Blind spots
The Rev Richard Baxter considers the context of slavery in biblical times.
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SOMETIMES from the middle of the trees we cannot see the outline of the forest, or what might lie beyond.
We are located in our own time and culture and it is hard to look outside that horizon. As a result, we accept and take for granted things that future generations will consider unthinkable.
The role of women in the church and in society over centuries was one such issue. We may look back and wonder how for so long we accepted the unacceptable. Yet underusing the talents of half the population was so ingrained in society, that for too long almost no-one challenged the received wisdom. The unequal treatment of women was always there as a wrong to be righted, yet so much part of daily life that most people could not imagine a different world.