So what is feminism? Are we (the humble writers) classing ourselves as feminists? Yes I guess we are, but not the men hating, bra-burning types who would regard the above quotation as the corner stone of their philosophy.

Being the rabid evangelical types and not particularly the quieter for our sex, we decided to look and see just what the Bible (as God’s word to each of us) says on the subject of what women can and can’t do. Preach it Caz …

What does the Bible say? But Bex, as the dear reader who was so absorbed in my testimony will realize, I have only been a Christian for 18 months and thus feel unqualified to answer such a controversial point. Secondly, as an enthusiastic Politics student I have just recently dropped the course that I was studying on feminism, and no longer attend Women’s Group (alas, I digress). However, I can certainly tell you what the Bible doesn’t say about the subject, from my reading of it.

• It does not say that men are in any way superior to women, and nor does it say that women are any better than men.
• It does not say that women do not have a place in the Kingdom of God.
• Finally, it does not say that God has favourites — we are all allowed into his presence through Grace, the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So you tell me what the Bible says, Bex …

Well, Caz, I reckon that the first few points are fairly fluffy, easy to understand and to accept.

• Women should be attractive by their character and spirit, not by trowling on their makeup and squeezing themselves into the smallest pieces of fabric imaginable. (1Peter 3:3 — a cultural interpretation!)
• A woman should submit to her husband, this is not to say she should endure cruelty or abuse, but that she should love him and respect him. In return the husband must love his wife as Christ loves the Church (i.e. lots!!) (1Peter 3:1–7)
• That the husband is the head of his wife but that men are as dependent on women as women are on men. (1 Cor 11)

This last couple might seem a smidge harsh but in practice, submission means something very different to the connotations which we give it nowadays. Submission is a loving and voluntary co-operation which you give because you love God and respect the roles He has given you and because you love your husband. It's not about treating your wife like an unpaid slave — sorry lads.

If and when I get married (form an orderly queue guys) I wouldn’ t have any trouble listening to and co-operating with a man who I knew loved me and the Lord and who could command my respect by his life and character. This all seems quite easy. I thought feminism and Christianity were incompatible. Ah … women in the church. That’s the tricky bit. What does the Bible say about it Caz?

Muchos thanking you Bex for the joy of writing this bit. Women in the Church, well, at a glance it appears that women should not even raise their voice in church. Is there more to it than this I ask? Indeed there is (why else would we bother to write an article otherwise?). The main passage that is generally quoted on the subject is 1 Timothy 2. This implies at first reading that women should not teach or have authority or speak in church. However, if you go back to the Greek in which it was first written, it says that rather than being silent, as a woman, one should be composed and quiet. But what of the teaching? In the times of early Jewish culture, women were not even allowed to study; could this be why they were not allowed to teach? We understand the dangers of arguing from a cultural perspective, but we think it is important to understand some of the reasoning behind Paul’s teachings. The danger in those times would be that women so carried away by their new freedom in the Church wouldn’t stop to consider whether their teaching was right or wrong, but would just enjoy the thrill of standing up in front of a large crowd. I wonder what dangers Paul would teach against in the Church today?

If we skim off all the nasty cultural references the Biblical writers were addressing we can see that the principles God wants us to abide by are neither feminist nor misogynist. They’re peoplist. God wants us to live in harmony with each other in mutual and loving respect — putting Him and others before ourselves.

Caz Snell and Becki Sykes