The Boundary

The Boundary

Women's lives are being shaped by the cultures and traditional religions of the societies around the world. Male chauvinism also plays an important role in the altitude of males and the subordination of females . Women's capacity is limited or defined by the religious rules which are set by Men. It is important to know what the religion really is teaching so that we could break the boundary between men and women. This paper is about the role of women in this Christian and Buddhism world and we could contrast and compare how each religion portrays women in their society. Since world religions have changed over the centuries, the role of woman has changed along with the changes in these religions. Therefore, this paper will discuss the background history of women in these two religions along with the current role of women in modern Christianity and Buddhism.

According to my personal experiences and knowledge that I had, I would assume that Christianity would give the most liberation for women. However, when we study further the history, it is hard to persuade that Christianity has been some how different than other religion. During the period 4000-3000 B.C., there are many women religious leaders with Goddess. The revealation of religious leaders such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus lowered the status of women although the ten Commandments have not subjected men or women to inequal status under God. While male patriarchs dominate the stories of the Old Testament, a number of women such as Deborah, Huldah and Noadiah played prominent roles in the service of God during this era(Rogers 43). Before the ministry of Jesus, we could not deny important role of Mary who for bringing Christ to the world and Elizabeth, a mother of John (Rogers 48).

The revealation of religious leaders such as Abraham, Moses lowered the status of women although the ten Commandments have not subjected men or women to inequal status under God. While male patriarchs dominate the stories of the Old Testament, a number of women such as Deborah, Huldah and Noadiah played prominent roles in the service of God during this era(Rogers 43). Before the ministry of Jesus, we could not deny important role of Mary who for bringing Christ to the world and Elizabeth, a mother of John (Rogers 48).

Denominations such as Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans have ordained a growing number of women in recent years. However, more conservative denominations such as Southern Baptists have still resisted such changes.The arguments against ordination of women on the patriarchal traditions of the past, and the concept of the "fallen" role of women following Eve's commission of sin in the Garden of Eden (Rogers 42). Since males are usually larger or physically stronger than women, there is a wrong perception that men are more stable emotionally and stronger mentally (Rogers 42).

Jesus would be the strongest case for women in ministry is from actions. Contrary to the practices of the time in Palestine, Jesus elevated the status of women, treating them with respect and love and demonstrated. Jewish women had a background in which women were subject to their husband's wishes and were accorded only a lowly status within the synagogue and society(Rogers 51). We could see the compassion upon women oh his contact with the woman of Samaria at the well. Among the many women in Jesus' life and ministry, Mary Magdalene is recorded more than any of the others and appears in all of the Gospels(Rogers49). Jesus Christ has displayed himself to women after his resurrection. Therefore, Jesus have broken these boundry for women from the male dominated society. A new sense of freedom and equality was brought about principally by the words and actions of Jesus during His three-year ministry (Rogers49).

The apostle Paul confirmed the attitude of Jesus regarding women when he wrote in Galatians 3:28 that "there is neither male nor female" under Christ, indicating his belief in the equal status of all believers. However, his inconsistency stand point regarding women in 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 creates a debate in Christian churches. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul states that women are not allowed to preach in Ephesus although some scholars argues that he only meant to that particular women of the church(Rogers 2).

Paul's other writings indicate important and respected roles for Christian women. Increasing interest and controversy have attended the matter of women's ministry during the past two decades. Churches with a more evangelical or fundamentalist bent have been less inclined to ordain women. The Shakers church was founded in 1774 by Ann Lee who preached that sexuality was the cause of all evil and that God was both male and female. Another woman with radical ideas, Mary Baker Eddy, founded the Church of Christ Scientist at Boston in 1879. She preached that God is both male and female, among other doctrines. She rewrote the central Christian prayer, "Our Father," to reflect her views.(Rogers 55).By contrast, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists, had 60,000 clergy and only 350 ordained (0.58 percent) women in that year. Women seek equality in social position and opportunity to pursue individual goals in all aspects of life. There are 1,620 million Christians in the world today or 33 percent of the world's population. Women are more than half of these Christians and in many cases make up 60 to 75 percent of the active churchgoers (Ruether 267). U.S. feminist theolgy is the major theological export from the United States to the rest of the world. However, in some asian country, the tradition has still influence over the religion. In Korea, India, and the Philippines, women are 65 to 70 percent of the active churchgoers (Ruether 285) In Korea with a fast growing Christian population, only the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea ordained women.(Ruether285).

Similar to Christianity, modern buddhism has changed by new Buddhist lay movements, and new concepts of leadership in Buddhist communities have emerged all over Asia. As Christianity denomination, new Buddhist sects have sprung up in many countries. Asia in our century, Buddhism became a symbol of national identity( Barnes 138) and Buddhism is changing into an international religion all over the world communicate frequently and influence each other. Buddhist women, in particular, have finally found their voice and have stepped into the limelight as spiritual leaders, teachers, scholars, organizers, and shapers of a new Buddhism for the modern world. One of the most important issues modern Buddhist women have raised is the matter of