Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
Male and female in religion
How balanced are the different religions in respect to the male and female representation?
I grew up in a very Christian background but never understood what I saw as the discrepancy of roles of women and men in tradition Christian beliefs. I saw a magazine on sell labeled women of the bible which reminded me of imbalance of male and female which I felt was present in Christianity was for me when I follower. I have never seen one called men of the bible which is obvious since they have the primary roles. I also could never grasp how Eve would come from Adam. Clearly it should have been Eve giving birth to Adam. And why did the Roman Christian church not include women in equally important.
In contrast to Christianity is what I found in learning about pre-Christian Celtic where there was a much clearer balance of male and female. Although accurate understanding of pre-Christian culture is limited, there is enough to show females played a strong role in pre-Christian Celtic society including being leaders of armies. If Sjoestedt is correct in her analysis as describe in her book “Celtic Gods and Heroes” then Celtic societies had less of a pantheon and more emphasis on the importance of the union of the God and the Goddess. Here we see a representation of the female related to the land and the non-human aspect of nature who must be joined with the Male representing the tribe. Thus. the union of male and female is essential for the prosperity of the tribe. This shows a clear balance of male and female.
Iroquois society was in part at least matriarchal. This places women on just as important role as men. In fact, their creation story has a woman as the creator of humankind on Earth or at least on Turtle Island.
Should the early Christian church have included the gospel according to Mary which suggests that a woman was given the role to continue the teachings of Jesus or at least the gospel according to Phillip which indicates that He was married to Mary. Maybe that would have created a better balance of male and female in Christianity.
So. should there be a balance of male and female in religions? What is the perception of the male and female in other religions?
How balanced are the different religions in respect to the male and female representation?
I grew up in a very Christian background but never understood what I saw as the discrepancy of roles of women and men in tradition Christian beliefs. I saw a magazine on sell labeled women of the bible which reminded me of imbalance of male and female which I felt was present in Christianity was for me when I follower. I have never seen one called men of the bible which is obvious since they have the primary roles. I also could never grasp how Eve would come from Adam. Clearly it should have been Eve giving birth to Adam. And why did the Roman Christian church not include women in equally important.
In contrast to Christianity is what I found in learning about pre-Christian Celtic where there was a much clearer balance of male and female. Although accurate understanding of pre-Christian culture is limited, there is enough to show females played a strong role in pre-Christian Celtic society including being leaders of armies. If Sjoestedt is correct in her analysis as describe in her book “Celtic Gods and Heroes” then Celtic societies had less of a pantheon and more emphasis on the importance of the union of the God and the Goddess. Here we see a representation of the female related to the land and the non-human aspect of nature who must be joined with the Male representing the tribe. Thus. the union of male and female is essential for the prosperity of the tribe. This shows a clear balance of male and female.
Iroquois society was in part at least matriarchal. This places women on just as important role as men. In fact, their creation story has a woman as the creator of humankind on Earth or at least on Turtle Island.
Should the early Christian church have included the gospel according to Mary which suggests that a woman was given the role to continue the teachings of Jesus or at least the gospel according to Phillip which indicates that He was married to Mary. Maybe that would have created a better balance of male and female in Christianity.
So. should there be a balance of male and female in religions? What is the perception of the male and female in other religions?