The Same Flesh and Bone
written by: Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’”
Sadly, I’ve heard too many ministers and lay people using this passage to subjugate women. They enjoy saying, “God made man first, and woman is made out of man,” and further, “that she is to be his ‘helper.’” “Woman has an ‘honored’ place as a support for the man.” These Christian groups try to “honor” women by keeping them under the authority of men, especially their husbands.
Male domination of women is not what God intended for human beings. The real emphasis of this verse should be on the phrase, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” It is apparent from this description God is making women equal to men. Woman is made of the same bone and flesh as the man. Earlier in chapter two, God tried to make “animals of the field and birds of the air” to provide company for man. It didn’t work because they were not equal to the man. The man needed someone who was his equal for fulfillment in life.
So, the next time someone affirms the idea that “man is the head of the household” because the Bible says so, the answer is, “No! Woman is equal to the man. She is of the same ‘bone’ and the same ‘flesh.’” It is time to stop allowing people who claim the same Christian faith to deny half of all Christians the equal right to express and share their faith in the one true God!
Today, pray for the Christian Church. The larger society is belittling us because the media and secularists are successfully lumping all Christians into the same misogynistic basket. We are an exceedingly diverse religion. It is vital that we evangelize the Christian truth of equality for all people. All are equal regardless of skin color, nationality, sexual orientation, or whether one is male or female. It is a Spiritual imperative we must share over and over again.
(Originally printed on Nov. 17, 2017)
