Lance wrote: > And do you not know that you are an Eve? > The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives > in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. > You are the devil’s gateway: you are the unsealer > of that tree: you are the first deserter of the divine > law: you are she who persuaded him whom the > devil was not valiant enough to attack. You > destroyed so easily God’s image, man. On account > of your desert – that is, death – even the Son of God > had to die. ~ Tertullian, Second Century
The context of this is from a paragraph about modesty in apparel becoming to women. The quote stops short in that some sentences later, he concludes this train of thought by saying: "Accordingly these things are all the baggage of woman in her condemned and dead state, instituted as if to swell the pomp of her funeral." So he was not denigrating women here. He was establishing some historical guidelines, expounding upon the judgment of God toward the woman which said, "In pains and in anxieties dost thou bear (children), woman; and toward thine husband (is) thy inclination, and he lords It over thee.” Tertullian quoted this passage just before the quote given by Debbie above. Tertullian then goes on, based upon the writings of Enoch (which he holds to be Scripture but recognizes that the Jews did not because they did not think such writings could survive the flood, but Tertullian believed Noah, Enoch's great grandson, to have taken it with him in the ark), to argue that women who wear mascara and jewelry and fine ornaments were taught this by the angels that had sinned and come down and married women. He points out that these same angels are the angels that we will judge, and if we will judge them, what is it that women have to do with these things they brought to us, being consumed with putting on makeup on their face, or coloring their hair, or wearing fine jewelry. He points out that these are things of the earth and nothing that women of God ought to be concerned with. Then he points out that the promise of judging these angels also is given to women; therefore, they ought not be involved with these things that were dishonoring to the Creator. Tertullian writes: "For you too, (women as you are,) have the selfsame angelic nature promised as your reward, the selfsame sex as men: the selfsame advancement to the dignity of judging, does (the Lord) promise you." Such a statement is along the lines of there being no male or female in the eyes of God. It is an empowering statement, that women will be made judges of angels on an equal level with men, so the quote taken out of context to make Tertullian look like a woman basher is erroneous. Debbie would be wise to hear the end of his conversation. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
