Woman Lives Biblically For A Whole Year: Calls Husband “Master”
Woman Commits to Following Biblical Instructions for Full Year
A woman who calls herself a feminist Christian decided to do more than just read the Bible for one year.
Rachel Held Evans committed to following all of the instructions for women given in both the Old and New Testment for a 12 month period and has written about her unusual project in an upcoming book called “A Year of Biblical Womanhood.”
In order to follow the instruction to submit to her husband, Evans began calling him “master”, grew her hair long and made all of her clothes rather than go shopping for them at the local department store.
Evans stated:
“Starting this month, I will commit one year of my life to following all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, from Genesis to Revelation, from the Levitical code to the letters of Paul, there’s no picking and choosing… Well, except for polygamy and a few other things that I’ll tell you about later.”
One of the most challenging instructions she agreed to follow was to live apart and not interact with either her husband or any other family members, friends or community members while she had her menstrual cycle.
Evans lived in a tent outside her home during these times, abstained from sexual relations and carried her own seat cushion.
So what did Rachel, learn?
“To call into question that there is a single blueprint of how to be a woman. There’s no single model in the Bible – as soon as you think you have found it a woman comes along and breaks it. “Everyone picks and chooses. There are verses that say ‘submit to your husband’, but also those that say ‘submit to one another’. The more women know about the bible the more they can respond when people try to silence them.”
Evans told Slate that she wishes the saga had played out differently.
“I often hear from evangelical leaders, ‘Oh we’re really eager to have more female leaders,’ ” she said. “I want to say, ‘This is my voice. This is what it sounds like.’ ”
Last month, Evans was featured on Christianity Today’s list of 50 Christian women shaping “evangelical church and North American society,” alongside such high-profile women as Michelle Bachmann.
“A Year of Biblical Womanhood” is Evans’ follow-up to her successful 2010 memoir, “Evolving in Monkey Town.” According to the Amazon book description, “Evans embarked on a radical life experiment—a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decides to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as possible for a year.”
Woman Lives Biblically For A Whole Year: Rachel Evans Calls Hubby “Master”
Woman Lives Biblically For A Whole Year: Calls Husband “Master”
Ah, but The New Testament DOES say that a womans hair should not be cut, that it is given to her for a covering and that it is power on her head because of the angels.
I Corinthians 11:10
Please tell me where CUTTING THE HAIR is referenced in any way in the New Testament, or even the Old Testament. Exact chapter and verse.
Nancy already did. To some degree.
T.J. is correct. There is no reference to “cutting the hair.” If you doubt this, go online to a biblical concordance and search. It says that a woman’s hair is for a covering, perhaps indicating that she should not be bald, but it is definitely not clear. What the New Testament does say is that a man having long hair is a shame to him. Interesting.
The New Testament plainly tells us that the old testament ended when Jesus died on the cross. We are no longer bound by the old testament law. We should all be living Biblically following the New Testament law. Not that any of us are perfect but we should be striving to follow the N.T. daily not just for a one year period of time. I hope Ms. Evans learned more about the Bible by reading it and trying to follow it but I just don’t see the point in following the laws of the O.T. when we are no longer bound by them.
Jesus also said that he came not too Abolish the commandments but to fulfill them….. You can find that sentence verse as well Kathy…. You have to read everything clearly….. Don’t forget that Jesus spoke of many things from the Torah, as well as knew knowledge to the consciousness of man. He just enhanced the knowledge to a greater concept. God says also in Corinthians that as shameful as it is for man to have a covering as he is made in God’s image. It is shameful for women not to cover their head as they are made from man…….. That is true according to Adam and Eve…… The laws of the Old testament is important and so Jesus thought they were too…. In fact we probibly would gain a better understanding of Jesus by knowing OT better and where he was coming from.
The article does say she abstained from sexual relations. Therefore, she did not live biblically. Genesis 1:27 “Be fruitful and multiply”. Paul also wrote that the woman should not deny herself to her her husband and vice versa. She lived ascetically instead.
Furthermore, why should it be news that anybody lives biblically. We should all live biblically. That is why we have the bible.
Thirdly, it is a shame that Michelle Bachmann is considered a woman who shaped Christianity. To the chagrin of conservatives, Republican christinity is faux christianity. They act more like the pharisees who crucified Christ.
I’m married to a Hindu.I’m a German Austrian.What we share,is a sense of culture. So while he hated it when I cut my hair,(as did I) childbearing had made it thin and unmanageable. And so HE had to adjust. It took him years. But German Jewish Catholics- we are tough. We don’t live biblically. We are biblical. As for calling my husband Master-I’m not supposed to call him by his first name. I can call him Malik-Owner. (In a pig’s eye.) I will ask him if 10 paces is enough (the length women were supposed to walk behind men). He loves that. There are some customs that I adopted like touching the feet of my elders in greeting, dressing respectfully,taking care to send gifts for holidays since they are his relatives but-he’ll never do it, observing nightly pujas,wearing sindoor,fasting,celebrating not only his holidays but Western Holidays and Austrian ones and Hungarian ones .(which caused a few interesting problems I hadn’t thought of,like when my daughter came home and said she’s asked her friend what she’d gotten for Nicholo and got a blank stare. )However after Easter,when we celebrated Green Thursday by eating Spanikopita and a spinach salad and Good Friday -with egg cracking contests,a variety of cheeses and breads. Easter Sunday,we finally settled on Raan,a marinated leg of lamb,with a vegetable pulao,okra,eggplant,cucumber salad,and homemade naan. But Monday morning,my children would scoot close to the nearest Indian child. “What do YOU have for lunch? Ahhhh-egg curry”-the traditional after Easter treat.
I respect all religions-no-not Scientology. I love Sci-fi. But I’m not going to use a sci-fi book as a bible. And I wouldn’t make a very good Muslim. 1 man = 2 women? And covering my head? That would give me claustrophobia. Besides-if men are tempted by women’s hair or ankles or wrists,they should be punished or restricted,not the women.That’s like saying banks are liable for the temptations they pose to future bank robbers.
No-I’ll never try to do this silly living like the Old and the New Testament for a year. (With some parts left out.) I will not live apart in a tent once a month for a year. I won’t get royalties either.
Aww. Talk to me in another 35 years and tell where you and your Master are.
I’m willing to bet you haven’t learned a damn thing.