March has been designated “Women’s month.” Women have played a significant role in history and in societies around the world. Some of the most influential women in my life include my mother, grandmothers, my aunt Sonia, and my wife. Each of them made a significant impact on my life and I love them dearly.
It is important that we honor and celebrate women. Kelsey Pelzer writes, “Women’s History Month first came to be as a national celebration in 1982 though the first celebration was Women’s History Week. A few years later, it expanded into a full month of honoring women’s roles in society, thanks to a petition from the National Women’s History Project, which led to the president proclaiming March of each year Women’s History Month.” Women’s history month is a reminder to all of us that God created mankind male and female (Genesis 1:27). Women, therefore, have intrinsic divine worth.
Women have a privilege that men do not, the ability to carry a child in their womb. The account of the first birth of mankind is given to us in Genesis 4:1, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.'” Women were endowed with the gift of birth by God. The birth of a life is sacred. This is why we must stand for life.
For my stance on abortion click below:
I remember when my wife became pregnant and then gave birth to our firstborn. She was so excited and anxious! Her life changed forever. Her bond with Gabriel and our two other sons is indescribable. It is indeed remarkable that God ordained childbearing, though painful (Genesis 3:16), just for women. God’s original design for childbearing was distorted because of sin. Not only do women have to deal with birth pains, some are unable to bear children, have unwanted pregnancies, and some women experience miscarriage. My wife and I miscarried our first child. It was traumatic. I pray the Lord comforts you like he did us, and gives you peace if you’re unable to conceive.
Of course, a woman’s worth does not reside in the fact that she’s able to bear children. Women influence the world as leaders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, doctors, philosophers, journalists, lawyers, nurses, and much more! They are indeed remarkable!
Women Who Made a Historical Impact
What is a woman? Or who is a woman? Before I answer that question, let me provide you with some examples of women who have made a significant impact in history.
WOMEN OF THE BIBLE:
James Borland points out, “Most frequently, women were regarded as second-class citizens. Even the Old Testament presents situations where women were depersonalized. But such indications do not equal endorsement. God never authorized or approved behavior that depersonalized women. There are other things recorded in Scripture such as child sacrifice, polygamy, ritualistic sex in religion, and wife abuse that have never been sanctioned by God.” Furthermore, women did play a significant role in the redemptive history.
Paul Maxwell gives us a few examples in an article he wrote for Tithe.ly titled, “15 Great Women of the Bible Every Christian Must-Know“. The top three include: (For others read Maxwell’s article)
1. Mary of Nazareth
Mary’s significant role in Scripture is widely known: Mary of Nazareth is the mother of Jesus. She gave birth to the savior of the world when she was just a teenager.The angel Gabriel told her of the unique role she would play in God’s story and, while this certainly was frightening, Mary bravely embraced her calling and bore for all of humanity the savior of the world.
Bible Verse – “The angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid. You have found favor with God. See! You are to become a mother and have a Son. You are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:30-33).
2. Ruth the Moabite
Ruth the Moabite played a significant role in the coming of Jesus. After her husband died, she followed her mother-in-law Naomi to her homeland in Israel, where she met Boaz. They would become the great grandparents of King David, and eventually propagate the lineage of the Messiah.
Bible Verse – “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God’” (Ruth 1:16).
3. Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene is often misunderstood. She was a faithful follower of Jesus. After Jesus healed her, she ventured alongside him in his ministry, meeting his needs and encouraging the disciples, eventually bearing witness to his crucifixion and burial. Three days later, she would be the first witness of the empty tomb of Christ and one of the core critical eye-witnesses to his resurrection that would later resource the gospel writers to give the church historical credibility.
Bible Verse – “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1).
WOMEN OF SOCIETY:
Milly Haddrick, in an article titled “12 Of The Most Famous Women In History“, provides us with a few examples. Here are three women who have made a significant impact in history:
1. Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603)
“Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind.”
Elizabeth called herself ‘The Virgin Queen’ because she chose to marry her country instead of a man. It might seem like ancient history now, but Queen Elizabeth I is one of the most successful monarchs in British history, and under her, England became a major European power in politics, commerce and the arts … Elizabeth I proved all the naysayers wrong and has become one of the greatest female leaders. Known for her intelligence, cunning and hot-temper, ‘The Virgin Queen’ was one truly one of the great women in history.
2. Jane Austen (1775 – 1817)
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
Jane Austen defined an entire literary genre with her shrewd social observations and wit. Born into a family of eight children in England, Austen started writing her now classic novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, in her teens.
3. Rosa Parks (1913 – 2005)
“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free … so other people would be also free.”
Rosa Parks was on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, when the bus driver asked her to stand up and give her seat to a white man. Parks, a black seamstress, refused and in doing so sparked an entire civil rights movement in America … Parks was subsequently arrested, and her actions sparked a wave of protestsacross America. When she died at the age of 92 on October 24, 2005, she became the first woman in the nation’s history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
The Redefinition of Womanhood
We indeed live in perilous times. Many have tried to redefine womanhood. For instance, Christian feminists have attempted to create a women’s theology of liberation rejecting biblical authority based on their subjective experiences. Jams Borland, contributor to Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, points out that, “Elizabeth Fiorenza claims that her first principle of Bible interpretation is “suspicion rather than acceptance of biblical authority,” and in her opinion “without question, the Bible is a male book.”
In the secular world, feminists have tried to redefine womanhood. They have attempted to separate “gender” from “sex,” which is not the way the Bible defines womanhood. Mari Mikkola, writing for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, points out,
“Feminism is said to be the movement to end women’s oppression (hooks 2000, 26). One possible way to understand ‘woman’ in this claim is to take it as a sex term: ‘woman’ picks out human females and being a human female depends on various biological and anatomical features (like genitalia). Historically many feminists have understood ‘woman’ differently: not as a sex term, but as a gender term that depends on social and cultural factors (like social position). In so doing, they distinguished sex (being female or male) from gender (being a woman or a man), although most ordinary language users appear to treat the two interchangeably.”
Critical Gender theorists, for instance, have attempted to deconstruct gender. In a book review of Riki Wilchins’ book Queer Theory, Gender Theory: An Instant Primer, Neil Shenvi asserts, “Queer Theory, a discipline which seeks to disrupt the male/female gender binary by deconstructing gender, revealing it to be the product of culture and social conditioning, not a natural or essential category.”
Click below for my article on a similar topic (CRT):
The goal is simple…to deconstruct sex and gender. For more on that read:
Womanhood is being deconstructed before our very eyes. What is a woman? or who is a woman? According to Scripture, a woman is a person whose biological sex is female. But not according to our culture. Today, transgender athletes like Lia Thomas are at the center of controversies surrounding the issue of womanhood. Thomas was born a male (man), but went through surgery to “become a woman.” According to some in our society, Thomas should be treated as a woman and even compete against women (biological females).
In relation to the question “what is a woman?” even Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson refused to answer what a woman is, which according to Dictionary.com is defined as, “an adult female person.” In an exchange with Marsha Blackburn, senator from Tennessee, she failed to provide an answer. Here’s part of the exchange:
“Do you agree with Justice Ginsburg that there are physical differences between men and women that are enduring?” the senator asked.
“Um, senator, respectfully I am not familiar with that particular quote or case, so it’s hard for me to comment,” the judge responded.
“Do you interpret Justice Ginsburg’s meaning of men and women as male and female?”, Blackburn.
“Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman?’” the senator asked.
“Can I provide a definition? No,” Jackson responded. “I can’t.”
“You can’t?” Blackburn asked.
“Not in this context, I’m not a biologist,” the judge replied.
Jackson’s answer is revealing. Basically Jackson is saying you can define sex and gender however you want. While Jackson is “not a biologist,” the basic tenets of biology classify females and males as having distinct XX (females) and XY(males) chromosomes. One does not need to be a biologist in order to determine whether or not sex and gender are compatible, its a basic concept we all learned in human anatomy class.
Women need to be respected at all costs. Regardless of their obvious biological differences from men, they hold great value to society. We should not let deconstructionists steal the unique strength and beauty of our women. One of the best ways to uphold the worth of women and the unique role they play, is to preserve the union of sex and gender. Let us not do women a disservice by redefining their gender and sexuality! Instead, let’s celebrate the distinctive God given strength, wit, beauty, and all other qualities of women.
Happy Women’s History Month to all mothers, daughters, granddaughters, nieces, sisters, wives, and aunts out there!
Written by Daniel Messina
FOR A DETAILED TREATMENT OF BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD READ THIS:
