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Unlocking The Da Vinci Code : Does Christianity Oppress Women?
Christianity for Sceptics: Part 5
Luke 7:36-50
John Tucker , Milford Baptist Church , 1 May 2005
A publishing phenomenon
Have you read The Da Vinci Code , the best-selling, blockbuster novel by Dan Brown ? The chances are that if you haven't read it, someone you know has. It's an extremely entertaining, intelligent thriller. The story opens with the curator of the Louvre museum being murdered. Alongside the body, police find a series of baffling codes. They call in Robert Langdon , a Harvard University professor, and Sophie Neveu , a gifted – and beautiful – French cryptologist. As they begin to sort through the bizarre code, they are stunned to find a trail of riddles that leads to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci … and a stunning historical truth that, if revealed, would threaten the very existence of the Christian church. Don't worry: I won't spoil the story for those of you who haven't read it. But what's concerned me about this novel is the way in which Dan Brown skilfully blends some historical facts with a heavy dose of fiction to concoct a plausible but highly unflattering – and inaccurate – picture of Jesus , the Bible and the church. Several of our friends – intelligent people but with limited knowledge of the Bible and church history – have read the book and said to us in effect, “If that's Christianity, I don't want a bar of it.”
One of the book's claims is that the Christian church is fundamentally anti-women, and that throughout history it has waged a propaganda campaign against women to preserve its power base and convert the world from a matriarchal society into a patriarchal society with men on top. People are swallowing this. There was an article in the Sunday Star Times last weekend about a North Shore man who is offering an unconventional philosophy course. According to his theory, known as “the A theory,” women evolved differently from men – women are evolutionary hosts, men are evolutionary parasites. His theory aims to restore women to their rightful position as the world's natural leaders. He says his theory is “a factual version of Dan Brown 's top-selling religious thriller, The Da Vinci Code .” Lorraine may sometimes feel that I'm a bit of a pain, that I freeload with the housework, but an evolutionary parasite? I don't think she'd go that far. But for many people, the church's apparent prejudice against women – the new Pope's refusal to ordain female priests, for example – is a genuine obstacle to becoming a Christian. Why does Christianity oppress women? Well does it? How would you respond to that charge?
Guilty, your Honour
I guess one response is to plead guilty. Throughout history the church has sometimes mistreated women. While Dan Brown overstates his case, the church must certainly bear some responsibility for the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages in which something close to 40,000 women were tortured or burned at the stake. The Inquisition and the Salem witch-trials were inexcusable. But in defence it's important to recognise that where the church has discriminated against women it was usually – if not always – simply reflecting society at large. Most cultures throughout history have restricted the role or status of women. At the time of Christ , when the church was born, women were held in very low regard. In ancient Greece and Rome , for example, women had the social status of slaves, with no legal rights whatsoever. Aristotle wrote that “females are imperfect males, accidents produced by the father's inadequacy or by the malignant influence of a moist south wind.” Plato said that if a man lived a cowardly life, he would be reincarnated as a woman. This kind of sexism extended to ancient Israel . Josephus , a Jewish historian of the time, wrote that “women are inferior to men in every way.” One rabbinical saying was that “it is better for the words of the law to be burned than that they should be taught to a woman.” Against that patriarchal background, Christianity was extraordinarily liberating for women.
The words of Scripture
The Christian Scriptures – the New Testament – affirms the dignity and equality of women: The inclusion of females in Jesus' official family tree (Matthew 1:1-16), the reference to women forming an integral part of his support team (Luke 8:1-3), the embarrassing fact that women – who were not regarded as fit to testify in a Jewish court of law – were the first witnesses to his resurrection … If the early leaders of the Christian faith were women-bashing chauvinists, they would surely have made sure that this female-honouring material didn't get into the Gospels. And they would have edited out references to the role that women played in the expansion of the early church. Nearly twenty percent of the church leaders named in the New Testament were women: there were female prophets (Acts 21:9), teachers (Acts 18:2), missionaries (Romans 16:7), deacons (Romans 16:7). Paul , himself, who is often accused of being anti-women, insisted in Galatians 3:28: “In Christ , there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female.” In other words, men and women have equal standing before God.
The record of history
So throughout history, wherever the Christian gospel has spread it's tended to bring liberation for women, not oppression. In the late nineteenth century, infanticide – the killing of unwanted baby girls – was common practice in China before the influence of Christian missionaries there. In India , it was the influence of Christianity that extinguished suttee, the Hindu practice of forcing widows to throw themselves onto their husband's funeral pyre. In New Zealand , it was the work of Christian suffragettes – like Kate Sheppard – motivated by biblical convictions that brought women the right to vote. As with Scripture, the evidence from history is overwhelming: The advent of Christianity radically improved the fate of women. It was the turning point for the freedom and dignity of women.
The example of Jesus
But if you were mounting a defence of Christianity against the charge that it oppresses women, the best evidence – the star witness – would be the founder himself, Jesus . In every recorded interaction that he had with women, he challenged the cultural taboos of his day by treating women with respect and tenderness. In the time that remains let's focus on one of those exchanges. We read about it earlier in Luke 7.
Jesus has been invited to the home of a religious leader for what is a formal dinner. There, surrounded by Pharisees and other respectable men, Jesus encounters a certain woman. Luke says that she “had lived a sinful life in that town.” That's a polite way of saying that she was a prostitute. A sinful woman. But a woman who has heard this young rabbi talk about a God who loves and forgives sinners like her. Now the key to understanding this encounter is to appreciate the complex rules of social etiquette that people took for granted in the ancient Middle East .
Simon , for his part as a host, was expected to follow certain rules of hospitality. First, he was to give his guests a kiss. This could take different forms depending on the status of the guest: on the cheek for an average visitor, on the hand for a special guest. This was followed by the washing of feet before the meal. If the guest were of high social status, the host would perform the duty. If not, a servant might do it. A particularly lazy host might simply give the guests some water and tell them to bathe their own feet, but this would be borderline offensive (like telling your guests they're going to have to wash their own dishes after dinner). And then a thoughtful host would also give his guests some olive oil for their face. In a world that had a surplus of heat and a scarcity of deodorant, such a gesture was particularly appreciated. At this banquet, as a popular rabbi with a significant following, Jesus would have been the guest of honour. But when he arrives at the home of Simon the Pharisee, he receives no kiss, no water, no oil. Nothing. This is an appalling – and probably deliberate – insult.
Now compare Simon with the prostitute. In what was a very patriarchal society, she faced a very different set of social obligations. Jewish women were forbidden to ever talk to men outside their own family. They were certainly never to touch a man other than their husband. And respectable women always kept their hair bound up in public. To let down your hair in front of any man other than your husband was considered immoral – grounds for divorce (along with burning the dinner). These reasonably severe restrictions remind me of something I came across recently. This is a series of guidelines for young wives: “How to prepare the home for your husband's arrival in the evening.” It's taken from a 1950s high school home economic textbook:
Prepare yourself. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair, and be fresh looking … Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
Prepare the children. Take a few moments to wash their hands and faces, comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.
Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him.
Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first. Remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
Don't ask him about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and, as such, will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him. A good wife always knows her place.
This woman didn't. When she sees how Jesus has been insulted and publicly humiliated, she violates every single one of those rules in an attempt to rescue his honour. She realises that she can't be the one to give Jesus a kiss of greeting on his head or hand. It would be presumptuous and easily misunderstood by all the male guests. So, instead she creeps forward, kneels down, and kisses Jesus ' dirty feet. Looking up into his face, instead of seeing contempt or condemnation, she sees love. She hasn't seen that look in a man's eyes in a long time, if ever. Tears come to her eyes. Tears of sadness for what she has become. Tears of gratitude for the forgiveness she's found. Jesus ' feet, unwashed by Simon , are wet from her tears. And dried with her hair. She has an alabaster jar of ointment – most likely a little flask worn around the neck as a kind of perfume. She knows she can't anoint Jesus ' head – it would be unseemly. She is a woman, a sinful woman. He is a holy man. So she pours it on his feet. This is a profoundly significant gesture. In a world not known for its hygiene, the use of perfume like this helped make her job less unpleasant. This perfume represents her means of support. But she knows she won't be needing it anymore. She's pouring out her old way of life. Starting afresh.
Luke says that when Simon the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “This proves that Jesus is no prophet. If God had really sent him, he would know what kind of woman is touching him – and defiling him. She's a sinner!” In one of the greatest conversations in Scripture, Jesus turns the table on Simon . He says to his host: “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn't give me a kiss of greeting, but she has kissed my feet again and again from the time I first came in. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “Her many sins – and they are many – have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” In other words, this woman is not the defiling sinner in this room, Simon . You are. Painfully aware of her sin, she has gladly received God's forgiveness. And that explains why she has lavished her love on me. But you, Simon , so sure of your own righteousness, have shut yourself off to receiving God's grace, and become far more unloving and unlovely than this woman you despise.
This is one of the few stories to make it into all four gospels. And no wonder. Jesus presents a woman – a woman! – as the prime example of faith and righteousness, and a man as an example of unrighteousness. In a patriarchal society, this was a revolutionary affirmation of the value of woman. Instead of mimicking his culture, like the church sometimes does, Jesus challenged it. I wonder if that's the message for us today. How do we mimic our culture when we should be challenging it? What are our cultural blind spots? For most of us in the church today, sexism is probably not the real danger. I think the real threat is consumerism. Thinking that if I get what I want, and look after myself, I will be happy. That is the basic assumption underlying our culture today. Has it infected you? If our basis for decision-making is “Will this meet my needs?” then, yes, it has. If our attitude to worship is “Does this make me feel good?” (and not “Am I making God feel good?”) then, yes, it has. If we abandon relationships as soon as they get hard, we're acting more like a consumer of this world than a disciple of Christ, the One who was prepared to be defiled and let his reputation suffer by a woman's touch, if that's what it took to take her pain and bring her healing and be able to say: “Your sins are forgiven … Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
That's what Jesus says to us today from the communion table. These symbols represent his body that was broken and his blood that was shed, for us. They're a reminder that he was willing to be identified with us, and share our sin, and take our pain, to bring us forgiveness and peace. Like that woman, let's spend time drawing near to Jesus , to confess our failings and receive his forgiveness and cleansing.
Questions
• Have you read The Da Vinci Code ? What did you think of it? What have you heard about it?
• How does Dan Brown 's novel claim to undermine the standard picture of Jesus , the Bible and the church?
• How, throughout history, has the Christian church oppressed women or liberated women? Give examples.
• Read Genesis 1:26-28 and Genesis 2:18-22. What do they contribute to the debate?
• Paul is often construed as being anti-women. How would you interpret Ephesians 5:15-33 in relation to marriage?
• Read 1 Corinthians 11:3-16, 1 Corinthians 14:26-40, and 1 Timothy 2:9-15. What do you make of these controversial passages?
• Read Luke 7:36-50. How does Jesus affirm womanhood in this story?
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