What God May Really Be Like – Misbeliefs About God

→God is incapable of showing bias or favoritism since God is perfect
→Moral intuitions and the Bible suggest roles are best determined by gifts not gender

I have suggested in this series if a Creator exists, they have communicated clearly through universal moral intuitions. Even if you don’t believe in a Creator, we might be able to agree that we can know what is good according to moral intuitions we share. By claiming to know what is good according to a book such as the Bible or the Koran, it is overlooked that literature is subject to interpretation. We end up claiming our interpretation is the Word of God.

God is not bias against gays, people of color, or women because that is what a perfect God must be like. Those who do or don’t read the Bible would insist a Creator be perfect to call themselves God. Bible readers will point to passages that say God is perfect thus not evil. The Bible’s challenge to be perfect like God is meaningless unless we can sense what perfection is (Mt. 5:48).

Most would agree, unless believing some book advises otherwise, that a good, perfect God is incapable of showing any bias or favoritism toward men over women.

I may be bias because I have two daughters and I am married to a very smart, independent, woman. I am convinced our hearts tell us that roles in personal or business relationships should be determined according to one’s gifts not gender. Who should be the CEO or preach? The most qualified of course. Who should handle the finances in the family? The one most gifted.

If you wish to determine God’s views toward females according to the Bible, since there is much debate by scholars, shouldn’t we choose the interpretation that seems more likely according to our moral intuitions. But, I am convinced the Bible doesn’t show favoritism when it comes to gender. I only mention a few examples though there are many more:

• It seems unlikely God would suggest women be under the authority of men, especially when men are prone to dominate women anyway. The Apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament supposedly suggested wives are subordinate or under the leadership of their husbands in a way husbands aren’t to their wives (Eph. 5:22). Paul says in verse 22 in the original manuscripts: “wives to your husbands as to the Lord.” Translations often supply the very missing from verse 21: “wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” Paul just said submission is a way of life for all (5:21). If wives are under the leadership of their husbands, then we must also say church members are in subordination or under the leadership of one another (v. 21). Women do not need male leadership in marriage; women need unselfish men who have the heart of a servant (5:28-29).
• When the Bible says: “Women should remain silent in the churches” (I Cor. 14:34), maybe the writer would encourage men to be silent in certain situations for the sake of peace. The same writer had just assumed women, without condemning, could prophesize during worship (I Cor. 11:5). The writer surely had certain circumstances in mind when suggesting silence.
• Women are denied the privilege to exercise spiritual gifts in the church because of one main biblical passage (I Tim. 2:11-15), which is highly debated among scholars. Those who suggest this passage teaches women can’t teach men often allow women to teach women and children as if they are less important than men! Paul has in mind false teachings when he says a woman must not teach or have authority over a man. The passage uses the analogy of Adam and Eve.

God is incapable or bigotry or favoritism toward non-Caucasians, gays, or females.  

Even if I thought truth was ultimately determined according the Bible, it is more likely the Bible reveals that roles in life are determined according to one’s gifts not gender (I Cor. 12:4-11). A good and perfect God is incapable of showing favoritism. God is the kind of Creator worthy to follow in becoming more the person you desire to be deep down.