) That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels. (11) Yet, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man independent of woman. (12) For just as woman originates from man, so also man comes into existence through woman, but everything springs originally from God. (13) Judge of this for your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God when she is unveiled? (14) Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonour to him, (15) but if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because her hair was given to her for a covering? (16) But if anyone is inclined to be contentious on the point, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.”

I would sincerely ask that you please click on the link above for the first article to see the first three MISFITS. I will take up on Misfit #4 here.

The Fourth MISFIT

Verse 7 reads, “A man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God.” And so is woman, in precisely the same sense,– “In the image of God made He him, male and female made He them,” — and hence she ought not to cover her head. Any argument drawn from the “image” idea must apply surely quite as equally to woman, who was created at the same time as man, and by the same act (Read my chapter, “Male and Female Created He them”  in my book, Religion’s Cell: Doctrines of the Church that lead to Bondage and Abuse). It is the spirit of phallic worship which contends that this image inheres in physical sex, not the spiritual characteristics. And if a man ought not to veil before God because he is “the glory of God,” then woman should not veil before man because she is “the glory of man.” Here then is set forth again a double reason for women unveiling. . . Yet the commentator declares this an argument for the veiling of woman.

The Fifth MISFIT

Verses 11 and 12, if they mean anything, are an argument that men and women are to be dealt with exactly alike, are on precisely the same level “in the Lord” (that is, after they become Christians); these words cannot be fitted to an argument placing woman under the power of man, or legislating specially for her part from man, in the Church of God.

The Sixth MISFIT

Verse 13, “Judge in yourselves.” Rather, “among yourselves.” This phrase should end verse 12; see 10:15. According to the usual representation of conditions at Corinth, St. Paul would never have said this, in connection with verse 13, unless he meant that the men should judge for the women; and there is not a scrap of evidence that he meant any such thing, especially since he had already said that the woman ought to have authority over her own head. We will describe these conjectured conditions at Corinth in the words of Dr. Ernest Von Dobschutz, Prof. N.T. Theology in Strasburg University, written in 1904:

“Corinth was full of prostitutes. The temple of Aphrodite on the fort alone possessed over a thousand ‘hierodules,’ (temple slaves), a dedicatory gift to the goddess from men and women, as Strabo tells us. We cannot discover the character of the female element in the Christian church. It is very certain that many honourable women of better standing were Christians. . . But the Christian community could not have lacked persons who before their conversion followed dishonourable pursuits any more than it lacked slaves. . . Should the honourable matron, used to a strict morality, sit, not only next her slave, but also next a former prostitute? Should the former lay aside her veil, which she was accustomed to wear outside the house, or should the latter assume it? Were the freedom and equality with men, which were conceded in public life to the hetaira, to hold good, or the chase seclusion and subjection prescribed by usage for the honourable wife? the Gospel recognized the full equality of man and woman in religion, more clearly perhaps than was the case in pagan cults, or even in Judaism itself. Did not the claim of women to equality of position within the Church follow? As usual, the freer and more progressive tendency gained more acceptance.”

Then the writer draws a picture of the women all arrayed against Paul, proving themselves his worst enemies in the Corinthian church, and adds:

“He (Paul) becomes impassioned whenever he has to speak of their ’emancipation,’ which nothing could bring to reason . . . Paul insists on veiling.  He declares their position of subordination “demands an external sign, ‘because of the angels’ lest they [the angels] should lust after the woman, who belongs to her husband alone.”

Let us women exercise a little common sense here. These temple women, dedicated to the goddess of sensuality, Aphrodite, were slaves. They went bareheaded, having shaved heads. Some were supposed to have been converted, and to have entered the church; and the question arises, shall the “honourable women of better standing” be allowed to copy slave-prostitutes in dress and manners? They are determined to do so, and defy Paul’s authority, while the latter “becomes impassioned whenever he has to speak of their ’emancipation’.” Could anything be more ridiculous? Free women, because emancipated, wishing to imitate slaves! Imagine women of our Southern States, after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, or their own enfranchisement, being provoked thereby to copy the dress of the negresses!

This is all pure conjecture.  There is not a scrap of historical evidence that the women at Corinth wished to unveil, and there exists considerable evidence to the contrary. But were it true, and St. Paul had such difficulties to contend against, then he would never have said, “Judge in yourselves,” but “The men alone must judge for the women.”

We believe that the remainder of the verse is a simple statement: “It is comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered.” Moses, when veiled before the people, always unveiled when he went back into the Tabernacle to commune with God,–Ex. 34:34; Thence Paul rules that the women, even if not free to unveil before men, will be doing a very proper thing to unveil before God (2Cor. 3:18). We must bear in mind, here, that a change from question to statement does not involve the change, in Greek, of the order of words, (such as from “is it” to “it is”); and punctuation is a matter of more recent days than Paul’s time.

— Katherine Bushnell, 1923

(To be Continued)

Venn Diagram for Spiritual Abuse – By David Hayward

David Hayward is the “nakedpastor”: A graffiti artist on the walls of religion. He is also the artist that drew the artwork on the cover of my book, Religion’s Cell: Doctrines of the Church that Lead to Bondage and Abuse.  He draws satire and reveals truths through his art that many are afraid to speak aloud. His latest artwork hits home as always.  You can view more of his work on his website by clicking here – nakedpastor

venn diagram
“Venn Diagram for Spiritual Abuse” by nakedpastor David Hayward

I have been in and observed spiritually abusive situations. I think this diagram generally represents most of them. I can identify with all of them. You?

I have entrusted myself, willingly, to leaders I admired. Even loved. I wanted to serve them, help them, and further their ministry. I believed in it. I was on board, on the same page, riding the same bus to the same destination. I voluntarily and enthusiastically signed up.

I have also entrusted myself to leaders because I felt that I should. They were my pastors or my teachers or my leaders. Sometimes even my bosses. I agreed to the terms and conditions and, because it was the right thing to do and because I was being paid by them, I therefore submitted myself to their authority.

I have also entrusted myself to leaders because I didn’t feel that I had a choice at the time. The situation was so complicated and my family or friends were so enmeshed in the system and I was so enmeshed with my family or friends that I couldn’t see a way to extricate myself from it all. The best way that I could see my way through at the time was to stay, not rock the boat, and wait for the prime opportunity when it presented itself to get the heck out of there.

This is all from my perspective. But the other ingredient is the leader’s belief that he can use that. . .

To read the rest of this story, click here – nakedpastor

Sex Bias in the New Testament – The “Veil”- Part 1

veilUnderstanding the impact that these seemingly minor changes in scripture have had upon women is vitally important. Women everywhere suffer bondage and abuse because of these changes made in translation. This is why I continually point out the changes that translators made due to Sex Bias.  The wrongs that have been done to women are huge as a result of these changes. They have affected every woman worldwide for centuries. Because of the many changes that translators have done, the Bible has become a weapon used to abuse women without recourse to the abuser.  It’s time for people to wake up to these changes and give women their proper authority, equality, honor and dignity back– as men stripped these things from us through translation. In the following passages of scripture that are used to subjugate women, Bushnell exposes the changes made by translators to write women out of equality, power and authority. There are a total of EIGHT changes that will be covered in subsequent articles that unveil the truth of what these passages really mean and how men’s changes in translation, give them all power and control over women.

Exousiathis word occurs 103 times in the N.T. It is rendered “authority” 29 times; “power” 69 times; “right” twice; and once each “liberty,” “jurisdiction,” and “strength.”

Its meaning is patent; there is no mystery about the word. But in one single instance it happens to be used exclusively of woman’s power. Here at once its sense is called into question. It cannot be possible that women should have power! (sarcasm intended) In the margin the translators write the longest note to be found in all the Bible (see A.V.) to explain how Paul means that this “power” must be abdicated by woman, in order that her HUSBAND may assume it instead.  How typical of men to do this in scripture. Let’s talk about this misfit, and others, that rob women of power and gives that “power” over to their husbands. These are only small changes in translation, BUT, with HUGE consequences for women everywhere.

1 Cor. 11: 1-16 – The usual sense (not ours) put upon these words by expositors, beginning with verse 3, we give in the language of Dr. Weymouth’s Modern English translation:

(3) “I would have you know that of every man, Christ is Head,  that of a woman her husband is the Head, and that God is Christ’s Head. (4) A man who wears a veil praying or prophesying dishonours his Head; (5) but a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her Head, for it is exactly the same as if she had her hair cut short. (6) If a woman will not wear a veil, let her also cut off her hair, but since it is a dishonour to a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her wear a veil. (7) For a man ought not to have a veil on his head, since he is the image and glory of God: while woman is the glory of man. (8) Man does not take his origin from woman, but woman takes hers from man. (9) For man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s. (10) That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels. (11) Yet, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man independent of woman. (12) For just as woman originates from man, so also man comes into existence through woman, but everything springs originally from God. (13) Judge of this for your own selves: is it seemly for a woman to pray to God when she is unveiled? (14) Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonour to him, (15) but if a woman has long hair it is her glory, because her hair was given to her for a covering? (16) But if anyone is inclined to be contentious on the point, we have no such custom, nor have the churches of God.”

THE FIRST MISFIT

Now please note, first of all, that at verse 10, first clause, Dr. Weymouth substitutes something totally different from what the text says. The text reads, “ought to have power,” while Dr. Weymouth, following the usual interpretation, says, “ought to have . . . a symbol of subjection.” The original word for “power,” here, is exousia, meaning authority, right; the same word for “power,” and preposition for on, epi, (often translated “over”), with the same construction, will be found in many places,– for instance, Rev. 11:6, “They have power over waters to turn them to blood.” and likewise in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the sentence, “The Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” Furthermore, the original text here has never been called into question; the reading is as simple as it could possibly be, “The woman ought to have power over [rendered “on” in the English Versions] her head.” No scholar questions this.

At this place, the Authorized Version (KJV) introduces the longest Marginal Note to be found in the whole Bible. Where Paul says, “ought to have power,” the Note reads, “That is, a covering in sign that she is under the power of her husband.” This is certainly a most extraordinary substitute for the words of Scripture. Had it read merely, that she was to be “under power,” even that would have been a contradiction of the explicit statement of St. Paul; but they add to this contradicting thought: The woman is not only expected to yield to authority, instead of wielding authority, but also to “wear a sign” that she renounces the authority Paul gives her. and not only is she to renounce that authority, but to renounce it in favour of a particular person, — her husband. The BIBLE–St. Paul–says nothing of this sort, but the Marginal Note, and the Bible Commentators teach it.

For our part, we think it suspicious because that husbands, not wives, have discovered this extraordinary meaning for St. Paul’s words. If indeed a woman should wear “a sign of subjection” (and scholars can produce no Scriptural proof that a veil is a sign of subjection), then why should it not rather be a sign of subjection to God, whom she serves in prophesying, or whom she addresses in prayer?  Why is the husband thrust in by husbands, at this point? Dr. J.W. Thirtle makes the sensible remark here, “The context puts in no plea for anyone outside of the woman: it is THE WOMAN’S OWN AUTHORITY that is in question, and the Apostle defends it with his decisive OUGHT.” [The capitals are Dr. Thirtle’s.]

This phrase in verse 10 is manifestly a conclusion–ergo–of all the foregoing arguments of the passage. . . Paul was a highly intelligent person who knew how to argue a point. To pretend that he could not express what he wanted to say here in plain words is quite ridiculous. Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit. These commentators are not. For this reason, we must yield at once that verse 10 means what it says, and we dare not reject its teaching for the “vain traditions of men.”

[But this is not the end of the misfits in these passages of scripture! Let’s look at two more:]

THE SECOND MISFIT

As to the clause of verse 10, “because of the angels,” a very common explanation, given by Dean Stanley for instance, one of the Translation Committee that produced our Revised Version, is that the angels and women fell into sin together, and therefore, he says, “Women ought not to part with the sign that she is subject, not to them, but to her husband. The authority of the husband is, as it were, enthroned visibly upon her head, in token that she belongs to him alone, and that she owes no allegiance to any one else besides, not even to the angels who stand before God’s throne.” This teaching (1) contradicts  Heb. 2:2. “The word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward.” (2) It assumes that angels are MALES, whereas they are sexless,–Mark 12:25. (3) We have already disposed of the superstition that angels sinned with women. (4) Christian women belong to Christ, who purchased them with His own blood,– not to their husbands.

THE THIRD MISFIT

Verse 4. Commentators set forth two or three views here: Men dishonour their own heads by wearing “a token of subjection.” If so, then Christ dishonoured His head when “He took on Him the form of a servant.” Why are not men called upon to imitate Christ’s humility? Another view is, that BECAUSE Christ is man’s Head man must not veil in His presence. This is more nearly correct. But if man must unveil before Christ, because Christ is man’s Head, in the same sense Christ is woman’s Head, and therefore she will dishonour Him unless she unveils in His presence. And if it is because of “headship,” then, since man is woman’s head, she should, for the same reasons, unveil before man. Here then is a double reason why women should unveil.

But next, in verses 5 and 6, we come to a clear statement which has given occasion for the assumption that Paul is arguing for the veiling of women, not against their veiling. Can we get an explanation for the words, “Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head.” which can be reconciled with St. Paul’s logic for unveiling? We promise a satisfactory explanation in due course. Please note that the penalty, “Let her be shown or shaven.” is softened to “let her cut off her hair,” by Dr. Weymouth, though it is not at all what the words mean. It is too much, even for these hardy expositors, to claim that Paul actually commanded the church to punish unveiled women after this fashion.

— Katherine Bushnell, 1923

(to be continued)