Corinthians 14:34 states: “Let women keep silence in the churches; for it is not lawful for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, even as the law also saith” (Holy Bible, King James Edition). Edith Hamilton, “recognized as the greatest classical woman,” asserts that the Bible is the only book before our century that considered women as human beings, neither better nor worse than men (Tanner). However, we cannot say that this book was systematically favorable to women. Perhaps not absolutely, but subject to personal opinions, the Bible shows many examples of a woman's inferiority to men, an assessment that has been translated across cultures from generation to generation. In this essay, I will briefly discuss examples from the Bible relating to women, and continue with thoughts on how I believe these notions have been interpreted in society. Interpretations of the Bible influence our society because in the United States, approximately eighty-three percent of the population is Christian, according to a poll by ABC News. Perhaps the Bible was written with women submissive to men because the very story of creation is written as such. Genesis serves as the foundation not only of our universe, but also of religious text. In the biblical story of creation, Adam came first, then came the animals, and finally Eve, putting the origin of women last. Then it is Eve who is vulnerable enough to evil to trick her into taking the apple and she who persuades Adam to follow her example. This establishes a foundation that women are inherently weak and sinful upon which the rest of the faith can build. (Stanton) The negative view of the female sex continues in Leviticus, in a section dictating middle of paper......a simple reflection of Hebrew society of the time (Stanton). Jesus Christ, as a reformer, should have improved the status of women with his message of love and acceptance. However, it is undeniable that stigma continues among women to this day. The position of women in society can be largely attributed to their representation in religious texts. The holy word is always a factor that makes women more susceptible, more guilty and more sinful and impure than men. Even as women advance in the social order, religion remains timeless and still weighs on women's struggle for sexual equality. Works Cited The Holy Bible. New York: Penguin, 1994. Print. King James Version. Stanton, Elizabeth Cady et al. The Woman's Bible. Salem: Ayer Company, Publishers, 1988. Tanner, Stephen L. Women in Old Testament Literature. University of Idaho, 1975.