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Tertullian lived in a Roman culture where marriage and women were degraded. And much of early Christian thought was influenced by Plato and Aristotle, neither of whom were Christian thinkers. Aristotle believed that women were irrational in relation to men and unequal in virtue.

The idea that women are equal in worth to men has only recently received widespread acceptance. As Sumner argues, we must face the difficult fact that we do not read Scripture objectively, but rather through the lenses of a long tradition of gender inequality. When we try to set these lenses aside, we begin to see a God who is counter-cultural in this respect. He is not a respecter of persons—He shows no partiality! (Acts 10:34)

From the Bible emerge three clear pictures about women. Together they show that God is an equal opportunity Creator, Forgiver, Equipper, and Empowerer.

The first picture is one of Creation: we see that like men, women are created in God's image. It takes both male and female to bear God's image. We are bone of man's bone and flesh of man's flesh. (Gen. 2:23). Right after the first woman was formed and introduced to the first man, the man was told that from that time forward, "therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined (cleave) to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." God blessed both man and woman and charged them both to have dominion over the earth. God intended them to experience oneness and to work—have dominion—side by side. That's the first picture, the creation picture.

Before the second picture, a terrible event occurs. In Genesis 3, there is the temptation and the fall. Given free will, both the woman and the man make disastrous choices. There are stunning consequences, curses from God upon the tempter, the woman, and the man. But, there is Good News: both the woman and the man are eligible for forgiveness. They can both be restored to a right relationship with God.

Again, God himself takes the initiative and provides a way back into fellowship through the life and death of his Son. Jesus is the Light that comes into the world. Men and women who believe in him are placed together into a new family. They become the children of God (John 1:12).

In the new "body of Christ," men and women are both given gifts for serving one another. Oneness between a man and woman in marriage was always God's idea. And now, oneness in the body of Christ is God's idea. He is impartial in the giving of the gifts. "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleases," (I Cor. 12:18), "for the profit of all." (I Cor. 12:7).

Where in the Bible record do we see the consequences for women of this new order? In Luke 10, Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word, and when her sister, Martha, complained that Mary had left her to do all the serving (traditionally woman's work), Jesus told Martha that "Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her."

That is no isolated incident—women are right there in the center of things throughout the New Testament accounts: Women watched as Jesus died. Women were at the tomb. Women were included as Christ followers. They prayed and supported the body of Christ with their gifts and talents. Later, women such as Priscilla served as teachers. This second picture of light shows Jesus not only forgiving women, but equipping women and welcoming women to learn from him and to serve the body.

In the third picture, women are of equal worth in heaven. The third picture is the eternal picture. In heaven, men and women will stand shoulder-to-shoulder praising God. Here is a description from Revelation 22:3-5:

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