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The Handmaidens Conspiracy: How Erroneous Bible Translations Obscured the Women's Empowerment Movement STARTED by JESUS CHRIST
The veil was not the only thing that Christ s arrival on earth tore asunder. Social and religious barriers, serving to draw lines between specific people groups for thousands of years before His arrival, were suddenly in light of His Great Commission transformed. Never would a tax collector, a zealot, and a traditional Jew share a meal together in peace...but following just a short time in Jesus presence, these barriers crumbled. The influence that Christ had on the men in His day has been celebrated for two thousand years. The overlooked question within mainstream Christianity remains to be: What influence did He have upon women, and what statements did His words and actions make in relation to gender equality? Is it possible that while Jesus Christ, Himself, recognized appropriate gender roles, He also intentionally began the first Women s Liberation Movement? As sensational as this may sound, the proof is in the Word of God, and in the proper contextual analysis of it. IN THE HANDMAIDEN CONSPIRACY, YOU WILL: Follow the cultural and historic backdrop behind Paul s words in 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy the trouble verses in relation to the issue of women leadership in the Church and understand more properly what he was responding to when the epistles were written. Observe the Principal of Internal Consistency at play throughout repeated accounts of Scripture openly describing women preaching, teaching, prophesying, and leading with powerful voices in the Body of Christ and Saint Peter s acknowledgment that this very activity, foretold in Joel 2:28, began on the Day of Pentecost. Discover what the original Greek nouns and adjectives meant in Paul s greeting orders, the women that he was both commissioning and commending as fellow ministers of his own circle (Phoebe, Priscilla, Junia, and several others who were suddenly equal to men in ministerial commission), and the misleading translational and interpretational errors that continuously assist in perpetuating an erroneous concept that women should always remain silent in the work of Christ. Reflect upon the women Jesus knew, both from Scripture as well as in person, and the groundbreaking, permanent changes He made regarding their rights, their value, and their role in delivering His message to the world. Revisit and refine some ancient, yet inaccurate, ideas the Body of Christ has had regarding the Bible s most talked-about women, such as Eve, Mary (the mother of Christ), Mary Magdalene, Judge Deborah, Prophetess Huldah, and others. Understand why the prohibition of women as equals in leadership is not only unbiblical, it is actually doing harm to the Church today.
529 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 18, 2018
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September 25, 2024
AN EVANGELICAL RESEARCHER STRONGLY SUPPORTS WOMEN IN THE BIBLE
Author Donna Howell wrote in the Introduction to this 2018 book, “the purpose of this book was born when I decided to ... do what I believe God told me to do. I opened my mouth. It was then that the opposition came against me…. Nobody questioned my theology ... and not one person challenged my anointing. The issue, they all stated, was that I was a WOMAN… therefore, they said I was ‘limited.’ Therein rested my first resolution: If God, Himself, was calling me… to preach in His service, then I would do what He had asked… it occurred to me early on that an uncountable number of women have experienced the Holy Spirit’s call upon them... [and now] stand today with that bitter and invisible tape over their mouths… I am not by any stretch of the imagination a feminist… But for the women who are caught between … God’s call on one side and the muzzle of prohibition on the other… a study such as this is in order.” (Pg. 3-4)
She recounts, “A couple of months ago… I went on ‘The Jim Bakker Show’ to talk about my book, 'Radicals: Why Tomorrow Belongs to Post-Denominational Christians …’ Toward the end of the interview, Brother Jim gave me the opportunity to give a final word to the audience… a week later, SkyWatch TV emailed me a YouTube video they had made involving only my final---and strongest—thoughts… the video was posted the following day… viewers were allowed to post comments… Every single comment was hateful and derogatory… What did shock me… was WHY they were attacking me…The issue… is whether or not a woman in my place is truly in God’s will by being a minister. That is a discussion I will spend the majority of this book unpacking….” (Pg. 8, 10)
She notes, “If the Bible says women shouldn’t speak in the Church, then that’s what it says. We as believers cannot pick and choose what we want to believe from Scripture and ignore the rest… But it also says … that women shouldn’t wear braids in their hair in church, or pearls, or gold, or expensive clothing… Yet the Church has no problem writing that one off as a ‘cultural issue,’ or correctly interpreting it as the command that women should attend services in reverence, modesty, and humility… Many today… will accept the ‘cultural issue’ argument when it suits them and dismiss it when it doesn’t.” (Pg. 16)
She asserts, “Feminism has… caused extreme harm to the concept of equality. What may have begun … as equal rights for women … has gone beyond anything that benefits the female gender…. The only way to achieve true equality, feminism imparts, is for women to act like men and tower over them in the process… this quest … disintegrates the feminine and graceful nature that brought balance to the goal of equality in the first place.” (Pg. 17)
She asks, “Is it possible that Paul’s words were meant for the congregations he was writing to… and in those circumstances? If his words were ‘normative’ and applicable to all women in every city … into perpetuity, then women should not speak in church… If, however… Paul’s words were meant to apply in specific circumstances, then we need to apply his words only when THOSE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES apply today.” (Pg. 23)
She proposes, “we can ask several questions to help us discover timeless truth… *Who was the original audience?... If we simply take in the text without understanding who originally benefited from the material, we cannot understand HOW the material was beneficial… *What were the circumstances that made the writing a necessity?... responsible readers look for how the circumstances of our… modern world … parallel the circumstances … of the original writing BEFORE making assumptions about how verses apply today… *What was the cultural language style in use at the time of the writing?... many … idioms, rhetoric… and semantics that… if considered outside of their cultural setting, do not mean what the author intended.” (Pg. 35-36)
She argues, “If we take ... 1 Cor 14:34-35 and 1 Tim 2:11-12 and apply them literally in every scenario… a woman would not be allowed to ‘speak’ within the walls of a church. If this is the correct interpretation, we now have the following issues to address… 1. If speaking within a church is not allowed for a woman, prophet or otherwise, then from the moment she enters the doorway, she must close her mouth… 2. If a woman isn’t allowed to speak, is she allowed to sing?... 3. And what of the female ‘prophet’…she would have to step outside… and speak on the church steps…” (Pg. 42-43)
She points out that in New Testament times, “Many of the churches … began as home gatherings. It’s within these homes that WOMEN were sometimes known to be the chief teachers…. Paul commended them for it in his epistles… If women ‘pastors’ begin a church at home that grows… too large to meet in that home, are they then expected to step down… Or do they buy bigger houses so that they aren’t ‘caught teaching in a church’?” (Pg. 54)
She suggests, “Might Paul have been a trailblazer for true equality of women in all spheres…. Not just those relating to the home?... [Was] Priscilla…an ‘official’ pastor in the early Church or merely a pretty face to complement what the men were doing?” (Pg. 56-58) “Paul says, ‘I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant (‘diakonos’) of the church…’ before Paul ever referred to Phoebe as a diakonos, Christ already inaugurated the word as a reference to a leader of the early Christian Church.” (Pg. 62, 64) “All known instances of ‘Junia’ are recognized as a woman’s name… I believe it’s clear that Junia was an apostle… she DID THE WORK of an apostle, and Paul openly acknowledged that …” (Pg. 68, 74)
She explains, “We know that Paul allowed for women to speak in the church, because he said as much when he: a) acknowledged the gifts of the Spirit… to be poured out upon men and women alike, just as it was on the Day of Pentecost involving ‘the women’ in the upper room; b) acknowledged these gifts to be carried out IN CHURCH under proper, non-chaotic circumstances; and c) discussed the proper head covering for a woman praying or prophesying in church… if Paul had written a letter … without the contextual backdrop of the city of Corinth as we know it… we would have no choice but to concede and drop the beloved pop-culture hoorah, ‘The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.’” (Pg. 107)
She observes, “let’s consider … the profound historical and cultural implications of these words sink in: ‘Let the women learn.’ … We can’t appreciate the veracity of Paul introducing a whole new freedom for women… Women of the synagogue were not allowed to learn nearly ANYTHING in the days before Christ…. Paul was setting a new precedent for ALL women from every background within the Church of the Messiah to learn!” (Pg. 134-135)
She says, “[The Greek word] ‘authentein’ does not occur anywhere else in the Bible [than 1 Tim 2:12]… we cannot rely on Paul’s use of the word elsewhere for an internal comparison… let’s consider … what we’re arguing about here. A woman standing behind a pulpit to draw the lost to Christ through her theological knowledge and the words of her mouth is not ‘usurping’ anybody anyway. To ‘usurp authority’ means to steal authority from someone else and harness it as one’s own… The bottom line on the whole ‘authentein’ debate… is that the word is rare and mysterious…” (Pg. 140 146)
She points out, “the biblical narrative of Deborah shows without a doubt that sometimes, God’s people need a WOMAN to get things done… Deborah was not a last resort. She was precisely the kind of feminine voice that was needed for such a time as this.” (Pg. 179)
She wonders, “Why do so many people think there WEREN’T women disciples? … Don’t they see all the verses that straightforwardly list women as disciples (for example, Luke 8:1-3, 10:38-42, Mk 15:40-42)? Jesus taught His ways to both men and women.” (Pg. 204)
Ms. Howell is VERY prominent in SkyWatch TV and Defender Publishing, and her viewpoint deserves careful study by Christians of ALL opinions.
Author Donna Howell wrote in the Introduction to this 2018 book, “the purpose of this book was born when I decided to ... do what I believe God told me to do. I opened my mouth. It was then that the opposition came against me…. Nobody questioned my theology ... and not one person challenged my anointing. The issue, they all stated, was that I was a WOMAN… therefore, they said I was ‘limited.’ Therein rested my first resolution: If God, Himself, was calling me… to preach in His service, then I would do what He had asked… it occurred to me early on that an uncountable number of women have experienced the Holy Spirit’s call upon them... [and now] stand today with that bitter and invisible tape over their mouths… I am not by any stretch of the imagination a feminist… But for the women who are caught between … God’s call on one side and the muzzle of prohibition on the other… a study such as this is in order.” (Pg. 3-4)
She recounts, “A couple of months ago… I went on ‘The Jim Bakker Show’ to talk about my book, 'Radicals: Why Tomorrow Belongs to Post-Denominational Christians …’ Toward the end of the interview, Brother Jim gave me the opportunity to give a final word to the audience… a week later, SkyWatch TV emailed me a YouTube video they had made involving only my final---and strongest—thoughts… the video was posted the following day… viewers were allowed to post comments… Every single comment was hateful and derogatory… What did shock me… was WHY they were attacking me…The issue… is whether or not a woman in my place is truly in God’s will by being a minister. That is a discussion I will spend the majority of this book unpacking….” (Pg. 8, 10)
She notes, “If the Bible says women shouldn’t speak in the Church, then that’s what it says. We as believers cannot pick and choose what we want to believe from Scripture and ignore the rest… But it also says … that women shouldn’t wear braids in their hair in church, or pearls, or gold, or expensive clothing… Yet the Church has no problem writing that one off as a ‘cultural issue,’ or correctly interpreting it as the command that women should attend services in reverence, modesty, and humility… Many today… will accept the ‘cultural issue’ argument when it suits them and dismiss it when it doesn’t.” (Pg. 16)
She asserts, “Feminism has… caused extreme harm to the concept of equality. What may have begun … as equal rights for women … has gone beyond anything that benefits the female gender…. The only way to achieve true equality, feminism imparts, is for women to act like men and tower over them in the process… this quest … disintegrates the feminine and graceful nature that brought balance to the goal of equality in the first place.” (Pg. 17)
She asks, “Is it possible that Paul’s words were meant for the congregations he was writing to… and in those circumstances? If his words were ‘normative’ and applicable to all women in every city … into perpetuity, then women should not speak in church… If, however… Paul’s words were meant to apply in specific circumstances, then we need to apply his words only when THOSE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES apply today.” (Pg. 23)
She proposes, “we can ask several questions to help us discover timeless truth… *Who was the original audience?... If we simply take in the text without understanding who originally benefited from the material, we cannot understand HOW the material was beneficial… *What were the circumstances that made the writing a necessity?... responsible readers look for how the circumstances of our… modern world … parallel the circumstances … of the original writing BEFORE making assumptions about how verses apply today… *What was the cultural language style in use at the time of the writing?... many … idioms, rhetoric… and semantics that… if considered outside of their cultural setting, do not mean what the author intended.” (Pg. 35-36)
She argues, “If we take ... 1 Cor 14:34-35 and 1 Tim 2:11-12 and apply them literally in every scenario… a woman would not be allowed to ‘speak’ within the walls of a church. If this is the correct interpretation, we now have the following issues to address… 1. If speaking within a church is not allowed for a woman, prophet or otherwise, then from the moment she enters the doorway, she must close her mouth… 2. If a woman isn’t allowed to speak, is she allowed to sing?... 3. And what of the female ‘prophet’…she would have to step outside… and speak on the church steps…” (Pg. 42-43)
She points out that in New Testament times, “Many of the churches … began as home gatherings. It’s within these homes that WOMEN were sometimes known to be the chief teachers…. Paul commended them for it in his epistles… If women ‘pastors’ begin a church at home that grows… too large to meet in that home, are they then expected to step down… Or do they buy bigger houses so that they aren’t ‘caught teaching in a church’?” (Pg. 54)
She suggests, “Might Paul have been a trailblazer for true equality of women in all spheres…. Not just those relating to the home?... [Was] Priscilla…an ‘official’ pastor in the early Church or merely a pretty face to complement what the men were doing?” (Pg. 56-58) “Paul says, ‘I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant (‘diakonos’) of the church…’ before Paul ever referred to Phoebe as a diakonos, Christ already inaugurated the word as a reference to a leader of the early Christian Church.” (Pg. 62, 64) “All known instances of ‘Junia’ are recognized as a woman’s name… I believe it’s clear that Junia was an apostle… she DID THE WORK of an apostle, and Paul openly acknowledged that …” (Pg. 68, 74)
She explains, “We know that Paul allowed for women to speak in the church, because he said as much when he: a) acknowledged the gifts of the Spirit… to be poured out upon men and women alike, just as it was on the Day of Pentecost involving ‘the women’ in the upper room; b) acknowledged these gifts to be carried out IN CHURCH under proper, non-chaotic circumstances; and c) discussed the proper head covering for a woman praying or prophesying in church… if Paul had written a letter … without the contextual backdrop of the city of Corinth as we know it… we would have no choice but to concede and drop the beloved pop-culture hoorah, ‘The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.’” (Pg. 107)
She observes, “let’s consider … the profound historical and cultural implications of these words sink in: ‘Let the women learn.’ … We can’t appreciate the veracity of Paul introducing a whole new freedom for women… Women of the synagogue were not allowed to learn nearly ANYTHING in the days before Christ…. Paul was setting a new precedent for ALL women from every background within the Church of the Messiah to learn!” (Pg. 134-135)
She says, “[The Greek word] ‘authentein’ does not occur anywhere else in the Bible [than 1 Tim 2:12]… we cannot rely on Paul’s use of the word elsewhere for an internal comparison… let’s consider … what we’re arguing about here. A woman standing behind a pulpit to draw the lost to Christ through her theological knowledge and the words of her mouth is not ‘usurping’ anybody anyway. To ‘usurp authority’ means to steal authority from someone else and harness it as one’s own… The bottom line on the whole ‘authentein’ debate… is that the word is rare and mysterious…” (Pg. 140 146)
She points out, “the biblical narrative of Deborah shows without a doubt that sometimes, God’s people need a WOMAN to get things done… Deborah was not a last resort. She was precisely the kind of feminine voice that was needed for such a time as this.” (Pg. 179)
She wonders, “Why do so many people think there WEREN’T women disciples? … Don’t they see all the verses that straightforwardly list women as disciples (for example, Luke 8:1-3, 10:38-42, Mk 15:40-42)? Jesus taught His ways to both men and women.” (Pg. 204)
Ms. Howell is VERY prominent in SkyWatch TV and Defender Publishing, and her viewpoint deserves careful study by Christians of ALL opinions.
September 9, 2019
"I am not by any stretch of the imagination a feminist, as chapter 1 of this book relates, and this work is not penned to support or begin any kind of 'women's liberation movement.' Nor was this project motivated by any internal desire to join the raging who's-right, who's wrong debate that has been goin on since the Garden of Eden. But for women who are caught between the intense, surging sensation of God's call- on one side and the muzzle of prohibition on the other, resigned forever otherwise to exist between the duality of these two great forces, a study such as this is in order."
Howell's parsing of Mary Magdalene is one example; not parsed because of "the celebrated title others have given her throughout history," but because of what Jesus did "the day He appeared to er at the tomb." In the day, women were not considered reliable witnesses, yet she was the first one to see Jesus after His resurrection. Jesus "did not choose to appear to a man, nor did He tell the women to track down a man for Him. He simply told the women to go tell the men. He trusted the message of His resurrection, the foundation of the Gospel, to a woman first." "He dispelled forever the notion that a woman can't be trusted with His message, and that she can't deliver it to a man."
I read this and want to give it to every last idiotic mysonginist patriarchal pastor. But that's not why Donna Howell wrote the book and it doesn't read like a screed either. Howell writes with intelligence, thoroughness and without an agenda other than to do justice to the Word.
June 13, 2020
Free at Last!
So glad I read this book! If you are seeking clarity about your role as a female preacher, this is the best truly biblical analysis I have seen.
So glad I read this book! If you are seeking clarity about your role as a female preacher, this is the best truly biblical analysis I have seen.
January 30, 2023
If you are a woman and need help with your place in the body of Christ ,read this. Answers a lot of questions.
January 22, 2023
Very informative
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews