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Abstract
The biblical book of the Old Testament (OT) portrays that the patriarchal society in ancient Israel viewed women as second-class citizens. In the modern-day church, the deliberate ignorance to recognize the significant roles played by women is ever present. The above notion makes this study more critical as well as relevant. This article brings into perspective the following two critical questions: (1) How did the Bible address gender issues during ancient biblical times? (2) What is the Church's position on women and readership? (3) How are women regarded generally among sub-Saharan African societies? In an attempt to answer the above questions, the following four key issues will be examined: First, the article investigates the Bible and its portrayal about women in order to set an agenda towards appropriating such an investigation into the contemporary context in which the Bible plays a part in oppressing women. Second, significant roles played by women during ancient biblical times are discussed. Third, the study attempts to examine the position of the church on the leadership of women. Examples of churches will be drawn from the following representative list: The Baptist Church, the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church. Fourth, sub-Saharan African societies in general and their perspectives about women and leadership roles are also explored. In the final analysis, this study offers some suggestions towards gender equality in our modern post-biblical society.
Keywords: Gender equality, Indigenous Knowledge, Church, Women, Leadership, Africa
Introduction
The biblical text depicts ancient narratives that support male dominance in almost every sphere of life. This is so because the Bible portrays to be a product of a male perspective. Maretha M. Jacobs concurs with this view where she affirms that "for almost all of human history both in ancient times and in modern contexts, talk about God has been mainly a male preserve". In the Bible, questions of gender differences were not raised and so these were not debated either in biblical literature or in public spheres. Because of the Bible's elevation of men at the expense of female sublimity, feminists began to identify and remove these male distortions. A radical feminist theory believes that women's oppression is caused by patriarchy, which is a system of male authority that is especially exhibited in...