Article September 21, 1998 Issue

Equality in church, and beyond

Woman's rights, humanity's rights

By Elizabeth Dawn Diffa

One day I was listening to a minister on a local television program speaking out against the growing number of women preachers. Basing his arguments primarily on the account of creation in the second chapter of Genesis in the Bible, he stated that God created man before woman and then made woman from man's rib. To him this meant that women occupied an inferior or subordinate position compared to men in God's scheme of things. He concluded by saying that for women to have authority over men, in church or in any area of life, was morally wrong, as it went against God's order.

As I considered his words, I inwardly rejoiced that there is a more enlightened and inclusive interpretation of the Holy Scriptures—one that blesses both men and women. It is based on the account of creation given in the first chapter of Genesis, where God made man—male and female—in His image and likeness.

What good news for women! The real woman of God's creating did not originate from the rib of a man, but instead has the same divine source, God. She is not less than man, or man's subordinate. And what good news this chapter has for men, too! God's man never originated from dust. All of us, in truth, are created spiritually to express both male and female qualities: intelligence and meekness, strength and tenderness, creativity and love. Each of us belongs equally to the one and only creator—God, the divine Mind.

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