Women: Image Bearers of God

Created in God’s Image

Genesis 1:26–27 says,

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Hebrew has two words for “man.” Adam can be the name Adam, it can mean “males,” but it can also just mean “humans.” Ish is the more specific word for male, and interestingly, it is first used in Genesis 2:23 when there is an ishshah, a woman, to be contrasted with for the first time after the creation of Eve.

The creation account is clear, mankind—male and female—is created in God’s image.

More Easily Deceived?

Genesis 3 is one of the most sobering chapters of Scripture because it contains the account of how sin and death entered the creation through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Some people use the fact that Eve was the one who was deceived to say that women in general are more susceptible to being deceived, but a careful study of Scripture does not bear that out. Laban (Genesis 31), Saul (1 Samuel 19), Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 19), the Sadducees as a group (Matthew 22:29; Mark 12:24), and Paul (Romans 7:11) are among the men who are specifically said to be deceived in various circumstances, and exhortations to not be deceived are aimed at both men and women (1 Corinthians 6:9, 15:33; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Galatians 6:7).

First Timothy 2:14 is often the proof text for this idea of women being more easily deceived. However, if you look at the context of the passage, Paul is actually referencing the creation order as a precedent for authority in the church. The creation account serves as a model for how the church is to be governed, and the fall account serves as a warning of what happens when that order is ignored. He orders men rather than women to exercise authority because men were created first (1 Timothy 2:13). In the Greek, because protos (“first”) is in a prominent position in verse 13 (which is the same sentence in Greek), it carries over to verse 14, regarding women being deceived first.1 A particular person’s susceptibility to being deceived isn’t the point—Eve’s deception is a prototypical event, so Paul uses it to underline his command that women learn in submission.

That being said, men can still learn from women in the church even if they aren’t serving in an authoritative role. Apollos learned from Priscilla and Aquila, and the fact that her name is listed first may indicate that she had a more prominent role in teaching. Timothy learned from his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, and their example was still instructive to him as a grown man. And women are equal recipients of the Great Commission, which commands them to share the gospel, and that will sometimes mean sharing the gospel with men!

Relationship with God

Women in Scripture are consistently portrayed as morally responsible agents, who have a duty to obey God even if their husbands are disobedient. This is important because many religions in the ancient world saw women’s duty to their husbands as primary. If women’s relationship with God was mediated through their husbands, we would expect to see a unilateral command to submit, even if the husband was sinning. Instead, women are responsible to obey God rather than their husbands if there is a conflict, which has some pretty big implications.

First, it means women have a relationship with God distinct from their husbands. While husbands and wives may (and should!) pray, give, attend church, and minister together, they also may (and should!) sometimes do those things separately. For instance, in Genesis 25, Isaac prays for Rebekah because she is barren (v. 21). But when Rebekah questioned why the two children struggled so much in her womb, she went—apparently by herself—to inquire of the Lord, and he answered her (vv. 22–23)!

Knowing God’s Will and Word

Second, it means that women are expected to know God’s will and follow it, even if their husbands think differently. Abigail is praised in the biblical account for preventing the escalating conflict between David and Nabal—Nabal’s ensuing death is presented as a consequence of his greed and arrogance, and Abigail’s marriage to David is presented as a reward for her wisdom and action. In contrast, Sapphira obeyed her husband Ananias and lied about her husband’s giving to the apostles, and she died with him—Peter clearly expected that she should have told the truth, even if her husband wanted her to lie.

Knowing and following God’s will requires that women know Scripture. This was not a standard idea within Judaism at the time. Jews believed that women were not commanded to study the Torah, were rewarded less than men for doing so, and some even prohibited it entirely.2 Yet the Bible positively presents women who show a deep knowledge of Scripture. Hannah’s prayer displays a deep knowledge of the character of God, even though it is unclear what access to the written Scriptures she would have had (1 Samuel 2). And Mary’s song is very clearly modeled on Hannah’s (Luke 1:46–55). Mary (the sister of Martha) sat at Jesus’ feet in the place of a disciple (traditionally a male role), while Martha served and was busy with hospitality—traditionally the female role. However, Jesus said that Mary had chosen better and would not take it away from her (Luke 10:38–42). Even 1 Timothy 2:11 contains the command for women to learn!

And of course, women had the great honor of being the first witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. This is important because in the culture, women’s testimonies were worth less than men’s. However, God elevated their status and had them tell even the 11 disciples—the most prominent of Jesus’ followers who were handpicked by Jesus himself—about the resurrection.

What About 1 Corinthians 11?

The proof text some people use to say that women are not created in the image of God is 1 Corinthians 11:7: “For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.” Paul is addressing multiple layers of controversy within the Corinthian’s church. First, he is refuting pagan worship customs where a man would cover his head when he presented offerings to the gods. Second, he is clarifying that worship is a public setting where women should attire themselves accordingly—married free women (the only women who wore head coverings in that culture) would wear head coverings in public but remove them in private settings like houses, which were the gathering places for worship. Third, he may be contesting the “free woman” movement in Corinth where some wealthy women were eschewing traditional marriage customs like the head covering.3

Paul understands that humanity as male and female is created in the image of God, even if they display that image differently.

His statement is part of his reasoning for why men should not cover their heads and women should: Because men are the image and glory of God, they should not cover their heads in worship. In this context, Paul may be referring specifically to married women as the glory of man (and hair is later associated with women’s glory), so women should cover their heads. But notice what Paul does not say: He does not say that women are in the image of man! Paul understands that humanity as male and female is created in the image of God, even if they display that image differently.

Men and Women: Coheirs in Christ

While there are some differences in how men and women function in the body of Christ, the overwhelming emphasis on this matter in the New Testament is the equality of men and women. First Peter 3:7 calls husbands and wives “fellow heirs of the grace of life.” Women are created in the image of God, in need of salvation in Christ, and are called to learn Scripture and believe the gospel to be able to live a godly life in relationship with him. To deny that women are in the image of God actually requires one to ignore the entirety of the testimony of Scripture and take one proof text out of context.