A blogger decided to attempt to follow, as literally as possible, all the instructions in the Bible concerning women. She called her husband "master," grew out her hair, slept outside of her house in a tent when she had her period, and broadcast his praise at the gates of her city (picture above). She has now documented the year-long experiment in a book - A Year of Biblical Womanhood.
On her blog, Rachel Held Evans answers the #1 question most people seem to have concerning the book; "How on earth did you get this idea?" Her answer?
Growing up in the conservative evangelical subculture, I was often told that I should strive to practice “biblical womanhood.” In response to second-wave feminism, evangelical leaders have been debating the role of women in the home, church, and society in recent years, and as a result, Christian women receive a lot of mixed messages about what it means to be a woman of faith. While many hail “biblical womanhood” as the ideal, few seem to agree on exactly what it means, and any claim to a “biblical” lifestyle is inherently selective. (After all, technically speaking, it is biblical for a woman to be sold by her father to pay of debt, biblical for her to cover her head when she prays, biblical for her to be one of many wives.)
I wanted to challenge the idea that “biblical womanhood” could be reduced to a list of roles and rules, and I wanted to do it in a creative, disarming way. I was thinking about this in the shower one morning, when I got a crazy idea: What if I tried it all? What if took the notion of biblical womanhood literally to show that it’s not as simple as it may sound?
As a result, I found myself growing out my hair, making my own clothes, caring for a computerized baby named Chip, consulting with Orthodox Jews, travelling to Amish country, interviewing a real “sister wife,” sitting on my roof, covering my head, and calling my husband “master.”
Just like the book by the Nun, I think I'll be getting this. Below is the blurb from Amazon, and some videos.
What is “biblical womanhood” . . . really?
Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn’t sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment—a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decides to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible for a year.
Pursuing a different virtue each month, Evans learns the hard way that her quest for biblical womanhood requires more than a “gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4). It means growing out her hair, making her own clothes, covering her head, obeying her husband, rising before dawn, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church, and even camping out in the front yard during her period.
See what happens when a thoroughly modern woman starts referring to her husband as “master” and “praises him at the city gate” with a homemade sign. Learn the insights she receives from an ongoing correspondence with an Orthodox Jewish woman, and find out what she discovers from her exchanges with a polygamist wife. Join her as she wrestles with difficult passages of scripture that portray misogyny and violence against women.
With just the right mixture of humor and insight, compassion and incredulity, A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. What does God truly expect of women, and is there really a prescription for biblical womanhood? Come along with Evans as she looks for answers in the rich heritage of biblical heroines, models of grace, and all-around women of valor.
She put herself through this for a whole year??? Mehn, that's some serious resolve at work! Would have freaked the loop out had my middle name been "Dan"!
ReplyDeleteI think the title of this blog is "A Christian Woman Lives . . ." Well, before I begin, let's get a fact straight, a universal fact. The Jewish religion is called Judaism, the bedrock of judaic tradition. The Christian religion, on the other hand, is called Christianity, the bedrock of Christ-like living. In spite of the fact that the only difference is the New Testament of the Bible (because Judaism has nothing to do with Christ as the Saviour of the world), there is a gulf between the two. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, HOW COULD A WOMAN SLEEP OUTSIDE OF HER HOUSE IN A TENT WHEN SHE HAD HER PERIOD? A Christian woman should be able to know the difference between Christianity and the Jewish tradition. The Old Testament of the Bible, in my estimation, is all about the Jewish tradition which is centred on the Mosaic Law. God expects a Christian woman to love Him with all her strength, with all her heart . . . in fact, with every fibre of her being. And then to love her neighbour as she loves herself (this, of course, is in the Old Testament, but Jesus emphasizes it in the New Testament). "Neighbour" in this context means her husband, her in-laws, her kids, her Pastor and her church members, her friends, her neighbours (in the dictionary sense), the women she chats with in the marketplace, the people in her workplace, including her tyrannic boss, etc. And that love, that very love, MUST be Agape Love (i.e. unconditional love: 1Cor. 13: 1 - 8). And Jesus says that if she does this, she has fulfilled the Law, i.e. all those rituals about Biblical Womanhood. Therefore, she does not need to bother herself with, or worry herself about, some woman's gospel on Biblical Womanhood, whether she covers her head or not while praying (for example).
ReplyDeleteI couldn't have said it better. Thank you. This is just another way for people to again make fun of christianity
DeleteShee didn't want to make fun but to make people think. Why do some churches still insist a woman covers her head? Why do some churches take the bible literal on Malachi and tithing?
DeleteThat's a good argument, Myne. Let me try to the best of my ability to address your questions. Talking about tithing, a lot of Christians fail to go beyond Malachi. They seem to be ignorant of the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. See, Jesus and we are the seeds of Abraham (Luke 3: 23 - 38). Father Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec. And, as long as Jesus our Lord and Saviour came after the order of this mysterious king and priest named Melchisedec (Hebrews 7: 15 - 17), Christians pay their tithes to Jesus, and not to any other king and/or priest. That is to say, tithing should not in any way be dismissed as a mere Old-Testament/Judaic religion or tradition. The Book of Hebrews has all the answers to the questions that hinge on Christianity vis-a-vis Judaism. Let us not allow ourselves to keep getting unnecessarily confused. Perhaps Rachel Held Evans would have continued to live biblically till she dies, instead of living it for JUST a year. I certainly know that if she did, she would get weary of it at some point. Jesus made us to understand that the Law was (and still is) too cumbersome for us. That is why he told us that as long as we make our sacrifices on the altar of LOVE (just as he did his), we are fulfilling the Law. He has thus simplified it for we Christians, yet we are hoisting upon our heads weighty loads of religion which are absolutely unnecessary.
DeleteHonestly it beats me. She ought to have read the bible alongside pray for guidance before jumping the gun. @ "praising her husband @ d citygates, that doesn't mean putting up signs lol! #mockery
ReplyDeletewww.thatssewnaija.blogspot.com
Ginger rolls her eyes. Anything for fame....
ReplyDeleteAm still of the opinion that its bcos of d law of moses that Jesus came to correct not to throw it away.As far as am concern I pray wt my head covered,and as a matter of fact I don't miss my thithe by God's grace.Some people believe that pastors eat the money but I have done what God wants its left to my pastor to carryout God's instructions and if he defaults dats its his luck.And has its said in the bible,the flesh is weak but its only the spirit of God that helps our infirmities cos we can do all things through God that strenghtens us.Its this grace that separate us from all other religion,let's access it and be perfect.
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