Awake Deborah

Influenced by the patriarchy of Roman culture and ancient Greek philosophy, church leaders in the 3rd and 4th centuries began to translate and interpret the Bible with a systematic bias against women. This bias was carried over into the Protestant Reformation, and it continues to influence how the Bible is read and understood today.

This course is designed to help students identify and remove patriarchal bias from Bible translation and commentary. As this bias is removed, it will become clear that far from being the will of God, patriarchy is a human tradition rooted in prejudice. As patriarchal errors are corrected, the original meaning of Bible passages concerning women will be restored.

All of the following Bible passages have been misinterpreted, overlooked or altered in translation so that patriarchy (the rule of men) is wrongly portrayed as “the will of God”:

Genesis chapters 1, 2, 3, 21 and 24

Judges chapters 2, 4, 5, 19 and 20

Isaiah chapter 3

Joel chapter 2

Ezekiel chapter 34

Zechariah chapter 5

Matthew chapters 10, 20, 23 and 28

Luke chapters 13 and 24

John chapter 13

Acts chapters 1, 2, 11, 18, 19 and 28

Romans chapters 1 and 16

1 Corinthians chapters 1, 3, 7, 10, 11 and 14

2 Corinthians chapter 3

Ephesians chapters 3 and 5

Colossians chapter 3

Philippians chapters 1, 2 and 4

1 Timothy chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

2 Timothy chapter 2

Titus chapter 2

Galatians chapters 2, 3 and 5

1 Peter chapters 2 and 3

This course identifies and removes patriarchal bias from Bible translation and commentary, highlighting the meaning of all of these passages in their original languages and contexts.

This course is based on the first 6 chapters of "The Equality Workbook: Freedom in Christ From the Oppression of Patriarchy," written by Helga and Bob Edwards.