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Most of you, I am sure, remember the story of the five blind men and the elephant. Each reached out to feel a different part: the trunk, the tail, an ear, a tusk, and his massive side. Each thought they held in their hand an "elephant." Keep that story in mind as you read through the samples from WHY THESE WOMEN. A variety of modalities are used to break open and understand the stories. Each newsletter will focus on one of these:
"Follow the Power..."
Over the years, I have learned that whenever we are studying women in the Bible, we need to look at the dynamic of power. Throughout all the centuries represented by both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, women were, with few exceptions, outside the circle of power. That is the nature of Patriarchy, the dominant model for the whole of this historical period. Within some of the more ancient portions of the Bible, there are vestiges that hint at women having had, at a remote, earlier time, certain societal roles of power that eventually receded. These hints, however, require a close, scholarly read and are largely overlooked. Later, the Gospels show women sharing in the ministry of Jesus and the letters of Paul indicate that women exercised new roles of authority in the early Church. The overarching system of Patriarchy, however, still prevailed. Exploring how women interacted with this system is an important tool to understand what is going on both then and now.
The first time I explored this concept with my students, I just drew an amorphous cloud on the board and said, "let’s call this Power.” And let us define power as: The ability, means, and autonomy to do or obtain what is needed or desired. Some people are able to act or to acquire easily and some people are not. There are those with power and those who are without—and far more people are the ones without. So, there is a vast pool that are powerless.
How does one have access to power—what are the gateways? Over time, we defined four specific gateways to power: Position, Wealth, Strength, and Knowledge. A quick brainstorm of examples helps us understand how these four gateways work
POSITION as a gateway to power has to do with the role one plays within society. Some of these roles could include king, bishop, senator, admiral, police officer, principal, or mayor. In specific settings, it could also include, however, sergeant, parish secretary, custodian with the keys, receptionist who keeps the calendar, the big sister acting as baby-sitter.
WEALTH is money, but includes all forms, e.g.: gold, land ownership, luxuries, water rights, or oil on property. In specific situations it can be small or simple: a Mickey Mantle baseball card, the answers to the math quiz, tickets to a hit Broadway show, the last roll of toilet paper during a pandemic—basically anything you have that has value because others want it.
STRENGTH has to do with size and physical power. Thus, an army is a measure of strength but so are muscles. A tank, bulldozer, getaway car, offensive line in football, bully in the school yard—all these would also qualify. For the purposes of our study, we have chosen to include everything related to sex or sexuality under Strength because sex has to do with embodiment. We will visit this gateway often as we consider the sexual nature of our stories. Other kinds of Strength might include strength of will or character—internal or moral strength.
KNOWLEDGE accesses power as well. Historically, it has been, for example, the preferred way for immigrants to improve their lot in a new land. Learn the language, give your children a
good education—these have accessed the American Dream for generations. Conversely, Black Americans who were denied adequate schooling for generations, often accessed power through the gateway of Strength, encouraging their children to be athletes as a means to get ahead. Specialized knowledge also comes into play: espionage, coding, how to fix things, who knows who, etc.
Putting all this together, I created what we call a Power Paradigm: As we use this paradigm for each woman’s story, you will become more adept at identifying the use of power and expand your understanding of how it works. You may also discover that it is a helpful tool in understanding the world around you today, the larger world, and your own personal world.
In the chapter, RAHAB: The Bible's "Hooker with a Heart of Gold," we see how the Power Paradigm applies in her case. (pp. 56-57)
POSITION – Position becomes a fascinating consideration in this situation. As a prostitute, Rahab is extremely marginalized, scorned by society, and seemingly without any power. Yet, it is because of her occupation that she ends up with some measure of power in other significant ways.
WEALTH – Rahab receives income from men as a result of her profession. While she does not enjoy the protection of father, husband, or son, she has a measure of freedom that most women do not. Remember, however, that this is not a lucrative profession; she is still among the poor and seems also to be responsible for the well-being of her family.
STRENGTH – Because we have chosen to put sex under this heading, Rahab can be said to have some Strength. It is through sex that she has acquired whatever power she has, whether that is the means to provide for her family or the way in which she comes by significant knowledge.
KNOWLEDGE – Rahab has considerable power in this area. She has a broad range of contacts and information, first and second hand. She is likely, a broker of information as evidenced by both the spies and the king’s men coming to her. Additionally, she shows that she has knowledge of the God of these invaders. We should note that even though she is in the sex trade, she does not bring about change in this story by using sex. Instead, she uses her knowledge.
POSITION – Position becomes a fascinating consideration in this situation. As a prostitute, Rahab is extremely marginalized, scorned by society, and seemingly without any power. Yet, it is because of her occupation that she ends up with some measure of power in other significant ways.
In all three synoptic Gospels, the episode is told of Jesus being challenged, when he entered the temple the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who you gave you this authority?” (Mt 21:23). Authority is power that is given for a specific or limited purpose. Prince John, for example, gave the Sheriff of Nottingham the authority to collect taxes and the school board gives a principal authority to set standards for the school. Authority is as much received as it is given and can come from above or below.[1] When challenged in the temple, Jesus could certainly have claimed authority from above by virtue of his Heavenly Father. But he also had another kind of authority, one from below, that given over to him by the will of the people. That may well have been the kind of authority that his challengers feared the most.
Thomas Jefferson enshrined the words in the Declaration of Independence, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” To have a government based upon this idea was revolutionary, but it was also an acknowledgement of the kind of power that comes from the consent or acknowledgement of others.
In using the Power Paradigm, we discover that there are people who succeed, who achieve autonomy or power through intangible means such as grit, determination, or will power, people whose influence upon others is not dependent upon position, strength, wealth, or knowledge.
By what authority did Rosa Parks claim her seat on the bus?
There is such a thing as moral authority, the kind of authority that comes with telling the truth, acting with integrity, with a track record of trust, with ongoing relationship, etc. I am the grandmother of young adults. I have no authority in their lives. Position? I can no longer write a note to the teacher for them. Strength? I can no longer lift them up and carry them around. Wealth? Well, maybe if I had a big fat will that I could laud over them… Knowledge? If only they wanted to know all the things I have learned—they don’t. But I have tremendous influence in their lives. It comes from a lifetime of relationship.
The gateways to power in the Power Paradigm can be used to control power, limit access, and to dominate others, and that is exactly how they are most often used. Those who have power are usually determined to keep if for themselves. But if the gateways were an open area of exchange, a doorway to access, and not a means of control, the paradigm and its flow would shift dramatically. We get a sense of this shift in the story of Rahab. The "Broad,” the Prostitute, ends up operating in this area of exchange. She uses her limited power and her once in a lifetime opportunity to barter it, much like Tamar did, into a future for herself and for her family.
