Biblical questions on God, creation, sin and women
By Douglas Groolhuis
Is the biblical deity a male who ordains that men rule
over women who are their inferiors' Does Genesis teach
that God created Eve to amuse Adam and that Eve alone
is to blame for the entrance of sin into the world' Is the
God of the Bible really inferior to the Goddess?
l.ia Salciccia (ODE. July 151 would have us believe these
things. If Christianity taught what Salciccia claims, there
would be little incentive to be Christian But there is more
to be said. Let's consider three of her concerns: the cre
ation account, the gender of God and the nature of the
Goddess.
Genesis gives us a different creation account than Sal
ciccia's rendering. Genesis chapter one, verses 26 and 27.
savs God made both male and female in his image and
likeness. Genesis chapter five, verses one and two. echoes
this important item of creation and further i larifies that
both female and male are included in the Hebrew term
"adam." which is translated "man” in most English bibles.
Furthermore, God commissioned both male and female
to tie stewards of the unfallen earth There is not a whiff
of hierarchy here. Genesis chapter two offers a comple
mentary account that adds several particularities God
first creates male and creates tho female from his side
to be his "helper."
However, the original Hebrew text does not imply or
assume that the woman is inferior to the man or subor
dinated to him Rather, the meaning of the woman
"helper” is that she is fit to complement the man as his
equal. Our first parents were equal in stature and author
ity before the fall.
Genesis chapter three reveals that the woman was tempt
ed and deceived by the serpent to take and eat of the
forbidden fruit. (There is no mention of any "apple ")
This was the one thing that God hod plat od off limits
After her mutiny, she offers the fruit to Adam, who eats
and also shuns the counsel of the Almighty
Is the woman saddled with all of the guilt for bring
ing sin Into creation? She is not. When Got! asks the pri
mordial couple what has happened, they deny their guilt
and shift the blame But the text is dear that (I) both (Mil
ners disobeyed the 11 ear direction of the Creator in suc
cumbing to the snares of the serpent, and (2) faith part
ners are responsible for their disobedience to (.cm)
Because of human sin. God then pronounces a curse
on the earth that affects men and women somewhat dif
ferently. Men will try to dominate women, and women
will have pain in childbirth But theeffm ts of the fall are
not normative in Christian ethic s.
Paul c alls men and women to "submit to one another"
(Ephesians c hopter five, verse 21) and dec lares that male
and female are one in Christ (Galatians c haptnr three,
verse 28). Jesus repeatedly insists that the greatest in
the Kingdom of God are the ones w ho serve and sacrifice
for others Sexist domination is not mandated by God.
but c ondemned Jesus is the model He said, "The Son of
Man did licit come to lie served, hut to serve, and to give
his lifu as a ransom for many" (Mark c hapter 10. verse
48).
But who is the biblical Ciod? The Scriptures refer to God
as a personal being who both loves and judges justly.
Unlike goddess religions, the Bible affirms that (.od is the
Creator of the universe who is distinc t from what has been
c reated, but concerned with it (unlike Deism)
Is God male7 By no means God is not a sexual being
As Jesua said, (awl is "Spirit" (John chapter four, verse
24) Sexuality is a created mode of heing designed by God
for marital intimacy and offspring English lac ks a per
sonal pronoun that is neutral with respec t to gender But
English translations do not use the word "it" for God
twcause the Scriptures never dest rilie God its ail imper
sonal fort e or print iple. hut as the "I am who I am" (ICxo
dus chapter three, verse 14). Therefore, one should be
tare fill not to read more into the referent es to Cod as "He"
than is intended hv the test itself
Salt it i la is t or ret t in highlighting the injustii es done
to women hv some (Christians throughout history. even if
she overstates tile point Nevertheless, we t an also t ite
t ases of Christians throughout the centuries and on every
continent yvho have fed the poor, worked to atiolish slav
ery and caste, built hospitals, and ves, t hampioned the
cause of women s rights through women's suffrage and
other reforms Yet the i rue nil issue is what the Bible itself
savs about men and women and God
Many are ultra* ted hv the notion of the Goddess as
tln> prix esses of nature, hut they should consider th.it this
deity despite the referent es to "She" and “Mother"
is really nothing more than an impersonal fort e, princi
ple or sourt e that is imbedded in nature This idea of a
female deity is strit tlv metaphoru al or poetic, not liter
al or actual.
The Christian St riptures. on tin- contrary, ( laim that
God himself lias taken on human flesh in the person of
jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah of the Hebrews
(,od is not an impersonal fort e under the cloak of the (axl
dess, hut a holy being who lived an incomparable life,
dietl an incomparable death on a Roman t ross and rose
triumphant from the dead in ortler to liberate (ample from
their bondage to sin Women and men who want to know
the (Christian view of < >od should not neglet t Jesus (Christ
— the one whom (Christians i onfess as God in* arnate
You will not find a sexist \ oil will, if you heed his words,
find truth and life abundant
Dougins liroothuis m tmtlv receive*/ n /’/» I) ill philos
ophy from the University
Record straight
On |uly 15. Dan Williams,
vice president for administra
tion at the University, "set the
record straight" regarding rent
increases for family housing.
Williams said three quarters of
the proposed increase will be
used to maintain and operate
housing But whose housing
will be maintained at whose
expense?
In June, family housing resi
dents received a letter from
housing that said that because
the projected rent increases
were so high, they would have
to "cut maintenance items and
equipment purchases to a mini
mum level to lessen the impact
of the increases."
This statement and numerous
budget documents prove that
the University is not using three
quarters of the proposed
increase for repair and mainte
nance of existing family hous
ing; rather, the are prioritizing
University-wide administrative
costs and building projects
unsuitable for family occupancy
over existing family housing
maintenance.
According to these docu
ments. the maintenance alloca
tion of the increase for Amazon
is closer to one fifth, and the
overhead assessment and the
debt service at 18th Avenue and
Agate Street.
Most troubling is the disputed
overhead assessment of
$300.000 from housing Despite
numerous inquiries by tenants,
administrators have been unable
to substantiate claims that we
are not completely self-support
ing through rents Not only is
Williams using phantom main
tenance projects to justify the
increase, he is charging us for
phantom services as well.
On June 26. the family hous
ing board, which is comprised
of faculty, administrators and
tenants, voted unanimously to
oppose the proposed increases
on the basis that the overhead
assessment is unjustified
Nancy Forrest
Family Housing Board
Don’t condemn
Scott Camp's letter [ODE. July
22) in response to a letter I wrote
(ODE, July 20) really missed the
mark on w hat ! had intended il
to mean I was trying to point
out that Christianity is changing
as our society changes
True, Christianity has histori
cally been notorious for placing
women in a role subservient to
men Hut I think that you will
find that there are many brunch
es of Christianity that are break
ing away from the patriarc hal
Ixtikgrouncl that has c louded the
important issues of Christianity
for years
To lump all Christians togeth
er and accuse them of sexually
harassing women is unfair to
those Christians who went to
see a c hange in their religion
because they don’t believe their
God makes any distinction*
between male or female.
It is becoming much more
commonplace for women to
hold positions of leadership in
churches today. At colleges like
Northwest Christian College
(here in Eugene, across from the
law school), more women are
graduating as pastoral ministry
majors than ever before
To continue with Gamp’s
analogy, is it fair to accuse all
Germans today for Hitler’s atroc:
ities more than r>0 years ago? No,
it isn’t Should we hate all ol
humanity because it has been
patriarchal in the past? No, w»
shouldn't. Nor is it lair to ai cost
all ol Christianity lor what it his
torically has been, when there
are Christians whose entire
denominations hold to a non
patriarchal belief As society is
( hanging, so is Christianity.
Thomas Huckaba
Biology/Political Science
Expansion
In my previous letter regarding
family housing rents, published
in the July IS Rmvrald, I
described the basis for the
planned increases ill the Ama
zon. Westmoreland and east cam
pus areas. After meeting with
some student tenant representa
tives, I want to expand on my
explanation of two of the points.
First, it is difficult to establish
comparability between the Uni
versity's family housing stoc k
and rental housing in the Fugene
Springfield market Nevertheless,
I think it is reasonable to compare
two-liedrcKim Amazon units, slat
ed to rent for $17?) a month, with
similar ones in the lor al com
munity that average about $450
a month Likewise, it is reason
able to c ompare two-bedroom
Westmoreland units, which will
rent for $200 a month, with ones
ill the Inc al market that average
$450 n month.
Sec ond, it is evident that Uni
versity administrators and fam
ily housing tenants have differ
ing points of view ahoul the
definition of "operating costs” on
which the increased rents are
based My use of the term incor
porates (lie i osts of amortizing
the lionets sold to pay for new
construction in east c ampus, as
well as the first-time c harge for
c entralized University adminis
trative services That's the reason
I attribute a larger percentage to
operating costs than the tenants
do.
I want to stress again that the
University empathizes with the
plight of many students whose
often limited resources are lieitig
outpaced hv escalating costs for
tuition, housing and other edu
cational expenses.
Dan Williams
University Vice President
I _ •
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