This is the beginning of the Forward introducing Rev Tony Lang OAM’s book What the Bible Really Says About Women.
Rev Lang continues: “When we turn to the Gospels and beyond, we find the same message. God shows no discrimination.”
Right from the opening few lines of the Forward, I was hooked. To this reader, the concept of equity of men and women has a naturalness to it reminiscent of divine planning, yet many - both in secular and non-secular communities - act in ways that contravene this self-evident ideal.
Owing to painstaking-research, Rev Lang does a great job of taking on a difficult concept. In What the Bible Really Says About Women, Rev Lang dares to challenge the gender normative roles of Christian tradition while succeeding admirably at presenting an engaging and evidence-based case for gender equality within the Church and in everyday life.
Before delivering evidence, grounded in scripture, that God offers the same eternal life to both men and women while asking for the same faith and commitment, Rev Lang debunks five common arguments amongst “subordinationists”, my favourite being: “Because woman was taken from the Man’s rib, so she must be subordinate to him.”
Citing Dr Andrew Sloane, author of At Home in a Strange Land: Using the Old Testament in Christian Ethics, Rev Lang debunks this theory by pointing out: “...there is nothing in those words to suggest a hierarchical order. Man’s substance is from the ground - but he is not subject to the ground. The woman is dependant for her existence upon God, not the man”.
While the substance of Rev Lang’s book is likely to appeal to women readers, particularly Christian women readers - and it is not by accident that the review of a book with a strong gender equality theme is included in the special International Women’s Day edition of Aurora - What the Bible Really Says About Women will fully engross all readers. Most importantly, it contains a message important to both genders and society as a whole.
To pick up your copy of Rev Lang’s book, visit: bit.ly/WhatTheBibleReallySaysAboutWomen. The book is also available as an eBook from sellers including: Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and more.
