From the Pastor
Galatians 3:28 (NRSV) “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
God’s View of Women: Equality from Creation
Summary: Jesus came to break down barriers, including those of gender inequality. In Christ, no one is inferior; all are valued, all are needed.
This past week, we celebrated International Women’s Day, a moment that calls us to reflect on the state of women in our world. As I consider this, I also think about how God views women.
For years, I believed that God saw women as inferior. In the fundamentalist church I once attended, I was taught that because God created man first and then formed woman from Adam’s rib, women were secondary and lesser. However, this understanding stems from a biased reading of the original Hebrew text.
In Genesis 2, the Hebrew word used is 'āḏām (pronounced "aw-dam"), which can mean human, humankind, or man. Since most biblical translators were men, they chose to translate it as “man,” reinforcing their cultural assumption of male superiority. However, this is not the only possible interpretation. In fact, it reflects a translator’s bias rather than the true intent of the text.
A closer reading of Genesis reveals that the human was originally without gender. Only when God separates the human into male and female do distinct genders come into existence (Genesis 2:23). This suggests that both were created equally and at the same time, not in a hierarchy of importance.
If that is not enough to affirm women’s worth, Paul makes it abundantly clear in Galatians 3:28: “There is no longer … male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Jesus came to break down barriers, including those of gender inequality. In Christ, no one is inferior; all are valued, all are needed.
May we honor the women in our lives, recognizing that they, too, bear the image of God.
Pastor Anny+
The Rev. Dr. Anny Genato+
Rector, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church
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