Gender, Power and Biblical Text

April Westbrook shared from her lectures on Gender, Power and the Biblical Text. Biblical text and language is being used outside of Christian culture in America to presume social norms. Pieces of scripture are pulled often out of context used to create circular logic leading to the negative association of power. Finding balance between power and femininity is a common question surfacing for American women. The ambiguity of conflicting resources on the discussion of power leads to vague disownership, and a false, deceptive type of power. The church remains silent on the issue. In a Christian and Biblical context, power looks very different than the fallen, sin-natured sort that triumphs in present day social circles. Christians should work to redefine power in context of God’s design.
The human desire for power is a God-intended response to creation. He empowered humans to dominate the world and be part of the rule and reign of the earth (Genesis 1:26). Both male and female were created to possess shared power over the earth.
“The real problem with the fall happened before they ate the fruit, Westbrook contends, “ … what led to that was the abdication of power.” The Genesis story focuses on the serpent as an animal, one over whom the humans have dominion and authority. By abdicating their position of authority, the first humans first stepped toward the fall.

“We were created as human beings so that something about who we are looks like something about who God is,” Westbrook explains. God’s use of power is a model for humanity. God uses power to empower others. People should share power to dominate earth. This foundational concept is important to understanding the rest of scripture. “God creates beings so that he will have someone with whom to share power … when we have children, we create beings so that we have beings with whom we can share power.”

April Westbrook is a professor of religious studies at Vanguard University. For more information, go to www.vanguard.edu.