Women were an active part of Salvation History. How did that narrative change? As we celebrate inspiring women, don’t forget about the women of the Bible! Today, we examine some women from the Old Testament through a fun quiz.
Women are equal to men in God’s eyes
We’ll focus on Genesis and Eve! Eve was made from Adam’s rib. Women are equal to men in God’s eyes! Eve was not made from his feet or his head, because she’s equal to Adam. Women are not below men or above men; we are all created in God’s image. We are all God’s children. We all have human dignity. Another modern misconception is that Eve is the bane of mankind. That it was all her fault. However, it was both Adam and Eve that decided to disobey God. Why did the blame shift to just Eve?
Mistranslations and misogyny
The Tower of Babel strikes again! In some cases, Bible translations were muddying or in some cases removing words that made it more apparent that Adam was present the whole time Eve was speaking with the serpent. Then as the story gets retold and simplified, we end up with Bible stories for children saying, “Eve ate apple. Eve is bad. The End.” That’s still the enemy talking. God doesn’t abandon Adam and Eve because they sinned, and it’s the same for us. God gives us a path to Him always, it’s never just the end when we make a mistake. That’s also why Jadies and Grace doesn’t leave out God’s happy ending for us in the e-book that comes with Eve doll!
Another unfortunate reality is that in societies that are rampant with misogyny, some men are going to interpret Genesis from a lens that will paint Eve as the one who tempted Adam and that he wouldn’t have eaten the fruit if not for her wicked wiles. When the truth is both were tempted and both succumbed. Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent, and neither repented. One of the lessons is supposed to be not to blame and instead take responsibility, yet it became popular to just blame Eve! We see this in many cases of Bible interpretations, where the biblical text and tradition doesn’t support the interpretation, but it becomes popular due to prevalent societal beliefs. Whereas since the very beginning, Christianity was controversial, because it propagated the unique belief at the time that men and women were equals in human dignity. Let’s not get that messaged muddled anymore!
There are many inspiring women in the Bible
It was difficult to choose a handful for the quiz, when so many chosen women participated in the Story of Salvation. We would love to hear your quiz results and about any women of the Bible you have a personal connection with or just think are incredible! We’ll be reading the comments to see which inspiring woman of the Old Testament you are most like. Take the quiz above or on our activities page.
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