Women in the Church
Dear CF - This is part one
I guess the other thread on women that was closed brought this to mind. Being a newcomer I didn't get a chance to post there. I wanted to because I have new information for you to consider. This post is just a preface to the subject in order to establish the historical problem of the supression of women.
A former pastor once said, "Rather than look at how far people need to go, look back to see how far they have already come." Here are some quotations for us to ponder as we take that look backward in time.
Here is a sampling of the common male attitude toward women over the millennia.
"Whoever teaches his daughter the Torah is like one
who teaches her obscenity. Rather should the words of the
Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman."
Ancient Rabbi
"It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men."
Ancient Rabbi
"The woman is in all things inferior to the man. Let her be
accordingly submissive."
Josephus - Historian
"All females, both animal and human, are inferior
to males. We should look upon the female as a
deformity in nature."
Aristotle - Philosopher
"Woman is defective and misbegotten. For
the active power in the male seed produces
a perfect male likeness. A female comes from a
defect in the male seed or from some indisposition
such as the south wind being too moist."
Thomas Aquinas - Church father
"God's sentence hangs over the female sex,
and His punishment weighs down upon you.
You are the devil's gateway. You first violated
the forbidden tree and broke God's law. You
shattered God's image in man, and because
you merited death, you had to die."
Tertullian - Church Father
"It brings man shame even to reflect on
woman's nature. By no means shall
women exhibit any part of their person
lest men become excited and look and fall."
Clement - Church Father
"It is part of her punishment and a part
from which even God's mercy will
not exempt her. Subjection to the will of her
husband is part of her curse."
Clement - Church Father
"Take women from their housewifery and they
are good for nothing."
Martin Luther
"Women have narrow shoulders and broad hips
to sit upon, so they ought to stay home,
keep the house, bear and raise children. The
woman differs from the man; she is weaker in
body, in honor, in intellect and in dignity."
Martin Luther
"If a woman take upon her any office which
God assigned to man, she shall not escape being
cursed. Women are weak, they are frail, they are
impatient and feeble and foolish. They are
inconstant. They are changeable, they are cruel.
They lack spirit and counsel. Woman in her
greatest perfection was made to serve and
only obey men."
John Knox
"One hundred women are not worth a single
testicle." Confucius (551-479 BCE)
"The five worst infirmities that afflict the female are indocility,
discontent, slander, jealousy, and silliness... Such is the
stupidity of woman's character, that it is incumbent upon her,
in every particular, to distrust herself and to obey her husband."
The Confucian Marriage Manual
"A proper wife should be as obedient as a slave."
and "The female is a female by virtue of a certain
lack of qualities - a natural defectiveness."
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
"In childhood a woman must be subject to her father; in youth
to her husband; when her husband is dead,
to her sons. A woman must never be free of subjugation."
The Hindu Code of Manu (c. 100 CE)
"Among all savage beasts, none is found so harmful as woman."
St. John Chrysostom (345-407 CE)
"Men are superior to women."
The Koran (c. 650)
"Any woman who acts in such a way that she cannot give
birth to as many children as she is capable of, makes herself
guilty of that many murders."
St. Augustine (354-430 CE)
"Do you know that each of your women is an Eve?
The sentence of God - on this sex of yours - lives
in this age;
the guilt must necessarily live, too. You are the gate of
Hell, you are
the temptress of the forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of the
divine law."
Tertullian in 22 CE
"Woman in her greatest perfection was made to
serve and obey man, not rule and command him."
John Knox (1505-1572)
"The souls of women are so small that some
believe they've none at all."
Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
"What a misfortune to be a woman! And yet,
the worst misfortune is not to understand
what a misfortune it is".
Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
"Let us set our women folk on the road to goodness
by teaching them to display submissiveness." "Every
woman should be overwhelmed with shame at the thought
that she is a woman."
St. Clement of Alexandria in 96 CE
In the year 584 CE, in Lyons, France, forty-three
Catholic bishops and twenty men representing other bishops,
held a most peculiar debate: "Are Women Human?" After many
lengthy arguments, a vote was taken. The results were:
thirty-two, yes; thirty-one, no. Women were declared human by one vote!
Council of Macon
"Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and King of the
Universe, that thou didst not create me a woman."
Daily prayer, still in use, of the orthodox Jewish male
"Woman should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and
bear and bring up children."
and "If a woman grows weary and, at last, dies from child bearing,
it matters not. Let her die from bearing; she is there to do it."
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
End of Part One
Dear CF - This is part one
I guess the other thread on women that was closed brought this to mind. Being a newcomer I didn't get a chance to post there. I wanted to because I have new information for you to consider. This post is just a preface to the subject in order to establish the historical problem of the supression of women.
A former pastor once said, "Rather than look at how far people need to go, look back to see how far they have already come." Here are some quotations for us to ponder as we take that look backward in time.
Here is a sampling of the common male attitude toward women over the millennia.
"Whoever teaches his daughter the Torah is like one
who teaches her obscenity. Rather should the words of the
Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman."
Ancient Rabbi
"It is a shame for a woman to let her voice be heard among men."
Ancient Rabbi
"The woman is in all things inferior to the man. Let her be
accordingly submissive."
Josephus - Historian
"All females, both animal and human, are inferior
to males. We should look upon the female as a
deformity in nature."
Aristotle - Philosopher
"Woman is defective and misbegotten. For
the active power in the male seed produces
a perfect male likeness. A female comes from a
defect in the male seed or from some indisposition
such as the south wind being too moist."
Thomas Aquinas - Church father
"God's sentence hangs over the female sex,
and His punishment weighs down upon you.
You are the devil's gateway. You first violated
the forbidden tree and broke God's law. You
shattered God's image in man, and because
you merited death, you had to die."
Tertullian - Church Father
"It brings man shame even to reflect on
woman's nature. By no means shall
women exhibit any part of their person
lest men become excited and look and fall."
Clement - Church Father
"It is part of her punishment and a part
from which even God's mercy will
not exempt her. Subjection to the will of her
husband is part of her curse."
Clement - Church Father
"Take women from their housewifery and they
are good for nothing."
Martin Luther
"Women have narrow shoulders and broad hips
to sit upon, so they ought to stay home,
keep the house, bear and raise children. The
woman differs from the man; she is weaker in
body, in honor, in intellect and in dignity."
Martin Luther
"If a woman take upon her any office which
God assigned to man, she shall not escape being
cursed. Women are weak, they are frail, they are
impatient and feeble and foolish. They are
inconstant. They are changeable, they are cruel.
They lack spirit and counsel. Woman in her
greatest perfection was made to serve and
only obey men."
John Knox
"One hundred women are not worth a single
testicle." Confucius (551-479 BCE)
"The five worst infirmities that afflict the female are indocility,
discontent, slander, jealousy, and silliness... Such is the
stupidity of woman's character, that it is incumbent upon her,
in every particular, to distrust herself and to obey her husband."
The Confucian Marriage Manual
"A proper wife should be as obedient as a slave."
and "The female is a female by virtue of a certain
lack of qualities - a natural defectiveness."
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
"In childhood a woman must be subject to her father; in youth
to her husband; when her husband is dead,
to her sons. A woman must never be free of subjugation."
The Hindu Code of Manu (c. 100 CE)
"Among all savage beasts, none is found so harmful as woman."
St. John Chrysostom (345-407 CE)
"Men are superior to women."
The Koran (c. 650)
"Any woman who acts in such a way that she cannot give
birth to as many children as she is capable of, makes herself
guilty of that many murders."
St. Augustine (354-430 CE)
"Do you know that each of your women is an Eve?
The sentence of God - on this sex of yours - lives
in this age;
the guilt must necessarily live, too. You are the gate of
Hell, you are
the temptress of the forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of the
divine law."
Tertullian in 22 CE
"Woman in her greatest perfection was made to
serve and obey man, not rule and command him."
John Knox (1505-1572)
"The souls of women are so small that some
believe they've none at all."
Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
"What a misfortune to be a woman! And yet,
the worst misfortune is not to understand
what a misfortune it is".
Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
"Let us set our women folk on the road to goodness
by teaching them to display submissiveness." "Every
woman should be overwhelmed with shame at the thought
that she is a woman."
St. Clement of Alexandria in 96 CE
In the year 584 CE, in Lyons, France, forty-three
Catholic bishops and twenty men representing other bishops,
held a most peculiar debate: "Are Women Human?" After many
lengthy arguments, a vote was taken. The results were:
thirty-two, yes; thirty-one, no. Women were declared human by one vote!
Council of Macon
"Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and King of the
Universe, that thou didst not create me a woman."
Daily prayer, still in use, of the orthodox Jewish male
"Woman should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and
bear and bring up children."
and "If a woman grows weary and, at last, dies from child bearing,
it matters not. Let her die from bearing; she is there to do it."
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
End of Part One