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The Misogyny of William Branham: Difference between revisions
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=What the Bible says= | =What the Bible says= | ||
The Bible is very clear on the position of women. | |||
==What is a "help meet"?== | |||
In Genesis 2:18, this new creation which man needs is called a helper (Hebrew - ʿēzer), which is masculine in gender, though here it is a term for woman. Any suggestion that this particular word denotes one who has only an associate or subordinate status to a senior member is refuted by the fact that most frequently this same word describes Yahweh’s relationship to Israel. He is Israel’s help(er) because he is the stronger one (see, Exod. 18:4; Deut. 33:7, 26, 29; Ps. 33:20; 115:9–11; 124:8; 146:5; etc.). The Septuagint translation of the word refers to help “from a stronger one, in no way needing help.” The word is used less frequently for human helpers, and even here, the helper is one appealed to because of superior military strength (Isa. 30:5) or superior size (Ps. 121:1). Thus, the woman in Gen. 2 delivers or saves man from his solitude.<ref>Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 175–176.</ref> | |||
==The view of the New Testament== | |||
Paul states that in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith: | |||
:''There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. <ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ga 3:28–29.</ref> | |||
The three dual categories represent the most far-reaching distinctions of ancient society and seem to have been deliberately chosen with an eye to the threefold prayer for which a pious male Jew daily thanked God: '''that he was not made a Gentile, a slave or a woman''' — categories of people debarred from certain religious privileges. It is noteworthy that in the third grouping, the words used are not the customary terms for man and woman but the more technical terms denoting male and female, thus indicating that what is in view is the general relationship between the sexes and not the specific relationship between husband and wife. <ref>Ronald Y. K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1988), 175–176.</ref> | |||
It goes without saying that the road to the elimination of such divisions for the first Christians was rocky and full of pitfalls. Paul describes one example in Galatians 2:11–14, and the Judaizers were seeking to fight against this essential point of the gospel. Peter had troubles elsewhere (Acts 10:1–11:18), but eventually the church of Jerusalem was willing to say that “God has granted even [note this term!] the Gentiles repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). | |||
We need to observe that Paul wrote these words in a historical and social context that clearly believed in the inferiority of women. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote, for example: “''The woman, says the law, is in all things inferior to the man''”<ref>Against Apion, 2.201</ref>. Why else would Paul point to “neither male nor female” as his third pair of things that have been abolished in Christ? | |||
This principle of inferiority worked itself out in many ways. Women were talked about in rude and condescending ways; they were not to be taught the law; they were to tend to their children; they were not considered reliable witnesses in court; they may have even sat in seats separate from men in synagogues. | |||
But this was not true in the early church. Women were at times given positions of leadership (for example, Phoebe in Rom. 16:1–2 and the story of Priscilla in Acts 18). | |||
So it was inferiority of women working itself out in religious communities that Paul opposes with this statement “neither male nor female.” In the same way that there was to be no cultural/racial distinctions and no social status prejudices, there was to be no sexual prejudice. For those who are in Christ, antagonisms, criticisms, snide remarks, subtle insinuations, and overt prejudices such as espoused by William Branham must end, for in him male and female are one. I believe that, as is the case with slavery, so with women, Paul provides an agenda that would take years for the church and society to implement properly and honorably before God.<ref>Scot McKnight, Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 201–203.</ref> | |||
=Quotes of William Branham= | =Quotes of William Branham= | ||