Culture – Page 27 – Navigating by Faith

Is the Bible Sexist and Racist? Part 3 – Racism

“There is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.” (Romans 10:12)

July 7, 2017December 29, 2022 kevingdrendelLeave a comment

Depositphotos ID: 136218314 Copyright: renaschild

This is the third part in a series on whether the Bible is sexist and racist. We introduced the question in Part 1 and explored whether the Bible is sexist in Part 2 by going back to the beginning, back to the creation story, where God introduces us to the crown of His Creation, Adam and Eve. We will explore what the Bible reveals to us about God’s view of racism in this Part 3 of the series before turning to what Jesus had to say about sexism in Part 4 and racism in Part 5.

As we try to understand what the Bible has to say about racism, I want to go back to Adam and Eve again. They are depicted in the Bible as representative of the human race. Genesis, therefore, has application not only to gender relations but to race relations as well.

In Genesis we will look at clues for what God intended when He created the world and the people in it,. Then we will go to Revelations to glimpse how things will ultimately be when the redemption of the world is complete and God’s purpose is fulfilled.

This sweep, from Genesis to Revelation, from beginning to end, will show us the big picture on how God sees views race.

Continue reading →

Is the Bible Sexist and Racist? Part 2 – Sexism

If anything, Genesis 2 suggests that men need help, and Eve is to Adam what God is to mankind.

July 7, 2017December 29, 2022 kevingdrendel1 Comment

Depositphotos Image ID: 31694753 copyright: DesignPicsInc

Racism, sexism and oppression are themes in the story of man’s relations to other men (and women) throughout history. Many people today have the enlightened notion that the Bible perpetuates those old tropes from the Bronze Age and that modern men and women who have progressed by our will to advance know better. But is that really true?

We introduced the question, “what the Bible says about sexism and racism”, in Part I. In this second part in the series, we look at what the Bible reveals to us about sexism. In Part 3, we begin to explore how the Bible addresses racism. In Part 4, we observe what Jesus reveals about sexism, and Part 5 tackles racism through the life of Jesus and what he taught.

Regarding sexism, the Bible first reveals God’s view of the interrelationship of men and women at the very beginning, back before sin entered the world. In Genesis, we are told God created Adam and Eve, the first (or representative) people, and we get a glimpse, there, of what God intended. Genesis gives us critical clues on how God views men and women in their original, intended state.

Continue reading →

Is the Bible Sexist and Racist? Part 1

The Bible has been used to justify racism, sexism and other similar things, but, are those things what the Bible really stands for?

July 7, 2017December 29, 2022 kevingdrendel1 Comment

Depositphotos Image ID: 150906934 Copyright: Rawpixel

Many people charge the Bible with being sexist and racist. Whether the Bible is sexist and racist goes to the heart of who the Bible says God is. What does the Bible say about these things? How does the Bible describe men, women, ethnicity, diversity and human life?

Is the Bible accurately portrayed in the media on these issues? Is it accurately understood by the common person? Is the Bible accurately followed by the people who claim the Bible as their guiding light?

These questions are relevant today as Black Lives Matters and women’s marches and gatherings make the news and immigration policy is being debated in the national media in the United States.

How do we value human life? What is the basis for the value of human life?

And what does the Bible really say about these things?

This begins a five part series that looks at the evidence of how God views sexism from a biblical overview and evidence of how God views racism from a biblical overview, followed by the evidence in the Bible of the way Jesus viewed sexism and the evidence in the Bible of the way Jesus viewed racism.

Continue reading “Is the Bible Sexist and Racist? Part 1” →

Taking Our Politics Back to Jesus

Our efforts built on a different foundation other than Jesus will not stand.

January 23, 2017January 23, 2017 kevingdrendelLeave a comment

Casual interracial couple having an argument in a terrace — depositphotos Image ID: 125978174 Copyright: klublub

I am torn with mixed emotions as I watch my social media news feeds well up with agitating statements from pole to pole. The inauguration and the women’s marches have set my social media world on edge – or rather edges. Polarization is the structure and substance of our modern discourse.

In the middle of it all are my brothers and sisters in Christ, dividing over the same issues that divide the country. We feel compelled to take sides, to hold up our own partisan signs, to signal where we stand and to look around to see who is standing with us.

That we seem to be lining up in the same fashion as the rest of our world has me feeling uneasy. Are we no different for the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus than the world around us who finds no need of a Savior and no palate for a Lord?

Have we been born again, born of the Spirit, born from above? Or have we simply adopted a layer of adornment that we have put over the worldviews we already have?

I ask these questions for myself as I put them on paper. I am asking these questions for all of us who profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Continue reading “Taking Our Politics Back to Jesus” →

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: