Misogyny

My wife and I homeschool our 5 children. Okay, only two or maybe three are really of “school” age, but you would be surprised at how much younger children pickup while they play at the feet of their parents and siblings. The oldest two are active readers and my third is just starting to learn phonics and has gleefully mastered a few simple words. Often when my children are reading, they will ask their mother and I what certain words mean. Our response is usually “Look it up.” My favorite tool for such times is Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary. It was both the first American dictionary and the first Christian dictionary.

Today while reading an email newsletter from one of my favorite authors of the day (Gary DeMar of American Vision), I came across the word "misogyny." In an effort to practice what I preach to my children, I looked up the word in the dictionary. Being at work however, I did not have Noah Webster’s dictionary at hand so I searched for the definition of the word at http://www.dictionary.com/. Below is the first entry taken from their search results:

mi·sog·y·ny: Hatred of women: “Every organized patriarchal religion works overtime to contribute its own brand of misogyny” (Robin Morgan).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

I am not sure why I was surprised at the quote chosen by the editors of The American Heritage Dictionary, but I was. Both modern day historians and linguists have been on a systematic and methodical course to change the way people (especially our children) think about God, mankind, history and really life itself. After a little research I discovered that Robin Morgan (quoted in the definition above) was a feminist activist who worked in the civil rights, antiwar and feminist movements in the 1950s through 1970s and came out as a lesbian in the 60s.

Compare The American Heritage Dictionary’s entry for misogyny to that of Noah Webster’s (which I gladly found online at http://www.cbtministries.org/resources/webster1828.htm):

MISOG'YNY, n. [supra.] Hatred of the female sex.

Obviously the definition has not changed, but what has changed is the world view that is being communicated. Where Noah Webster’s dictionary was written from a Christian worldview, The American Heritage Dictionary is written from a secular humanistic one. Feminists, lesbians and the like hate Christianity because they hate the God of the Bible. They have made themselves gods and therefore live by their own moral standard. This type of thinking is the direct result of buying into the unsustainable lie of evolution which separates the life of man from his creator (the God of the Bible).

The facts are that biblical Christianity is both patriarchal and holds a very high view of women. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians wrote,

“25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.” (NASB, Ephesians 5:25-30)

You see, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, loved the church so much that he died for her. But the death he died was not just any death, he took our sin upon himself and paid the price that was demanded for it:

“He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [Jesus].” (NASB, 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus did what we were unable to do for ourselves, he paid the price for our sin and reconciled us back to His Father by giving us His righteousness! Now connect this truth to Ephesians 5:25-30 quoted above: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her….” Does this sound like biblical Christianity results in misogyny to you?

For more insight to the meaning of Ephesians 5:25-30, read Romans 5:6-10:

“6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

“[W]hile we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” That is, while we were unlovable, while we hated God, while we where without any merit of our own, Christ died for us! NOW THAT IS LOVE! Biblical Christianity does what no other religion (including Feminism) can do; it elevates women to their highest level. Are women to be submissive to their own husbands? Yes, read Ephesians 5:22-24:

“22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”

Once you understand what a woman is supposed to be submissive to (the same love that Christ showed the Church) you can understand that her submissiveness is not repulsive; instead, it is glorious! I have to submit myself to Jesus, and I do it with gratitude and joy, and if I am doing what God has commanded me to do, my wife can submit herself to my leadership with the same joy. My wife’s submission to me is not subservience. She is not my slave. We are equal in the sight of God. We were both lost before we submitted ourselves to Christ, and we are now both called His children after our submission to Him.