Reading the Bible from the Margins by De La Torre Miguel A

Author:De La Torre, Miguel A. [De La Torre, Miguel A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbis Books
Published: 2013-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

Sexism from the Margins

One of the regulations of the Law not mentioned above deals with divorce. According to Deuteronomy 24:1–2, a husband could dismiss his wife simply by serving her with a written bill of divorce. The grounds for divorce could be minor, based on something she did that was considered improper or even on a general dislike of her. By the time of Jesus, the practice had developed whereby a husband was able to divorce his wife for whatever reason he chose, yet no Levitical law existed that allowed women to initiate divorce procedures. Divorce was a male privilege. Matthew 19:3–9, however, provides a model for interpreting patriarchal passages like Deuteronomy 24:1–2, as well as the other biblical verses that contribute to the marginalization of women. The Matthew passage reads as follows:

And the Pharisees approached [Jesus], tempting him by saying, “Is it lawful for a man to dismiss his wife for whatever reason?” And he answered them, “Did you not read that God made them male and female from the beginning? And God said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has yoked together, let no one separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and put her away?” He said to them, “In view of your hardheartedness, Moses allowed you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, that whosoever puts away his wife, with the exception of fornication, and marries another commits adultery. And the one who marries a divorcée commits adultery.”

In the above passage, Jesus dismisses the Deuteronomic law because of the social context in which it was written, a context in which the “hardheartedness” of men who benefited from sexism took preference over the intended will of the Creator expressed in the first two chapters of Genesis. Laws like Deuteronomy 24:1–2 are, according to Jesus, the product of men establishing sinful patriarchal hierarchies, rather than God's perfect will that men and women coexist as companions.

Can Christians follow Jesus’ example and dismiss biblical verses, like the ones previously mentioned, if they cause oppression? In chapter 2 , we concluded by stating that the entire Bible should be read through the lens of the gospel message, specifically through passages like John 10:10, where Jesus states, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” If verses within the Bible advocate the subjugation of one person to another and hence prevent life from being lived abundantly by a segment of the population, then those verses are anti-gospel and must be reinterpreted in light of the fullest revelation of God found in Christ. Insistence on reading the text solely through the eyes of men violates the gospel message of liberation, as women are forced to conform to patriarchal traditions that rob them of their dignity.

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