The vhusadzi approach will be employed in this section to present the image of God as God the creator and the God of love. It is hoped that these two images will assist in the deconstruction of some of the problematic religious discourses as a result of the misinterpretation of the creation accounts in the book of Genesis. The first and second account of the creation is addressed next.
Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (The Holy Bible: New International Version, 1984).
The book of Genesis begins with the story of God who created the heavens and the earth. He also created the sun, the moon, the stars, the animals and the plants before He created human beings. The climax of His creation was the creation of human beings. When He created human beings, He created them male and female in His image. After creating them, He blessed them both so that they could take dominion over the earth. According to the first creation account, male and female are created equal, both in the image of God and both with the responsibility of taking charge of the earth.
It was not God’s purpose that a man and a woman should control each other. They were meant to control the earth and everything on it. They were supposed to be partners who would complement each other, be in mutual agreement and have mutual respect for each other. As partners, they needed each other to enjoy life together, to share the joys and sorrows of life and to be fully human. The vhusadzi approach helps women to realise that it is God who created them in His image and gave them the potential to be leaders in the church as well. It is this awareness that will deconstruct the patriarchal constructed
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interpretations concerning the roles women should play in the church. The vhusadzi approach purposefully makes this affirmation of the leadership of women in search of alternatives for a new understanding of the roles of vhavenda women in the church.
Genesis 2: 18-24
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (The Holy Bible: New International Version, 1984).
The second account of creation is normally interpreted to mean women are inferior to men. Uchem (2001:180) makes the following observation regarding this problematic discourse:
For centuries, Christians have taken this story quite literary and acted upon conclusions based on a faulty, literal and uncritical interpretation. Many till today have continued to use it to justify their claims to men’s superiority over women, as their God-given right; that the man was created first and woman, second; as proof that woman is inferior and subordinate to man ontologically.
Women’s perspectives on the second account of the creation showed that the discourse that “women are inferior to men” is problematic with regard to the roles that women should play in the church (see paragraph 2.2.4). It is this creation story that is used to support the denial of the pontential of women to hold leadership positions in the church. Therefore, as women, we should find ourselves engaging with this text. According to the
vhusadzi approach engaging with this text, the literal interpretation of this text is
criticised for being male- centred and incapable of defining women in terms of their humanness, womanhood and leadership potential. The vhusadzi approach emphasises that
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anyone can be a leader irrespective of the order of creation and that a woman can lead as well as a man can lead. This kind of affirmation regarding women leadership through the
vhusadzi approach, values women for who they are, namely that they are created in God’s
image and are complete human beings, irrespective of whether they were taken out of a man and/or created in the second place.
The word “helper” is also seen as somebody who is of a lesser status to the one who is being helped. In reality, the one helped is seen to be in a superior position. However, in a South African setting where blacks were helping on the farms and in the houses of whites and regarded as inferior, this interpretation is not implausible. When a black middle-aged man worked in a white person’s garden and was called a garden boy, it was an indication of his status in the eyes of society. On the other hand, especially today, if one asks in a democratic set-up if blacks are inferior to whites, one will get a different response, namely that both blacks and whites are equal. Currently, this word “helper” is not used in the same way as it was used during apartheid era, when the black people were called helpers to the white bosses in apartheid South Africa. On the contrary, to be a helper is to be a mutual partner who complements the other partner. Regarding the meaning of the word “helper” Nasimiyu-Wasike (2002:178) concludes that, “To be a helper is to be a helpmate, a complement, a mutual partner and fundamentally to be equal. To help does not mean to be subordinate to the one helped.”
God is called a helper, in Psalm 54:4 in the Bible (The Holy Bible: NKJV, 1984): “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those who uphold my life.” Again, the Holy Spirit is also called a helper in John 14: 16 (NKJV): “And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever (The Holy Bible: NKJV, 1984).” These two verses show that God and the Holy Spirit are both called “helpers,” as they help human beings. Now, can we rightfully say that because they are helpers, therefore they are inferior to human beings? Our answer cannot be “yes,” because their roles have nothing to do with their status and with who they are. Having said all this, one can rightfully say that a woman is not inferior to a man on this basis. There is no other reason for assuming that a woman is inferior to man in the first and the second accounts of the creation stories. Indeed, it is through the patriarchal misinterpretations of these accounts that women are relegated to an inferior position and this excludes them from holding leadership positions in the church.
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