No, the Bible Isn't Misogynistic. Here's Why.

Is the Bible's view of women sexist?

That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, it's Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Our phone lines are open, and you can call us for the next 25 minutes or so. Here's the phone number.

1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. In fact, we have a YouTube channel, and you can watch Adriel live right now on YouTube and send him your question that way, or email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This came in earlier this week. And I was wondering, whenever Satan went out of heaven, why didn't God stomp on his head right then and there and destroy evil? And why did God even give Adam and Eve the choice in the garden whenever he was, like, acknowledged a good and evil tree? Why did he even create that, give them the choice?

Thank you. Hey, Jon, what an excellent question. You know, that's actually very similar to a question that my kids have asked as well.

I have some kids around your age, too, and I love that you are interested in the Bible and that you have this question. It's a great question. Why didn't God just stomp on Satan's head right there?

You know, why even allow him to exist, to breathe, if you will? And why put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there in the garden? It was God trying to get Adam and Eve to stumble, to fall.

Well, here's what I'll say to you. One, God wants our love. He wants us to follow him, Jon. And there, that tree there in the garden, it was almost like a test for Adam and Eve. They were called to obey the Lord. God gave them free choice, free will, to choose to follow him, to choose to love him in light of all the good things that he had given to them. But he wasn't going to force them. And so he put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there.

It was this test. They had this decision to make. Are they going to listen to God, or are they going to disobey the Lord? And of course, they chose to disobey God. Now, the good news is, ever since then, God has been working to bring people back to himself. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, through what they did, but God didn't just leave us there, and he didn't just leave them there.

He continued to pursue them. He clothed them there in the garden, covering their nakedness, covering their sin. And the other thing I'll say is, you know, sometimes we think, well, I wonder why God allowed this or that. What is God doing?

We don't always know the answers to those questions, Jon, but we can say this. God is at work even in and through Satan. And what I mean by that is, you know, the Apostle Paul in Colossians 1 said that all things were made through Jesus, and they exist for him. And at the end of the day, somehow God is going to use everything for his glory and for our good.

And so we can be confident that the Lord is all-powerful, and that though we don't fully understand why he allows certain things to happen, he has a perfect purpose and plan, and he has promised to redeem his people. Jon, God bless. Keep digging into the Scriptures, and thanks for giving us a call.

Hey Jon, thank you. We appreciate you listening to CORE Christianity. Always great to hear from our younger listeners.

We kind of have a feeling maybe their moms and dads listen too, but you never really know. Well, I hope Jon calls us again with more questions. We love getting those questions from our younger listeners.

That's great. This is CORE Christianity, and we're open to your questions right now about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, something going on in your church that you're concerned about. Here, give us a call at 833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Dave calling in from Rome, New York. Dave, what's your question for Adriel? Hi Pastor. My question is from Matthew 522, which says, But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Rocca, shall be in danger of the council, but whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Now I know that word you fool is in different parts of the different Psalms, and I know that sometimes God says that, you know, about sinners. So you know when God says that, you're in trouble. But what does that mean, first of all, Rocca, and then that thing about you fool? I'm lost on the whole thing.

Okay. Yeah, I mean, certainly the fool, especially in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, you think of the book of Proverbs, the fool, the person who doesn't listen to instruction, the person who doesn't heed discipline. Okay, so we're here in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5. This section, verse 21, begins a series of statements. There's six times where Jesus says, essentially, you have heard that it was said to those of old. But I say to you, now what's fascinating about this is Jesus is speaking, and I'm just trying to give some context here, Jesus is speaking as one who has authority, as the lawgiver himself. This is one of those places we can go to to point out the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He's not relying on others. He's saying, this is the word of the Lord, and it's coming from my lips. And in fact, at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, this is what shocked and surprised so many people. It says in chapter 7, verse 28, when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. Oftentimes, even me, as I'm preaching, and others, as they're teaching, they'll cite authorities, point to a commentary, or what this Church Father said, or this source. Well, Jesus isn't doing that here in his Sermon on the Mount.

He's saying, here's what I say to you as the Sovereign Lord. And he's highlighting ways in which the law of God and the teaching of God's word had been twisted, in particular by the religious authorities in his day. They only pointed to the sort of external application of the law, but their hearts were not right before God. And so that's one, the basis of what's happening here, and then when Jesus says, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel, and whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire. And so what Jesus is doing here is he's saying, look, you guys, here's what the religious leaders are telling you. They're saying, okay, so long as you don't actually commit murder, you don't murder another person, strangling them with your hands, that kind of a thing, you're good.

You're in the clear. But what Jesus is highlighting here and throughout the rest of this sermon is, no, actually God is looking at your heart. When you have hatred in your heart, when you look at your brother and you say, you fool, with that anger that's not rooted in something good and godly, you are liable to the judgment.

All sin is deserving of God's wrath and curse. And so what Jesus is doing here is he's showing these people, you desperately need the grace of God, and two, you've misunderstood his law. And so that's what's being highlighted, and it's a caution for us to consider our own hearts towards others, towards our brothers and sisters in the Lord, but also even, as Jesus is going to go on to indicate, even towards our enemies. And so an encouragement for all of you, maybe to stop going into the weekend and to read the Sermon on the Mount, to meditate on the words of our Lord Jesus here, so profound and so powerful. Thank you, Dave, for reaching out to us. Thanks, Dave. And, Adriel, something you and I have discussed that really we could apply that verse to is the way we use social media today.

Ooh, don't say it, Bill. You're right. You're right.

Yeah, well, that's right. You wonder, you know, if Jesus was giving his Sermon on the Mount today, what he might say, you know, you who use social media to mock others or whatever it is. But, yeah, certainly a call to humility and a call to really think about how we speak about one another and, again, that heart attitude that we have towards others.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We're taking your calls with questions about the Bible or the Christian life doctrine or theology.

We're taking calls for the next 15 minutes or so, so now is the time to call at 833-THE-CORE. I also want to tell you about a great resource we have, and this one just in time for Valentine's Day. Yeah, this resource is called Seven Truths About Marital Sex, and so we're thinking about intimacy within the context of marriage, Christian marriage in particular. We want to give you this resource for free to encourage you in your relationships and also to apply God's Word, to think about biblical principles when we're considering, you know, this very important subject that oftentimes doesn't get talked about. And so go over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to get ahold of Seven Truths About Marital Sex.

By the way, when you go to our website, there's a lot of other resources you can check out. And if you're a regular core Christianity listener and you believe in this ministry and what we do, we would invite you to join what we call our inner core. That's a group of people that support us on a monthly basis. We don't play commercials on this program. We don't get money from a church or denomination.

We actually count on people just like you to make regular gifts to support us and help meet our budget. So if that's something that you feel God might be calling you to do when you go to corechristianity.com, just look for the link there that says inner core. We do get voicemails here at Core Christianity.

You can call us 24 hours a day and leave us your voicemail question. We try to listen to those each day. And here's one that came in from one of our listeners named Susan. My question for the pastor is, I'm confused why there's built-in misogyny in the Bible and how the original interpretation of the Bible actually didn't have that. But then when it was transcripted by white men, they put in extra misogyny.

I'm just wondering when that happened or why that happened and just getting a little bit more information on that. Thank you so much. Okay, Susan. Well, thank you for reaching out to us with your question. It sounds to me like you're making some assumptions that I would say are not true.

Two in particular that I heard there. One is the idea that there is built-in misogyny in the Bible. That is a prejudice against women. But when you read the account in Genesis, the creation of Adam and Eve, I mean, they're these rulers of creation. Yeah, I mean, man and woman, distinct and complementary in how they were created by the Lord. But certainly, you know, Eve is depicted as this glorious helpmate to Adam, his equal in one sense, taken from his side.

So not inferior to him, not to be crushed by him or anything like that, but together, made in the image of God. And then you think of just the ministry of our Lord Jesus, attended by so many women who supported him and who he ministered to and cared for and protected. And so I just think, you know, you hear these kinds of things, oh, the Bible is just full of misogyny. Well, there were certainly terrible things that happened, but we have to distinguish between something that's being described, a story, perhaps, in how people were treated sinfully, and what is prescribed in Scripture. Sometimes we look at these stories and we say, oh boy, look at that description, the Bible must be saying that God is pro-slavery or pro-misogyny. No, that's a misunderstanding and a misinterpretation. The other thing that you said, Susan, that I just am sort of baffled by, but you said, you know, the Bible was, there was, you know, originally wasn't this misogyny, but then as it was translated or transcribed by white men, that that's when it got inserted. I just don't even know where you're getting that idea. Let me just say again here, when we're thinking about Bible interpretation and textual criticism and how the Scriptures have been handed down from generation to generation, the translations of the Bible in the Old Testament.

In Alexandria, Egypt, the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, that the disciples of our Lord Jesus together with our Lord Jesus used, and then all of the Greek translations or versions or manuscripts that you have of the New Testament passed down over the centuries. And so we have, I mean, there's really a wonderful testimony to the authority of Scripture and how God has preserved his word. If you've come to believe or assume that, you know, somehow it's been twisted at some point and that, you know, the culprit is white men, I just think, I don't know where you're getting this information from, but it's false. It's not true. And I would encourage you maybe to avoid those sources where you're getting that information from because it doesn't seem wise or helpful. Thanks for reaching out to us, Susan.

Good counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

Love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Viola calling in from St. Louis. Viola, what's your question for Adriel?

Good afternoon. I'm so grateful for your ministry. Thank you, Bill and Pastor Sanchez. My question is on Judah, and I know that Jesus came from the line of Judah, but Judah just didn't seem like a godly man. In Genesis 38, you know, he had those two sons that were basically evil and godly men, but his daughter-in-law who was married to this firstborn, Tamar, he had promised her that he was going to give her his young son, you know, so when he grew up she was able to have children. But he lied about that. He didn't do that, and so she was desperate. I'm not condoning what she did, but she, you know, she dressed up like a harlot, and he went into town and he decided to have sex with this harlot.

It turned out to be his daughter-in-law. What is the lesson he should learn from this evil man? Viola, thank you for that question, and I mean, so it seems like the tension here that you're bringing up is how can this sinner be in the lineage of the blessed Lord Jesus Christ? How is it that Jesus is coming as the Lion of the tribe of Judah when Judah, and you look at his life, and you just think, oh man, yikes, okay. Well first, when we look at the genealogies in the Gospels, in particular in the Gospel of Matthew, it's very clear that the family tree of our Lord Jesus was full of sinners. Now he, you know, the eternal Son of God, assumed humanity for us and was made like us in every way except for sin. He's sinless, never has sinned, never has an evil, wicked thought crept into his mind. He's just pure and perfect for the sake of our redemption, and yet we realize that he works in and through sinners, and that regardless of your history, your family history even, there is hope to receive Messiah Jesus. And so I think one of the things that we learn from this, you know, we look at these characters in the Old Testament, one, we learn that we're not supposed to put our trust in them.

We're not supposed to put our trust in Judah or in Abraham or in King David. They're pointing us forward to the greater Redeemer, the Lord, the sinless one. And so I think we're pointed forward, but we're also encouraged because we ourselves are sinners.

We have tough histories, difficult histories, broken families. And if you look at that, you sometimes can feel like, man, is the grace of God even for me? Is Jesus interested in working in my life? And I think you can look at these stories and say, well, yeah, it is.

It is for you. And Christ is interested in working in your life to redeem you, to extend his grace to you. So there should be a great encouragement for us there as well. By the way, you know, in Genesis 49, just a little bit later, that's where Jacob blesses his sons in the description given there in particular of Judah in verses 8 and following. Your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's son shall bow down before you. He goes on and then he says, the scepter, verse 10, shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Up there, this prophecy already in Genesis 49, speaking of the nations coming to the line of the tribe of Judah, offering him their obedience.

That's happening now through Jesus Christ. Great explanation. Thank you for that, Adriel. Always important to understand the context of the Old Testament and how it points towards Jesus.

We often talk about those signs that point forward, and there's one of them right there. So thank you for that. And Viola, thanks for your call and for your commitment to God's truth. We appreciate that.

This is Core Christianity. Let's go to James in Arkansas. James, what's your question for Adriel? Adriel. Hey, James, how are you doing?

I'm doing good. My question is right here, Adriel. When Christians get to heaven, will God take part of our memory away from us when we won't remember our loss once it's in hell?

And that's all I got to say. James, great question. You know, we've gotten this question before, and it comes because it's like, boy, I've got a lot of bad memories, things that I kind of want to forget. And I can't imagine how I can live in perfect bliss in the presence of the Lord with the memory of my sin or the brokenness and pain and affliction that I've experienced in my life. Well, I don't think that the answer is to say that God sort of wipes our memories. I do think that we're going to have memory and even a perfect mind in the new creation, but in the presence of the Lord. You know, Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, you know, now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, we're going to know just as we ourselves have been known. So there's going to be this fuller knowledge, this perfect knowledge in the presence of the Lord as we're perfected in holiness. But it's the presence of God and the grace of His Spirit that is going to eclipse the sorrows and the pain that we experienced in this world. I don't think that that means that we're going to just forget them per se. But I think we're going to be so overwhelmed with the goodness and glory of God that they aren't going to affect us.

That's my view. And you think of that great promise that we find at the end of the book of Revelation. Of course, Revelation is apocalyptic literature. It's these images that are given to us, but they mean something. And God says, I'm going to wipe away every tear from the eyes of my people.

Every one of your tears. And I think, again, there's that picture of God being in God's presence and Him wiping our tears, removing the pain. And I don't think we have to conclude that that means we forget everyone and everything. I think it means we're just in awe of the glory of God and His greatness.

And that results in perfect worship in heaven. God bless. Thank you, James, so much for your call and for that great question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. You can always email us your questions. Here's our email address. It's questions at core Christianity dot com. Here's one that came in from one of our listeners earlier this week.

They say, I love your show and listen to every episode. I'm seeking some advice about a dear friend. She grew up somewhat Mennonite and has been in church since childhood. But now she says she's deconstructing her faith. She suddenly quit our Bible study, quit attending our church and serving because she feels like she doesn't fit in. She's been our friend for nearly 10 years. During a recent discussion I had with her about why she's leaving the church in our friend group, she responded by saying she doesn't want to hear a Bible verse about her situation and that she understands why members of her family have left Christianity. Staff members at our church say just pray for her and be a friend.

Is there anything else we can do? I'm so sorry to hear this. And you know, this is something you keep hearing. The more and more stories are coming out of people.

I'm deconstructing or I'm de-churching, you know, leaving Christian fellowship. And it sounds to me like there's more to the story here. And so I think one, certainly praying, but pursuing your friend and trying to get to the bottom of the why. Now, sadly, a lot of times, and I'm not just trying to, I don't want to just assume this, but a lot of times what you find is there is a pattern or can be a pattern of sin. Sometimes it can be a pattern of hurt, maybe abuse that this person is experienced at the hands of church leaders. You just don't know. And so I think depending on, okay, what's going on?

What's behind this move? Usually these types of things don't just happen overnight, but there is a drifting away little by little from the word of God and towards our own sin. And so I think what you need is more information. You need to continue to pray, continue to pursue this person, but also, you know, bring to bear the truth of God's word. They may not want to hear scripture, but modeling the grace of God's goodness in your own life towards the person, and then speaking the truth, whether people want to hear it or not, I think it's important that we stick to it. God bless. When you contact us, let us know how we can be praying for you and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.