Coming from a fundamental Baptist Background we were always taught that women should not wear pants. According to our pastors the reason for such is that the Bible says in Deuteronomy 5: 22 that "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God"
I am not going to give an in-depth theological discussion here, but I plan to do so in the near future. However I was just wondering if this verse applies to women wearing pants that are made exclusively for women. Some dogmatic preachers would answer in the affirmative, but are what they are saying Biblically correct?
What pertains to man or woman is confined to the culture and traditions of a certain society and age. We cannot establish a set of rules and judge which belongs to who. Doing so would be dabbling would legalism which is contrary to what the essence of Christianity really is.
Examples of what I am saying can be found in history and even in modern times. For instance, Scottish men wear "kilts" which look like women's skirts during special occasions.
History tells us that men use to wear corsets for aesthetic purposes. Today only a handful of men do and usually it is for medical purposes.
Tunics were worn by the Greeks and Romans. This practice even went as far as the medieval ages. A tunic looks like a woman's blouse.
Many men still wear the traditional "Sarong" in today's modern day and age. This practice is found in some parts of Asia, parts of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. A "Sarong" is a large sheet of fabric, often wrapped around the waist. It definitely looks like a women's skirt.
In Bible lands, even until today some people still wear the same robes and sash that was the traditional clothing that was worn in ancient times.
If we pass judgement upon men wearing the kilt, sarong, tunic and robes with our own Western Culture and tradition, we can certainly say that they have violated Deuteronomy 22:5 because our values, culture and tradition dictates that these kinds of clothing are associated with what our women wear.
We cannot deny that in our own culture, there are pants that are made exclusively for women. Before we use Deutornomy 22:5 to judge women who wears pants, we need to know what the verse truly means by considering the contextual and cultural background of the text. There are certainly a lot of issues that could be further discussed to support the argument theologically. I wish to write about this more in the future.
I am not going to give an in-depth theological discussion here, but I plan to do so in the near future. However I was just wondering if this verse applies to women wearing pants that are made exclusively for women. Some dogmatic preachers would answer in the affirmative, but are what they are saying Biblically correct?
What pertains to man or woman is confined to the culture and traditions of a certain society and age. We cannot establish a set of rules and judge which belongs to who. Doing so would be dabbling would legalism which is contrary to what the essence of Christianity really is.
Examples of what I am saying can be found in history and even in modern times. For instance, Scottish men wear "kilts" which look like women's skirts during special occasions.
History tells us that men use to wear corsets for aesthetic purposes. Today only a handful of men do and usually it is for medical purposes.
Tunics were worn by the Greeks and Romans. This practice even went as far as the medieval ages. A tunic looks like a woman's blouse.
Many men still wear the traditional "Sarong" in today's modern day and age. This practice is found in some parts of Asia, parts of Africa, and on many Pacific islands. A "Sarong" is a large sheet of fabric, often wrapped around the waist. It definitely looks like a women's skirt.
In Bible lands, even until today some people still wear the same robes and sash that was the traditional clothing that was worn in ancient times.
If we pass judgement upon men wearing the kilt, sarong, tunic and robes with our own Western Culture and tradition, we can certainly say that they have violated Deuteronomy 22:5 because our values, culture and tradition dictates that these kinds of clothing are associated with what our women wear.
We cannot deny that in our own culture, there are pants that are made exclusively for women. Before we use Deutornomy 22:5 to judge women who wears pants, we need to know what the verse truly means by considering the contextual and cultural background of the text. There are certainly a lot of issues that could be further discussed to support the argument theologically. I wish to write about this more in the future.
About the Author:
The blog of Zigfred Diaz is not all about advocating pants for women, he also has some compelling articles on a variety of topics such as money management, investments, SEO, making money online and theology, check out his blog today !
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