Daughters of God, Subordinates of Men: Women and the Roots of Patriarchy in the New Testament

262 Pages·2015·6.849 MB·English

by  Lesly F. Massey

Daughters of God,
Subordinates of Men
ALSOBYLESLYF. MASSEY
Women in the Church: Moving Toward Equality
(McFarland, 2002; softcover 2012)
Women and the New Testament: An Analysis of Scripture
in Light of New Testament Era Culture
(McFarland, 1989; softcover 2012)
Daughters of God,
Subordinates of Men
Women and the Roots of Patriarchy
in the New Testament
Lesly F. Massey
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Massey, Lesly F., 1946–
Daughters of God, subordinates of men : women and the roots
of patriarchy in the New Testament / Lesly F. Massey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-9531-3 (softcover : acid free paper) ♾
ISBN 978-1-4766-2143-2 (ebook)
1. Women—History. 2. Women—Social conditions.
3. Women in the Bible. 4. Sex role—Religious aspects—
Christianity. I. Title.
HQ1127.M37 2015
305.409—dc23 2015034918
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2015 Lesly F. Massey. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: artwork detail from The Belvedere Madonna, 1506,
Raffaello S. Raphael (© 2015 PicturesNow)
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Introduction 5
One. Mesopotamia 15
Two. Egypt 54
Three. Judaism 83
Four. Greece 109
Five. Rome 147
Six. Mystery Cults 177
Conclusions 197
Appendices:
1. Periods of Ancient Mesopotamian History 215
2. Periods of Ancient Egyptian History 217
3. Key Events in Ancient Judaism 219
4. Outline of Ancient Greek History 221
5. Outline of Ancient Roman History 223
Chapter Notes 225
Bibliography 243
Index 251
v
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Preface
It is ironic that this particular volume is the third book I have published
concerning the status of women, rather than the first, since it deals with
the cultural backgrounds that are more or less assumed in the other two.
That makes it something akin to the prequel to Star Wars—the earlier story
that is told later to answer questions as to where, when, and why. But feminist
studies have advanced considerably since my own research began. My first
McFarland publication was Women and the New Testament, 1989, essentially
an exegesis of relevant New Testament texts but with the objective of demon-
strating that the spirit and tone of the Gospel is contrary to the patriarchal
models that have thrived in Christian tradition. That work included a critical
discussion of Paul’s statements in I Corinthians 11: 2–16, that the husband is
head of the wife and any wife who prays or prophesies in the Christian assem-
bly must wear a head covering to display her married status. Fresh perspec-
tives on that text are included in this third work as well, noting that numerous
scholars still see it as an enigma. I had wrestled with that text initially in
1973–74 in a master’s thesis guided by Neil Lightfoot at Abilene Christian
University. That thesis represents my earliest academic engagement with gen-
der and feminist studies, which at the same time was my academic introduc-
tion to social and religious patriarchy.
The second volume, Women in the Church: Moving Toward Equality,
2002, is an analysis of the contrasting positions held by various Christian
denominations on the status of women and the theological reasons for their
position. This divergence is illustrated by two specific denominations—the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Churches of Christ, which
have common roots in the nineteenth- century Stone- Campbell movement.
The basis for their polarized posture on this topic is essentially different
approaches to biblical interpretation, and in that regard the two denomina-
tions illustrate the church as a whole.
Only a few Christian denominations at the present time support true
gender equity. The majority continue to defend traditional patriarchy, denying
1
2 Preface
women leadership in church and insisting that the husband is rightfully the
head of the family. Although female subordination is slowly being supplanted
by more equitable social and moral ideologies, the fact that it still persists in
many churches is evidence of the enormous strength of both tradition and
perceived biblical authority. Women in the Church: Moving Toward Equality
challenges traditional patriarchy, offering a sensible explanation for biblical
statements on this topic, as well as a strategy for change for those churches
willing to embrace gender equity.
Both of the above works are based on doctoral research done first under
A.S. Geyser at the University of Witwatersrand and later under Viktor Bre-
denkamp at the University of Natal. I am grateful for the guidance of those
noted scholars, as well as John De Gruchy, University of Cape Town, and
Ursula King, University of Bristol, who served as examiners of my disserta-
tion. I want to thank Jason Lamoreaux, professor at Texas A&M, and Carolyn
Osiek, professor emerita of Brite Divinity School, who read all or portions
of this third manuscript and offered helpful suggestions.
The present volume examines the status of women in the ancient cul-
tures that form the backdrop for the early church and the New Testament.
Typically, a brief mention of relevant backgrounds is included at the relevant
text site in all thorough exegetical studies. However, a mere glimpse into the
past hardly paints an accurate or impressive picture of the injustice women
have suffered throughout history because of paradigms of patriarchy and
male dominance, nor does it explain how such paradigms developed and
how they came to be incorporated into Christian tradition. A close exami-
nation of the milieu in which New Testament documents were written reveals
the extent to which ancient social customs influenced certain early Christian
writers and the development of church tradition. A significant example is the
link between slavery and female subordination in the house codes of Eph-
esians, Colossians, and I Peter.
In addition, the teachings of Jesus and his treatment of women can only
be appreciated when examined against the backdrop of Judaism, especially
the debates among rabbis on appropriate grounds for divorcing a wife, rab-
binic and Mosaic laws that allowed the stoning of a woman caught in the act
of adultery, laws that prohibited a menstruating woman from touching a
male, norms that prohibited a pious Jew from conversing with or being
touched by a woman he did not know, and laws that declared women essen-
tially unsuitable for most forms of religious ritual and service.
Daughters of God, Subordinates of Men: Women and the Roots of Patri-
archy in the New Testamentsuitably expresses the complex objectives of this
work. The intent was first to state that women and men are equally the cre-
ation of God. Yet in every ancient culture women came to be the subordinates
of men, not by divine design but as the result of social structures that emerged
Preface 3
from the tendency of the strong to dominate the weak. Female subordination
is rooted in the same complex principles that have resulted in slavery, military
conquest, and social and political domination of one individual or one group
over another. This work is about the status of women in ancient cultures, the
complex meaning of womanhood in a m ale-d ominated world, and how the
patriarchal paradigm came to be included in various documents of the New
Testament.
Certainly, Judaism and the concept of woman presented in the creation
narrative is the most crucial component of New Testament backgrounds, in
terms of shaping Christian tradition on the status of women and the meaning
of womanhood. In fact, the seriousness of gender discrimination in Christian
tradition is summarized in the indictment “And Adam was not the one
deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner” (I Tim-
othy 2:14). And it is precisely this point of view that I challenge, with the
hope that this volume offers support for further movement toward genuine
gender equity in all churches and homes.
These three volumes together represent a personal journey, both aca-
demic and spiritual. As a male church minister in a conservative denomina-
tion when I began, publishing a critical study on this topic became a Rubicon
crossing. It represented a definitive shift in theological perspective with no
turning back. And along the way, as is evident to anyone reading all three
works, I modified my position on certain points as I learned. One case in
point is my earlier assumption of cult prostitution in various ancient cultures,
which in recent decades has been challenged effectively by numerous schol-
ars. But overall, the point from the first volume to the third, from beginning
to end, is that female subordination is simply wrong and in conflict with the
spirit of Christianity.
In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for the past 25 years I have
worked with numerous female scholars, ministers, elders, deacons, teachers,
and ministry leaders whose faith, talent, and dedication to Christian service
I respect immensely. In them, along with the strength and character of my
wife, Margaret, and my daughters, Adrienne and Loren, I find ample evidence
to support the theological position I have attempted to defend in these three
books—full recognition and practice of gender equity in society, in the home,
and in the church.