Posted to Facebook: Biblical Christian Egalitarians, by Bob Edwards. 6/8/2016
"I'm reading through the oral traditions that were applied to women by various Rabbis from the 1st through to the 12th century A.D..
And yes, it has brought me to tears.
The sight of a woman in public could allegedly cause a man to sin. The sight of her hair was especially viewed as provocative.
The sound of a woman's voice was viewed as provocative. It should especially never be heard in a religious assembly.
"Exposed femininity" was viewed as so utterly sexual, that even angels could be caused to forsake heaven in pursuit of carnal lust.
To avoid the horrifying possibility that a religious man might have a "sinful impulse," rule after rule was created, and placed like a chain around women's necks.
"The rules will preserve us," would be an appropriate slogan for this form of religion. Women must neither be seen nor heard.
Shame, fear, control and man-made religion are the links in the chain that would suppress and silence the glory of God's creation.
I have a much greater appreciation for every time Jesus chose to confront the "scribes and teachers of the law" of his day. He warned that they were laying heavy burdens upon people's shoulders, and not lifting a finger to help. He told them that they were not entering the kingdom of God, and that they were preventing others from entering. He truthfully told them that they were nullifying the will of God with their human traditions, and that they did "many things like this." (c.f. Mark 7:1-13 and Luke 11:37-53)
I have a much greater appreciation for the apostle Paul who said that seeking holiness by making more and more rules is an exercise in futility that leads to bondage and false humility. (c.f. Colossians 2:16-23)
More and more I am convinced that salvation from sin and the "law that kills" comes through faith in the love of God, made known to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
May God deliver us from the oppressive belief that rules made and enforced by men (literally) can deliver us from evil. Rather than protecting us from sin, this kind of religion is a form of idolatry that violates God's first commandment. Freedom comes from within, when we trust in the Savior and yield ourselves to the transforming work of God's Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty, not a cage."
