I was asked …There are people who call the Bible and the Coptic Orthodox Church sexist. How do we respond to them? of course we can discuss this at length and spend a lot of time to explain, however the short answer is as follows…
Most people when they do not agree with the principles and commandments of the Bible, they try to find an excuse for themselves for disobeying it. They call it outdated sometimes. They also call it inaccurate in other times. They even try to interpret the very clear verses in the Bible to suite their own inclinations and desires. All these and more methods had been tried over the centuries to discredit the Holy Book, without any success. These people are eventually exposed for what they are and fade away in history while the Bible remains as strong as ever. The latest attempt originated by the feminist movement which had started in the late 19th century and became very widespread in the second half of the 20th century, claimed that the Bible was sexist and prejudiced against women. Anyone studying history will immediately realize that it is quite the opposite. In all nations, including the great empires of the world, women being the weaker part of society in the physical sense, were badly treated and abused. All you have to do is look at the way Muslim nations (from Indonesia to Arabia to Iran…etc) even in this 21st century treat women. In the mean time the Bible from very early on, treated women with dignity and respect. The Israelites sometimes were influenced by the nations surrounding them and mistreated women. But the Bible never expressly sanctioned such mistreatment. Fact is in the New Testament the Lord Jesus elevated women to such high esteem as to make them the first witnesses to His Glorious Resurrection ahead of his own twelve disciples. The Christians have no higher Saint than the Holy Mother St. Mary. What applies to the Bible, applies also for the Coptic Church which had steadfastly adhered to the ordinances of the Bible for the past two thousand years and still do today at its own peril throughout non ending persecution.
The whole argument of the antagonists revolves around the meaning of this one word “equality.” The fact that men and women are equal does not mean that there are no physical, psychological and social differences between them. Each had been created to perform certain functions in the overall scheme of things. So they complement and complete each other rather than interchangeably replace one another. As in the one body, the heart and the brain are irreplaceable, and one cannot do the function of the other. Those antagonists would have us call God a female under the guise of equality. They encourage abortion which is nothing short of murder. If they have their way, they would do away with the male gender altogether as they encourage artificial insemination over the natural ways prescribed by the Creator. They demean the institution of marriage and do not treat it as the holy sacrament it is. In short, they attack the Bible and the Coptic Church to justify for themselves the anarchist life style they advocate which eventually leads to so many of the modern social woes, of broken families, drug abuse, rampant crime and children who don’t even know who their fathers are.