Ignorant Historian

Several people have asked me to share what I’ve learned from Dorothy Patterson in my class last week, Biblical Theology of Womanhood. When I originally decided to write about it, I thought I’d pull out the top 5 things. I’ve found this to be too difficult a task so I have gone with the top 13 things. I take full responsibility for any misquoting or misrepresenting of what was actually given in the class.

1. There are timeless principles and there are timely manifestations. The two are distinct. For example, Paul’s admonition of the Corinthian women to cover their heads is a timely manifestation of the timeless principle of submission to authority in worship.

2. The distinction of “helper” that God gave to Eve, and thus women, is not derrogatory. This word is something that God ascribes to Himself. Also, to be a helper means that you have tasks that you can perform that the man you are helping cannot do.

3. “Satan doesn’t come with horns and a pitchfork, but appeals to your better senses, giving you ‘better’ ways to serve God.” He tempts us in the areas of appetite (of all types), beauty (aesthetic values), and the pride of life (ambition).

4. The laws in the Old Testament concerning women were for their protection. For example, the dowry allowed the woman to have her portion of the inheritance (traditionally 1/10th of the father’s estate) at the time when she needed it most to establish a family. Also, the difference in time for purification of the mother after giving birth to a boy or to a girl can be attributed to circumcision. Because the boy had to be circumcised in the temple on the eighth day, the mother had to be ceremonially pure on that day in order to go and console the baby. If she had a girl, no circumcision was needed so she could take the extra eight days to physically recover.

5. While Deborah was a woman of God, she was not a warrior leading the troops. Her directive to Barak was an encouragement and a restatement of the words from God that he had already received. She is identified in the text as a wife and also as the “mother of Israel.”

6. The Proverbs 31 woman is pictured excelling at the mundane everyday tasks of a wife and mother. In v.22 it says that her household is covered in scarlet. The scarlet dye was made with the death of many little worms. That phrase is a reference to the blood of Christ, or spiritual covering.

7. The greatest adornment of a woman is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is more than an awe, but an acute awareness of God’s continual presence and acting accordingly.

8. “Be content exactly where you are.” This one and the next are actually from Alicia Wong who spoke about the gift of singleness. I think we’re all too much like the mouse in “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and always wanting just one more thing.

9. Singles do not have more time! I’ve felt this for awhile, but continually here married people talk about how we do have more time. However, we have the ability to have a single-minded devotion to God (1 Corinthians 7:34).

10. It is very dangerous to say you have a word from God and then proceed to give something out of your own heart. The Old Testament punishment for this was death. We should stick to calling the text of the Bible God’s Word and that’s it.

11. Submission is a choice, not something that is forced. The liberal idea that submission is cruel to women is totally false, as it is something that the woman chooses to or not to do.

12. The second greatest adornment for women is a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). The gentleness spoken of here is best described as controlled strength. This Greek word is the same one that is used to describe Alexander the Great’s very large horse, which would submit to his will. The quietness is a quietness of demeanor, or a refreshing calm in the storm.

13. Both teaching men and having authority over men are forbidden for women, but neither task is forbidden in other realms (women, children). Women can teach and lead within specific boundaries. (1 Timothy 2)

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