Feminist Movement and its effects on the Christian Church
I, Steve Marlowe, was looking into the Feminist Movement and its effects on the Christian Church. I came across this book by Naomi R. Goldenberg, a psychologist, and what she wrote seemed very prophetic and insightful.
The title of the Book is:
Changing of the Gods
Feminism & The End Of Traditional Religions
She asked, “What will happen to God?” She surmised, “The clergy will have to accept women… The feminist revolution will not leave religion untouched. Eventually, all religious hierarchies would be peopled with women…and suddenly I saw a problem. How could women represent a male God? Everything I knew about Judaism and Christianity involved accepting God as the ultimate in male authority figure. If enough women claimed to represent ‘His’ authority…congregations would have to stop seeing God as male. God would begin to look like ‘His’ female officials.”
“And what would these women…ministers…read to their communities? They could certainly not use the Bible. A society that accepted large numbers of women as religious leaders would be too different from the biblical world to find the book relevant… God is going to change,” She concluded. She thought, “We women are going to bring an end to God…finally, in religion, we will be the end of Him. We will change the world so much that He won’t fit in anymore… Reflection on His cultural demise left me with no sense of loss… I felt part of a movement that would challenge religions that had been in force for millennia… The feminist movement in Western culture is engaged in the slow execution of Christ… Yet very few of the women and men now working for sexual equality within Christianity… realize the extent of their heresy.” “...Christian women who are reforming their traditions do not see such reforms as challenging the basic nature of Christianity… Instead, they understand themselves to be improving the practice of their religion by encouraging women to share the responsibilities of worship equally with men.
As a psychologist of religion, I do not agree that improving the position of women is a minor alteration in Judaeo-Christian doctrine. The reforms that Christian…women are proposing are major departures from tradition.”
“And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive” (Isaiah 6:9).
“IN THE IMAGE OF GOD”
How do we understand “in the image of God”? And we call God “Our Father,” as He, our Lord and Savior, the Son of God, has directed us. Father means “source,” as the Father is the source of all life. God made man the source of all human life, hence man is in the image of God, but woman is the glory of man.
“When feminists succeed in changing the position of women in Christianity and Judaism, they will shake these religions at their roots. The nature of a religion lies in the nature of the symbols and images it exalts in ritual and doctrine. It is the psychic picture of Christ and Yahweh that inspires the loves, the hates and the behavior patterns of Christians… The psychology of the Jewish and Christian religions depends on the masculine image that these religions have of their God. Feminists change the major psychological impact of Judaism and Christianity when they recognize women as religious leaders and as images of divinity. Feminists understand that if women are not sufficiently “in the image of God” to be priests (pastors), then they are certainly considered inferior to men. The nature of the religion lies in the interplay between a Father-God and His sons (and the supportive role of women). In such a religion, women will always be on the periphery.”
Why is the man being in the image of God gender specific?
In Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Note: “God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him…” Both man and woman were created, but only man is called “in the image of God.”
The lies of Satan to the woman.
Genesis 3:1-5, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Lie # 1, “You will not surely die.”
Lie # 2, “You will be like God…”
God punished the woman, Genesis 3:16, “To the woman, He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
However, in contrast to the woman, we find in Genesis 3:22, “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.’”
There is nothing about the woman becoming “like” God, to know good and evil. She knows good and evil in a different role.
Consider that this is the desire of Lucifer, called Satan, to become “like” God. Satan from the beginning did not like his role, station, as designed by God, just as the feminist do not “like” their role, station, designed by God.
We read about The Fall of Lucifer, Satan, the Devil, Serpent, Dragon
Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’”
Lucifer, Satan, convinced a third of the host of Heaven based on his egalitarian argument to rebel against the Sovereignty of God. In Revelation 12:4, Satan, as here symbolically stated, “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” The stars of Heaven are the sons of God or angelic hosts.” This caused an event, “And war broke out in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…”
Today, Satan’s egalitarian argument is the cause of role confusion, gender confusion, etc…’ Satan is possessing women to be like men. Women will rule in society, and the consequences, although unseen by them, will be prophetic:
“As for My people, children are their oppressors,
And women rule over them.
O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err,
And destroy the way of your paths” (Isaiah 3:12).
What does the New Testament say about the image of God?
We read in Romans 9:20 (NIV), “But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?”
The apostle Paul writes, “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having hishead covered, dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God” (1 Corinthians 11:3-12).
Note here, that the apostle Paul shows that man is in the image of God, but woman is the glory of man. Women are not in the image of God, but they are of the glory of man. The changing of gender roles is based on Satan’s egalitarian argument. Satan is the author of lies and confusion.
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says (Genesis 3:16). And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant (1 Corinthians 14:33-38).
The apostle Paul wrote, “If anyone thinks himself (or herself) to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandment of the Lord.”
And some will object still, and say, “It was a cultural thing, not a God given thing that women are to be submissive in the church and not speak, as in preach or lead services.” No, it was the Sovereign design of God. The apostle Paul stated, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:11-14).
And this final note from Naomi Goldenberg, “Every woman working to improve her own position in society or that of women in general is bringing about the end of God. All feminists are making the world less and less like the one described in the Bible and are thus helping to lessen the influence of Christ and Yahweh on humanity” (Naomi R. Goldenberg, The Changing of the Gods, p. 10, Beacon Press, 1979).
False Pastors, Ministers, and Evangelists
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).
Do Feminists Pastors gather their grapes from the word of God?
No, they gather their grapes from thornbushes…
What will Christ say to feminist pastors, “I Never Knew You, (you who practice lawlessness!)
Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Pastors are to represent the Lord according to the Gospel, according to His commandments and revelations. To act outside of these, and to impose another agenda is to be a worker of lawlessness. There are mainly two kinds of love, one is Loving God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself, and so the attributes: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love outside of the Father’s love is satanic love, a counterfeit love that poisons one to be alienated from God. It saddens me that many who think themselves to be Christians are not and do not take the warnings of Christ seriously, to “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). People are not loving people when they accept their sins. They are loving when they warn them of sin with the hope of repentance so that they can be reunited with the God of love. We are not loving when we approve of aberrant behavior outside of the Sovereignty and design of God. God said, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). It is by our Heavenly Father’s design, not by our agendas to the contrary.
Sincerely in Christ’s Name
Steve Marlowe, M.Div., Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA.
TheGraduate Theological Union(GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. The theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 and is affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley.
