The Bible is sexist.

Thank you so much for your quick response and clear explanation of your beliefs. Before I start, I just want to let you know that I tend to get very passionate when I'm debating, and sometimes I say things that may come out offensive or rude, even though that's not my purpose. I've recently caused some really hurt feelings on this site, so I want to apologize ahead of time in case something comes up. You brought up the Old Testament passage where Eve sinned and ate the forbidden fruit, and God punishes Eve in an extremely severe way. He tells her that "her husband would rule over her", and this applies to all women, not just Eve. However, for this verse to be sexist, God would need to punish Eve less then he punished Adam. But he didn't. He cursed Eve, and then he gave Adam an equally terrible judgment, as they both deserved. You can see all of the details in Genesis 3. When God said that Adam would rule over Eve, he was referring to Adam's position of authority as the male. The Bible is very clear that males should be in authority, as shown in many of the following verses that you pointed out. But just because women and men have different roles, that does not mean that they have different values, which I will go into later. I appreciate your desire not to distract from your main argument, and I admire you for that, as that's something that I slip into very easily. However, I'd really find it helpful to see some of the verses that you pointed out. It's true that there's a lot of verses about women being horrifically treated, but I haven't seen anything suggesting that God supports it, unless (and this is the key) it's a judgment that she deserves and has brought among herself. I could also list plenty of passages of God punishing men for wrong actions- this isn't sinful, this is just. God punishes both men and women when they sin. The verse does clearly say that a woman can not speak in church, and this is shameful to do so. This isn't something that is commonly thought about in modern times and sounds quite strange at first. But if you study it closely, you can see why Paul would have said it. It was the custom in that time that men and women would sit in different areas of the church (this is not Biblical, just cultural), and Paul was referring to trying to ask their husbands things in the middle of a service. It makes sense that he would want to stop women from doing this. This doesn't show female inferiority at all- just trying to keep people from distracting others during the service. I think that makes a whole lot of sense. Paul clearly tells women to submit to their husbands, and obey him just as they would obey Christ. This verse is clear about the fact that a husband is in authority- God has made a distinction here in the roles of husband and wife. He NEVER said that a wife should obey a husband's every whim- the verse clearly establishes that Christ is above the husband, and therefore the women belong to him alone. But you're making an assumption here that the Bible never says: You say that because women have different roles, they therefore have different values. The Bible is very clear that women and men have different roles in the church, and the next verse that you gave about preaching is a clear example of that. But just because they are called to a different purpose in God's plan doesn't mean that they are called to a lesser purpose. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests such a thing. In the final verse that you gave, women are told that they cannot have authority over men, and they are called to be submissive to men. It says that Adam was formed first, and then Eve, and uses this as a way of saying that this was God's plan. But once again, you cannot assume that because men are in authority, they are therefore better. There's this belief in our modern world that equality means that everyone is exactly the same, and if we acknowledge any difference between men and women, we are being sexist. But that is not fully true. Just because God says he has a different purpose for men than women, and he has placed men in a position of authority does not mean that women are worth less. Just because men are in authority does not make them superior. The Bible has a lot of ideas about what a woman's role should be. Titus 2:4-5, 1 Timothy 3:11, and Proverbs 31 all talk about the importance of a God-fearing woman. Galations 3:28 is meticulously clear on the matter.