Does God “Really” Think Men Are Superior To Women?

Transition from last blog

In our last blog we established the foundation that God is an “all knowing” God and that The Ladder of Influence shows us we selectively choose the facts we use to form our beliefs based from our prior beliefs and prior experiences.  These two foundations are key in allowing God to open our mind to see a God of equality, peace, love and acceptance and put behind us a God of superiority, exclusion, condemnation and judgement.

Let’s start at the beginning

In our journey to look at things in the bible that would certainly be the inspired word of God, and things that would not be the inspired word of God, we will start at the beginning of the bible.

Why would men think they could be superior to women?

When we address the topic of superiority, one of the things we need to address is men thinking they are superior to women.  Religion can have a great deal to do with men thinking they are superior to women, but is this what God would think?

Does God really think men are superior to women?

 Let’s walk through a few things the scripture says and then see how this lines up with an “all knowing” God.

Genesis 2:7

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

This verse immediately puts men above women because it says men were created first, but before we accept this and move on, let’s see what else we see.

Genesis 2:18-22

The Lord God said, “it is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.”  Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.  He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So, the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.  But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So, the Lord caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the mans ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

These tend to be the verses of the bible everyone accepts as the creation of man and woman, but before we comment on this, let’s look at two other verses that also address the creation of men and women.

But what about these verses?

Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 5:1-2

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.  He created them male and female and blessed them.  And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.

These last two scriptures give us indication that God created “men” and “women” at the same time, so why is it we choose to accept the Genesis 2 scripture instead of the Genesis 1 and 5 scriptures?

Which verses would be more likely from an “all knowing” God?

Let’s look at the problems associated with the Genesis 2 scripture.

• After man was made, then God realized it was not good for the man to be alone – an “all knowing” God would have known ahead of time that it was not good for the man to be alone and would have created an “equal” companion at the same time instead of having to do this after the fact.
• The Lord God brought the livestock, birds and wild animals to the man to find a suitable helper – an “all knowing” God would have known ahead of time these were not suitable companions for the man instead of being surprised and having to come up with another idea.
• In addition to this, an “all knowing” God would never have thought of women as less than livestock, birds and wild animals.
• An “all knowing” God would have made a woman to begin with, and not as a “suitable helper” for a man, but as an equal companion, each having equal importance.

Given these issues, it is much more likely that the Genesis 1 and Genesis 5 scriptures would be the inspired word of God than the Genesis 2 scripture.

Another scripture that would support this thinking 

Leviticus 18:6

No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations.  I am the Lord.

The scriptures from Genesis 2 would indicate the world’s population came from just two people.

• This would mean that we would all be products of incest which would be in direct violation to the law God gave Moses in Leviticus 18.

However, the scriptures in Genesis 1 and 5 shows “men” and “women” being created at the same time.

• This would allow for the world’s population to not come from a violation of God’s law.

More reason for men to think they could be superior

Another scripture that can lead to men thinking they are superior to women comes from the New Testament.

1 Timothy 2:11-15

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.  For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.  But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Would this have come from an “all knowing” God?

Let’s look at the problems associated with this scripture with regard to an “all knowing” God.

• A woman should be quiet, not teach or be in authority over a man – God gave men and women the same brain, but different thought processes. When men and women use their brains together, it makes up for the lack of thinking just a man or woman would have.
• The inspired word of God would not have limited women, it is more likely men would have tried to limit women.
• For those of you who would say, “this was just the way it was in those times” – The inspired word of God would not have given instructions for a period of time, but instead the inspired word of God would be for all times.
• Adam was not deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner – God does not make victims. In this scripture, God gave Adam the instructions not to eat from the tree.  Eve didn’t force Adam to eat, he chose to eat.
• In the scripture in Genesis detailing this event, Adam blames Eve for him eating the fruit – God does not want us to blame others for our mistakes, but to take responsibility for our mistakes
• Women will be saved through childbearing – This reduces women’s importance to having babies instead of the God given value to life they truly bring.

Religion or God?

What we have looked at today makes it very clear why religion can have a lot to do with men thinking they are superior to women.  However, when we use our God given brain, we can see that the scriptures depicting women as less than men would very well not have been the inspired word of God, but rather the words of men.

Equality, peace, love and acceptance

Again, our intent is not to destroy anyone’s belief system, but perhaps to strengthen it.  Over time we have turned the bible into God.  When we allow God to open our mind, it becomes clear that some of the bible would not be what God would have said at all.  The reason this is so important is because some people use the bible for superiority, exclusion, condemnation and judgement.  God would want us to replace this with equality, peace, love and acceptance.