The Persecution of Women in the Church

Early church fathers left us with a difficult heritage; evidenced by the continual denegration of...women in particular. Originally Christianity was quite positive for women, (Jesus treated them equally) but by the time of Augustine, women were regarded as responsible for the fall of man. The letters of Jerome teem with loathing of the female almost to the point of sounding deranged. Tertullian had castigated women as evil temptresses, an eternal danger to mankind:
"Do you not know that you are each and Eve? You are the devil's gateway; you are the unsealer of that forbidden tree; you are the first deserter of the divine law; you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You so carelessly destroyed man, God's image. On account of your desert, even the son of God had to die."-

Augustine agreed; "What is the difference," "whether it is in a wife or a mother, it is still Eve the temptress that we must beware of in any woman."
As a matter of fact Augustine is puzzled that God should have made the female at all, "if it was good company and conversation that Adam needed, it would have been much better arranged to have two men together as friends, not a man and a woman." "Early church fathers regarded a womans only function as "childbearing which passed the contagion of original sin to the next generation, like a veneral disease. -"

Western Christianity never fully recovered from this neurotic misogyny, which can still be seen in the unbalanced reaction to the very notion of the ordination of women. - a history of God, pg.124, karen Armstrong.

My personal view is this: Satan's attempt to destroy Eve in the garden was a direct attack against her seed. A man is never greater than his mother. It's been said 'behind every good man is a better woman". Truthfully, this is usually his mother or grandmother.

The persecution of women in the church is still evident today. Catholicism teaches that women are to blame for original sin and should be avoided; thus the doctrine of celibacy. A holy man cannot be defiled by a women.

Is it possible that much of what women have had to endure relationally with regard to the church is a carryover of this wicked and insidious spirit to destroy the women, thus destroying their seed?

An angry mother produces angry children. An offended mother produces offended children. A bitter mother produces bitter children.

God's fundamental law of creation is this; "everything reproduces after its own kind."

Women, now is your opportunity to be liberated! You should love me for this!

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by crazyhomie

The persecution of women in the church is still evident today. Catholicism teaches that women are to blame for original sin and should be avoided; thus the doctrine of celibacy. A holy man cannot be defiled by a women.

Wait wait wait....nuns also practice celibacy... does that mean either all nuns are lesbos or men are evil? That does not equate to a persecution of women. In fact some of the greatest saints in the RCC are women. Mary? Mother Teresa? If what you are saying is true, that they are to be avoided, why not teach ALL men to avoid women and not just priests? Why teach nuns to avoid men?

Is it possible that much of what women have had to endure relationally with regard to the church is a carryover of this wicked and insidious spirit to destroy the women, thus destroying their seed?

There was no wicked insidious plan to destroy women. In fact sin did not enter until Adam sinned. It was Satans plan to bring man down, not just the woman. Don't forget that Eve had no seed until Adam impregnated her

An angry mother produces angry children. An offended mother produces offended children. A bitter mother produces bitter children.

And? Bad fathers also reflect on their children too

God's fundamental law of creation is this; "everything reproduces after its own kind."

Yeah, not "every woman reproduces after it's own kind"...in biology we learned it takes both sexes.

Women, now is your opportunity to be liberated! You should love me for this!

Oh brother...is that it? You were trying to earn brownie points?

[Newman]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

And? Bad fathers also reflect on their children too

Yeah, not "every woman reproduces after it's own kind"...in biology we learned it takes both sexes.

Praxeas- Many have overcome a bad father. Do you know any who overcame a bad mother if grandma wasn't there?

And although it takes two to reproduce after its kind; it is generally one that rocks the cradle. (And so the home team advantage).

[Coonskinner]

This guy is desperate for a wife.

[Praxeas]

lol...yeah but at his rate he's gonna get a big Bertha Butt woman to knock him down into submission

Originally Posted by Coonskinner

This guy is desperate for a wife.

I have a wonderful wife!

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by crazyhomie

I have a wonderful wife!

And she made you post that stuff?

[Coonskinner]

Originally Posted by crazyhomie

I have a wonderful wife!

Then that only leaves one other possibility, and I will refrain from posting it.

[Steve Epley]

Yes Eve was decieved and evidently influenced her husband but the Biblical record blames him NOT her throughout scripture.
But a woman:
was the virgin in the virgin birth without a man. Highly favored among women, the MOTHER of our Lord.
the women were at the tomb,
women were in the upper room,
The Church is a Woman His Bride.
The Book is NOT anti-woman.

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

Yes Eve was decieved and evidently influenced her husband but the Biblical record blames him NOT her throughout scripture.
But a woman:
was the virgin in the virgin birth without a man. Highly favored among women, the MOTHER of our Lord.
the women were at the tomb,
women were in the upper room,
The Church is a Woman His Bride.
The Book is NOT anti-woman.

Reread the post, nobody said "the book was against women". We are discussing the persecution of women by men in the church...