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Is Paid by Sacrificial Patriarchy
by J. Jeff Toler for Shenandoah Christian Alliance j.toler@sca4christ.org
- “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.” (Proverbs 31:10)
One of the best ways in understanding sociology, is to view any society through the lens of the biblical anthology and scriptural doctrine. This is an imperative for the believing orthodox Christian, and an unavoidable concept for anyone else. Christians believe the Bible is the indispensable, undisputed source for comprehending two essential absolutes: humans are made in the image of God, and He made them male and female.
Ancient peoples, like the Assyrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Persians, Sumerians, and Mesopotamians all possessed creation myths of some kind. The Egyptians claimed, “…the sun god Ra, also called Atum, created his son Shu and daughter Tefnut and they worked together to create order in Nu – the chaos of the universe. They created humans from tears of happiness and then made Yah the moon, Geb the earth, and Nut the sky.” Ra, was the sun god—the sun was the most important feature of life to them.
God led Abraham, from the region of upper Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in a land called Ur of the Chaldeans, to go and settle in the land of Canaan. He would become the father of all the people God promised him—the people of the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Among the things that they all believe in common, is that they are from the line of Abraham, and they have retained the belief that all people are created by one God, and they are created male and female. And so all regard Abraham as their patriarch in some sense.
For millennia, the idea of humanity is a creation, and moreover is male and female was universally accepted, because it was indisputable, undeniable, and obvious.
Apart from ancient Greek myths of women warriors and matriarchs, [https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-342?rskey=ANopOt&result=1] women were not considered fully the equal of men, let alone their superiors, and received a more-or-less second class status. Writes Carol Parr Bradley, “A major consensus among scholars and students of ancient studies is that women in ancient times were second class, oppressed, and subservient to men.” [https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1145&context=studiaantiqua] Among the ancient Israelites, this was tempered by “penal and civil law (which) treated men and women equally.” And, “…that, at least among the elite, women were educated in the Bible and in halacha. (The Talmudic law) The daughter of a scholar was considered a good prospect for marriage in part because of her education.” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Judaism]
Most all believe that, while men and women are different, both are deserving of respect, dignity, and the opportunity to fulfill their created purpose. This is where things have stood within Western canon, down through the ages. Even the philosophers and scholars of the Age of Enlightenment didn’t dispute this, and male and female were regarded with biblical definition. But skeptics, like Hegel, and later Marx, who in turn influenced critical theorists like those of the Frankfurt School, moved further from the moral law, and began teaching that anyone can determine their own moral order. Yet, though they may have had little respect for God, and legitimized “open relationships” like Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, [https://medium.com/illumination/how-jean-paul-sartre-and-simone-de-beauvoir-broke-the-dating-rules-7a8820a9b13a] they never explicitly asserted that men and women are not actually different from one another biologically.
Yet today, each person can ultimately determine that even reality must bend to their own imaginations. The bodies they are born with cannot be the determining expression of how they identify—a man can be a woman, a woman, a man. If you want evidence, watch the documentary by Matt Walsh, “What is a Woman?” It’s available on Daily Wire, behind a paywall.
Of course, a woman is much more than a biological interpretation. She is biblical creation. Her role is to conceive life and nurture it. She is the inspiration for fine art, poetry, songs, and literature. She is where truth and beauty converge. But a differing story is playing out: culturally toxic, and cynically political. When things progress to the point they have, where traditional relationships decline, marriages decrease, families become diminished and dysfunctional, and women think they can be men, that’s when civilizations are threatened.
It is reported that more than 1 in 4 Gen Z adults in the U.S. self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, dwarfing the percentages of LGBTQ Americans in older age groups according to a report released in January, 2024, available here: [https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PRRI-Jan-2024-Gen-Z-Draft.pdf]
Political conspiracy you ask? Something is influencing this phenomenon. Consider this March 11 report by Robert Clark, writing for National Review, wherein he says, “Leaked files reveal how one influential organization is covering up the dangers of transgender medicine. Troubled children deserve better.” [https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/03/an-international-transgender-conspiracy-has-been-unmasked/] Yes they do, yet still, the influential organization, World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is actively promoting the manual, “Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People.” It’s now in its eighth edition.
In his leaked exposé, Michael Shellenberger (pictured) provides disturbing insights into the realities of what gender medicine really looks like. And frankly, it’s nauseating. Some details can be found here: if you care to read about it. Matt Walsh writes about it here.
- Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1Peter 5:8 ESV)
For the victims of the devil, in the modern age it would seem, it’s women and children first. Who, and where, are their protectors, the patriarch? He’s either marginalized, maligned, or missing altogether. But God still insists His intent for him is to overcome his instinctive desires, and submit to the better man: the lover and protector of his woman. Once again, referencing (and paraphrasing) Doug Wilson, “If the woman subordinates to the man’s sexual appetites and urges, we get motorcycle gangs and Vikings—the hookup culture. But, if the man submits to the woman’s desires and needs, we get civilization.”
Many leading pastors are saying we are at, or at least near, the end of the age. That’s entirely possible. While we don’t really know that, we do, at least, appear to be facing the collapse of Western civilization. With what little time we may have left to us, should we just sit and watch—bemoaning the sorry state we are in, waiting for the trumpet sound? I personally don’t think that’s the right response for men and women. There are signs that many Gen Zs are rediscovering—or more likely—simply discovering on their own, that the joy from a committed marriage with children is actually better than the fleeting excitement that passes for momentary happiness. If so, maybe these young people would be receptive to what the Bible can teach them, and for whom it was written to proclaim.
A very wise man once wrote this to his woman:
If you do not know,
O most beautiful among women,
follow in the tracks of the flock,
and pasture your young goats
beside the shepherds’ tents.
I compare you, my love,
to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels. (Song of Solomon 1: 8-19)
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
