Abby's Inklings: Women in religion

By Abby Cowels
Associate Editor

Growing up with friends raised in a religious household has sparked a curiosity in me to ask questions, research and wonder about how so many religious practices and beliefs can share such similarities, and at other times be so vastly different.

One of the most common issues across religions, I have discovered recently, is the silencing of women within religious texts.

Maybe it is because it is so much closer to my American culture that I have become so interested in Christianity; its prosecution, separation and evolution into many sub-sects. Every religion has a creation story. With the exception of Buddhism, every religion has a Creator.

Creators like God, Allah and Brahma are known for their sacrifices in creating their world. Though we somehow have separated creation from life-giving in these texts.

There were, dating back to the Old Testament, five female prophets; Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noahdiah and one woman who never held a name. But around the first century the Apostles – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James and Jude – compiled what we know today as the New Testament.

This New Testament removed the gospels of the five female prophets; a “revision,” which was seen necessary by the early Catholic church. They had considered the teachings of the women to be unorthodox, and held too many gnostic implications.

This is the precise reason that the Gospel of Mary Magdalene was severed from the Old Testament. And how she lost her place as a prophet and leader. Jesus praised Mary for her philosophical ideas. But, there were some in later years who found them disquieting.

Though through the centuries, those who had the authority to change it found it too liberal; they feared it could mitigate the power and reputation of a centralized God.

You may say, “Hey, wait! There are many important women in the Bible!? Sure, there is truth to that, but who are our biblical women? Mainly daughters, sisters, mothers and virgins.

We do have a few powerful female religious leaders in writing, but I would just like to point out that they never earned status beyond being canonized. They were turned into saints, so they may forever sit by, and serve their God.

Feel free to send me your thoughts and comments at cowelsa@mail.com.