Jesus, Gender, and the Bible Sunday evening I attended my weekly Oberlin Ecumenical Christian meeting. This is a group of generally open-minded individuals who gather on Sundays to dine and discuss topics related to Christianity. Topics range from “What is the Kingdom of God?” to “Pacifism: Turning the Other Cheek.” Our topic this Sunday was "Women and the Bible." At first I thought we could study Esther or one of the many Marys, important women in the Bible who are always mentioned whenever the topic is brought up. I was partly right: we mentioned most if not all of the Marys, even if we didn't mention Esther. Being primarily a non-fundamentalist Christian group, we tend to focus on the New Testament. I also thought this might end up being a discussion about women who were important to Jesus and why they were important. Once again I was partly right: we discussed it, but in the end we argued much more. The first of two questions we considered was, “How does being male or female impact my spirituality?” I thought about it for a while and couldn't think of a single way this could happen. I often reflect on how my being male affects my relationships with my biological father, with the opposite sex and with society. But, before this encounter, I had never thought about how being male affected my spirituality. Most of the men in the room seemed to be in a similar state of confusion at the question. Women, however, had a more varied response. Some felt the same way I did: they had never really thought about it. One couple said being able to give birth to another human brought them closer to God, the creator of life. Many others mentioned sexism in the church and how it interfered with their spirituality. This started the discussion, albeit in a slightly different direction than the discussion leader had planned. We talked about how sexism in the church has affected our lives. The Church often seems to push men and women into specific roles. Women are not always taken seriously and their spiritual gifts and needs are sometimes ignored. These deficiencies, caused by church members and tradition, are harmful to members of both sexes because they can distort people's views of the world, the Bible, and God..