"Biblical" Models of Womenhood

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070809/ap_on_re/religion_today

Long story short, the Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Nashville is establishing an MA in homemaking and "traditional" women's roles. Quoth the president, "We are moving against the tide in order to establish family and gender roles as described in God's word for the home and the family."

The funny thing is, no matter what your cultural or hermeneutical background may be, you would be hard pressed to find any actual examples of this "Biblical model" in the Bible. What sort of families and gender roles does God's word describe? My guess is the the Southern Baptist Convention would abhor any of the actual families in the Bible (let's see, we've got adultery, murder, rape, theft, incest, driving tent-stakes through people's heads, etc.) Sure, there are shining examples of women in the Bible (Ruth and Esther for example), but none of them look like the "Biblical Wife". Even Martha was castigated by Jesus for "staying in the kitchen."

Because the Bible is simultaneously very complex and very influential, the word "Biblical" can easily be abused. If you value the Bible, and you value your own ideas, it is a tempting step to simply add "Biblical" to the front of your ideas to reinforce your whole noetic structure, as well as giving you an air of credibility. It's pretty much the same these days as "research says..."

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