What strikes me most about the reading of chapter 30 is that people would change the words of the Bible. People changed these words because of their own views and because of their own time. I feel that if people today were to also change the Bible to portray today's views there would be an addition of more feminist roles. In one section of this reading it was stated that at least one early Christian scribe took offense at women exercising leadership roles, and so he inserted the words of 1 Cor. 14:35-36 into Paul's letter, to indicate that women were to remain silent and submissive, even though Paul himself allowed for women to participate fully in church and to have leadership roles.1 This excerpt supports the belief I had prior to attending this class. I always thought that God did not dislike women to be affiliated with the church and that instead the non-feminist views of the Bible were written by men that came from a culture that felt women should not be a major part of the church. Writings like this make women think that there are not any writings in the Bible that focus on the greatness of the woman. "I sang them the Resurrection troparion from the leaflet: Ό women, be the heralds of good news " All of this stunned the three seminarians. These women said they would not have believed it if they had not seen the printed materials with their own eyes."2 The above quote comes from a woman that visited a church where women were upset that their church did not focus on the roles of women in the Bible. If this were to be rewritten today I believe that this excerpt would be changed in many of the Bible's in America because the people of America fight for equal rights of all humans. Today in America there are also many women who take on important leadership roles in the church. I feel that changes to the Bible will continuously be made because cultures and views continuously change.
[1] B. D. Ehrman, The New Testament (4; New York; Oxford; 2008), 494.
[2] C.B. Brown, “Women and the church in the new millennium,” SVTQ 52:3-4 (2008), 243-4.
Bibliography
Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament. Fourth Edition. New York: Oxford, 2008.
Tkacz, Catherine B., “Women and the church in the new millineum.” St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 52:3-4 (2008): 243-274
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