Paul and Gender: Chapter 2

a book summary

This is a summary of the second chapter of Cynthia Long Westfall's book: Paul and Gender. In this chapter, entitled Stereotypes, Westfall argues that Paul did not reinforce gender stereotypes of the Greco-Roman times, but rather taught non-conformity to the ways of this world as seen in Romans 12, "Do not conform to this world..."

Rather than saying men need to stick to men's things and women need to stick to women's things, Westfall argues that Paul mixed his metaphors to encourage men and women to have the sort of qualities that the other gender typically were thought to have.

Masculine Metaphors

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Paul used masculine metaphors to encourage both men and women in their new identities in Christ. Paul used the masculine metaphors of athletes and warriors to encourage the stereotypical Greco-Roman masculine traits of competitiveness, strength, and combat skills.

In Philippians 4:2-3, Paul names two women as those who "fought" or "competed" with him alongside others for the sake of the gospel [συνήθλησάν from the word that means "wrestle in the company with" (Biblehub.com)]. Courage and bravery were thought traits not possessed by women, but Paul encouraged women in these traits because men and women alike faced persecution and death.

Another metaphor is found in 1 Corinthians 13:16's "act like men" or "be brave" which is addressed to both men and women. The basic understanding of "act like men" was that "Bravery was a male virtue and fear was a female virtue" (Westfall, 51). Paul doesn't mean "Women be manly!" but rather "be brave," something he believed women were capable of doing. It's through references like this that Paul defies stereotypes between men and women.

I found it interesting that Westfall cites Robert Saucy's use of this phrase, "act like men," to support that the Bible affirms gender roles. Is that the Robert Saucy we know? If it is, it's kind of sad to see Westfall use sound reasoning to refute him. "Sigh" Can't make an idol of anyone, I guess.

Feminine Metaphors

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Paul also used feminine metaphors to encourage both men and women in their new identities in Christ. Paul used images of childbirth, breastfeeding, and nurturing to describe his own relationship with believers. Isaiah too used maternal imagery to describe God's relationship with Israel. "The intense responsibility of leadership was directly comparable to the responsibility of mother and nurses, who were the primary care providers for children" (Westfall, 52).

"Paul's use of maternal imagery for pastoral care illustrates a compatibility of pastoral care with feminine commitment and the female role of nurture, yet he does not assume that a male is incapable of comparable intimacy, care, and commitment" (Westfall, 53). Westfall goes on to point out how odd it is that Paul compares pastoral care to maternal nurturing, but historically women haven't been allowed to be in church positions that entail pastoral care.

Paul also used feminine imagery to talk about the church in 2 Corinthians 11:1-3, when Paul described the Corinthians church as a young bride that he will present to Christ. That is, Paul assigned "bride" to both men and women in the church.

Likewise in Ephesians 5:21-25, Paul starts his metaphor by drawing parallels between husbands and Christ. "Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church." Wives are equated with the church. As Christ is the head of the church so husbands are the head of their wives. However, Paul then turns the metaphors upside-down by doing two things. One, Paul shows how Christ did women's work for the church, and two, Paul likens wives to men's own bodies. 

This is a great example of how Paul took the general understanding of an issue and then transformed the images to give us new identities in Christ. These new identities included "women's work" in men's responsibilities and "men's work" in women's responsibilities. It certainly doesn't seem like Paul is sticking with basic men-women stereotypes here.

Even Jesus is depicted as doing stereotypical women's work by making clothes for his bride, washing her clean, and serving up his body to eat. These were all Greco-Roman women's or slaves' jobs.

In conclusion, Paul was communicating to women that they needed to "make adjustments to their identity and function in order to exercise power, conduct spiritual warfare like a warrior and gladiator, and pursue spiritual goals like an athlete." likewise, "men needed to make adjustments to their identity and function in order to recognize vulnerability, nurture other believers, quell aggression, and follow Christ in humility, suffering, and submission." (Westfall, 59).

Click on the link to read the next chapter summary available after Friday, March 1.

Westfall, Cynthia Long. Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle's Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2016)