Paul, Feminism, and my Second Awakening

 This is a post processing my thoughts in general about Paul and reflecting on the Bible Project's podcast on Acts Episode 4, and Paul.

When I first confronted Christianity with seriousness as a young adult in 1993, I was in graduate school studying English and exploring feminist theory in my studies. Feminism as a concept was refreshing--it felt truthful. Although I eventually tapped out on pursuing higher levels of study and became suspicious of the academic culture of English Departments, Feminism was something that resonated with me, and inspired a form of self-reflection and reconfiguring.  I remember trying to share my discoveries with my sister Jill at the time and feeling that she just didn't get it.

So, when I began authentically pursuing God and Christianity, I was confronted with the challenge of understanding a faith that I thought I knew already afresh.  And, I was confronted with the challenge of how to reconcile this faith with my world view which was extremely tolerant and affirmative of diversity, letting people be, women being freed from societal expectations and norms of women being perceived sexually or idealistically, not as flesh and blood humans of their own right.

Because I believed in the gospel, I was confident that feminism and Christianity were harmonious. I found a feminist Christian journal and began pulling things apart to put them back together in a better way. I don't remember relating much to this journal, which was kind of dry and hyper academic, but I do remember that it first identified this idea of Paul being a problem. Paul had the most legalistic views of women. Paul came after Jesus. Paul built the community and influenced Christianity to adopt then culturally normal views of women that could change over time.

There was so much new to learn and relearn---I had read the New Testament but very little of the Old. Briggs and I began this discovery of our faith together, and I eventually gave up trying to reconcile feminist theory and the Bible, choosing to trust the basics of this new form of faith as I was learning it through my Bible reading and local church community.

I was new to Christianity--at least to the Protestant, Evangelical Christianity--the kind where you submit yourself to the truth that 1) I am a sinner 2) Jesus died for me 3) I must accept this truth and confess that He is God to be "saved" from Hell and given new life.  Growing up Catholic, we knew we needed to confess and that we sinned, but I'm not sure I understood or believed that I was inherently sinful by nature.