The Charge that the Bible Promotes Misogyny

by Terry Wane Benton
based on output from Copilot

How do Bible-believing educators answer the charge that the Bible is misogynistic? Here’s a clear, thoughtful way Bible‑believing educators typically answer the charge that “the Bible is misogynistic.”

Start with Definitions and Expectations

Before answering, educators clarify what people mean by “misogynistic.” Most critics mean one of three things:

• The Bible reflects ancient patriarchal culture.
• The Bible restricts certain roles.
• The Bible contains stories of violence against women.

A good teacher acknowledges these concerns honestly rather than dodging them. It can be true that certain roles differ and restrict one gender from doing what the other gender is to do, without the assignment of roles being misogynistic. It could be complementary roles that serve the common good better. Recording that a woman killed a man with a tent-peg or a brick is not an approval of the act. Likewise, recording a story of violence against women is not an approval of the event recorded. So, we need to define what we mean by misogyny before proceeding with a charge against God and the Bible.

Distinguish Between Description and Prescription

A foundational point: The Bible often describes sinful, patriarchal cultures—it does not endorse them. It may be the case that a culture that sacrifices children is described without prescribing that children be offered in sacrifice to idols. Polygamy, concubinage, rape, and oppression appear in Scripture because they were real in the ancient world but that is description of what was a cultural practice, not necessarily something God prescribed. The Bible frequently portrays these actions as destructive, unjust, and contrary to God’s heart. For example, Judges 19 is not a command—it is a horror story showing the moral collapse of Israel. Educators emphasize: “Narrative is not normative.”

Show How God Consistently Protects and Elevates Women

Even within ancient cultures, the Bible’s laws and stories repeatedly push upward toward dignity, protection, and honor.

Old Testament Examples:

• Women receive inheritance rights (Numbers 27).
• Husbands are commanded to treat wives with joy, provision, and faithfulness (Exodus 21:10–11).
• Sexual assault laws protect the woman, not the man’s honor (Deuteronomy 22).
• God has chosen women as prophets (Miriam, Deborah, Huldah) in different roles from male prophets, yet not refusing them any teaching role at all.
• Ruth, Esther, and Hannah are central theological voices, displaying heroic examples.

New Testament Examples:

• Jesus consistently elevates women in a counter‑cultural way: He acted counter-culturally when He spoke publicly with the Samaritan woman (John 4). He defends the woman caught in adultery (John 8), treating her with dignity. He received women as disciples and appeared first to women after the resurrection.
• Paul names women as co‑workers (Philippians 4:2–3) and fellow servants (Romans 16:1).

Educators point out that this is not misogyny—it is radical inclusion for the ancient world.

Address Role Passages with Context, Not Evasion

Passages like I Timothy 2 or I Corinthians 14 are usually the flashpoints. Bible‑believing educators handle them by: Pointing to God’s roles, His rules for headship in the home from the beginning after the fall, and showing how Paul simultaneously affirms women’s learning, praying, prophesying, and ministering in admirable ways, and emphasizing that authority and value are not identical. If assigning headship is an insult to women, then would it not be an insult that Jesus is our head? Different roles do not imply inferior worth.

Highlight the Bible’s Core Vision of Male–Female Equality

Educators anchor the discussion in Scripture’s foundational statements:

• Creation Equality: Both male and female are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Both are given the creation mandate (Genesis 1:28).
• Redemptive Equality: “There is neither male nor female… you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
• Marriage Equality: Husbands are commanded to love wives with self‑sacrificial, Christlike love (Ephesians 5:25). That seems to elevate women. She is not commanded to be willing to die for her husband, but his love is to be so protective that he might defend her to his death. This is actually the opposite of misogyny. This is prescriptive love, not merely a description of a cultural norm. Mutual submission frames the entire passage (Ephesians 5:21). But sacrificial love is prescribed for the husband as Christ loved the church and “gave Himself for her”.

Show the Bible’s Redemptive Trajectory

A powerful teaching point: The Bible moves from patriarchy to protection to partnership, with different roles, to equality in Christ as far as value to God is concerned. It doesn’t instantly overthrow ancient cultural structures, but it:

• Restrains them from abusing anyone.
• Humanizes them as valuable souls.
• Plants seeds that ultimately undermine cultures of misogyny.

End with a Clear, Honest Conclusion

A strong educator concludes something like: “The Bible is not misogynistic. It was written into patriarchal cultures, but it consistently pushes against those cultures, elevates women, protects them, honors them, and ultimately reveals men and women as equal image‑bearers redeemed in Christ.”