The Plain Truth - A Magazine of Understanding

A view from the High Street

by Gethin Russell-Jones

I like to think of myself as a decent man. On a good day, thoughtful, compassionate, empathetic. You get the picture. However, the other day, I heard theologian and feminist Elaine Storkey give a lecture in Cardiff. And it shook me.

It was all about global male aggression.

Elaine told us that women face monstrous injustice all over the world. And far from modelling a fairer community, the church often falls into the same depressing trap as the rest of society. Whether it’s the blight of HIV/AIDS, rape used as an instrument of war in part of Africa, or the unjust dowry system in India, women and their children are often powerless against male aggression and oppressive political systems.

In a far-reaching address, she offered a number of statistics:

Only 1,400 parliamentary seats are occupied by women worldwide.
Women represent 70 percent of the world’s 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty
Women make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population.
Gender-based violence causes more deaths and disabilities among women aged 15 years and over, than cancer, traffic accidents and war.
Believing that baby boys are preferable, India has aborted 10 million girls.

So what has Christianity got to say about it?

Referring to the first chapter of the Bible’s opening book, Genesis, Elaine Storkey argued that humanity was made male and female. This harmony of gender expresses the unity of our race as intended by God. Sin’s entry into the world, however, breaks this unity, leading to the gross injustices so prevalent across the planet. Through Jesus Christ, God dramatically breaks the power of sin and creates new life for those who turn to him. But Dr. Storkey maintained that the church still has a theology of gender based on the fall from grace rather than creation. It promotes the servitude of women rather than the free humanity of Genesis 1.

Stories of Hope

Supported by Tearfund, an initiative, entitled Restored, aims to raise awareness of male violent behaviour and equip churches to stop it. At the same time, it will promote healthy, biblical relationships between men and women.

And in one African country a soap making co-operative has been formed, consisting of women who have been raped and brutalised. Although a profitable venture, the process of soap manufacture resulted in terrible acid burns to all involved. A local Baptist pastor visited the women and offered his help. His offer was spurned – the women fearing that he had come to violate them. His persistence, however, eventually paid off and he was allowed to help. He performed the same tasks as the women and two years later his hands are as damaged and blistered as theirs. His scars, like those of Jesus, speak of healing and love.

In closing, Elaine Storkey quoted these words from Jesus : ‘I came that they might have life – and that in abundance.’¹

1. John 10:10

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