As much as both groups like to deny it, Christians and feminists have a lot in common. For one thing, both get bad press because of the actions of a few. Many people, including a large number of feminists, view Christians as people who oppress women. Many people, including lots of Christians, see feminists as people who hate men. Of course, there are a lot people calling themselves feminists and a third of the world’s population calling themselves Christians, so I can't claim that there's never been a single one who's put out an anti-women or anti-men message. For that reason, let me explain what I mean by Christian and what I mean by feminist.
The bible says that the second most important commandment is to love your neighbour as your love yourself (Matt 22.36-40). Therefore, any teaching which is unloving towards women, is not Christian teaching.
Feminism is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” Any message suggesting that women are better or more important than men, clearly isn’t stemming from a belief in equality of the sexes and is not, according to the dictionary, feminist.
Why the church needs feminist values:
The church needs feminist values because they’re in the bible.
The bible says that the second most important commandment is to love your neighbour as your love yourself (Matt 22.36-40). Therefore, any teaching which is unloving towards women, is not Christian teaching.
Feminism is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “The advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.” Any message suggesting that women are better or more important than men, clearly isn’t stemming from a belief in equality of the sexes and is not, according to the dictionary, feminist.
Why the church needs feminist values:
The church needs feminist values because they’re in the bible.