John Rice [a Fundamentalist Evangelist, editor of the Sword of the Lord, and author of such titles as The Home and Bobbed Hair, Bossy Wives, and Women Preachers] wrote this about this topic. “A man is like God in a sense that a woman is not like God…God is always in the Bible, called He, never Her. He is called Father, not Mother, Christ is called the man Christ Jesus, not the woman…I do not mean that Christ is not the Saviour every woman needs, not that He does not know her every longing, feel her every sorrow, meet her every need. But God would not have had the Bible so full of it if He did not want us to notice that Christ was a Man, not a woman, and that man is therefore made in the image of God in a sense that cannot be true of women. So, in the home, man is deputy of God, and should lead the home for God.”
I love the fact that Christ was a man since men are our protectors. They are bigger and stronger. They are not led by their emotions and feelings as easily. They are more steady. I am happy that I am not the protector and provider of my family. Men have a much bigger responsibility than women have been given and a man’s nature is created for this and woman’s is not. Most men wouldn’t want to worship a female god. They want a strong and masculine God like the One we have been blessed with. He is perfect in every way!
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The only reason women have so much “power” today is because men have given it to them. They could have never gotten it if men didn’t allow it because men are mightier in strength than women. God originally created man to have power and dominion over the earth. He never has given this responsibility to women. He made men the Kings, Prophets, Priests, Disciples, Apostles, and Elders for a good reason and His purpose. This is His plan.
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Most women today would despise this teaching. It doesn’t bother me in the least because I love being a woman and I love God’s ways. God created men to be the leaders and women the followers, just our body makeup proves this point. We are the weaker and softer sex so we should be the more gentler one. Women are the more lovely of the sexes, especially when we wear some make up, fix our hair, and wear prettier and more colorful clothing. Men are highly attracted to women. Godly, good women bring a lot of beauty to this earth. We make our homes places of loveliness. We bear and raise godly offspring. As we do all of this, we bring honor and dignity to our husbands and to the Lord.
— Lori Alexander, The Transformed Wife, Woman is the Glory of Man, May 26, 2017
I’m not sure who is insulted more by this silly nonsense, women in general or the whole of humanity.
Through my whole life I have been educated alongside, and worked with, women at all levels. Some of those women were intellectually way ahead of me, many were senior to me at work, and even in sport I didn’t, and don’t, necessarily excel against them. Even my wife, admittedly a few years younger, is a superior runner to me, though I run anything up to 40 miles a week, plus use the gym (where, incidentally, many ladies lift much more than I am able). One of my sporting ‘heroes’ is Paula Radcliffe, who was in her day the fastest UK marathon runner, even including men.
There’s no point in denying that women are essential to producing children, albeit with some help from men. But this suggestion that they should accept a role as attractive, makeup laden, servants of their men folk is just plain demeaning.
First: may I vomit? Ugh…
Then there’s this: some men are stronger than some women yet some men are also more emotional than some women. It really does not matter one bit to begin with. People are strong or not. People are emotional or not. Someone could be an awesome fighter but if the other person has a better weapon it still doesn’t matter. Why this focus on violence and strength?
But since that’s where the focus is on: most women can be extremely violent and strong particulary if someone touches their children. This does not just go for animals, but people too. The most kind women can become pretty damn scary then. My grandmother was a pretty quiet women but whenever some teachers were too nasty about one of her children with learning problems she would have them trembling because of her outbursts…
And then there this: “Most men wouldn’t want to worship a female god. They want a strong and masculine God.”
So have they’ve heard of Kali? Probably not. Let me find a picture of her.
https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali#/media/File:Kali_by_Raja_Ravi_Varma.jpg
I can do even better: there are whole lists of female war goddesses:
I’m pretty sure men worshiped these goddesses and not only women. Presuming it usually were mostly men who went out to battle.
Worshipping a god, any god, is about the believer. If they need a strong war God, they’ll make one. And if they want it to be a female god, it will be a war Goddess. And she’ll be just as strong and fierce and violent as a male god. On the other side there will be gods and goddesses of love and they’ll be all soft and mushy like a romantic movie. O-O
I think putting that Playboy ad by the article is spot-on.
Funny how fundamentalists (and other religious folk) will rail against pornography. Yet their view of women is exactly the same as what’s depicted in porn.
As a cyclist, I find it interesting that Beryl Burton beat the men’s 12-hour record by five miles. She held that record–over all competitors of both genders–from 1967-69.
Also, let us not forget that Gertrude Ederle held the world’s record–for men and women–for swimming across the English Channel.
But, I think there’s a lot of feminine imagery in the Scripture illustrating aspects of the nature and character of God. Is. 66:13 is one of my favorites. “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. Is. 49:15 also comes to mind as well as Luke 15:8-10, the parable describing God as like a woman searching for her lost coin.
It seems to me that pronouns in the Scripture relating to God as He and Father are met to help our minds connect with God as personal and caring, not to illustrate that God is male or that women reflect less of the image of God.
I think the image of God in us is not less feminine than masculine.
John R.Rice was a country bumpkin from the South. I read one of his books, and it was creepy how the description of his spanking one of his daughters as a baby, you could see his handprint on her bare butt after she cried herself to sleep. It was the book ” Me ? Obey him ?” if I recall it correctly. It was an account by Rice’s wife there. Ick ! His books are popular among Pentacostals too. It was back in the late 70’s when I read it. Also he was very bigoted about race, but I forgot he was against women( and who else ?)having voting rights. Gah !