When you want a valued opinion on something or someone, who do you typically go to for that information? Who provides the inside scoop? Who can speak better on the matter an objective third party or someone who experienced it? 

Does it strike you as odd that so many people go to people, such as John Piper to talk about womanhood? At least, that’s what we’ve been doing throughout many centuries when it comes to The Samaritan Woman, found in the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel. Through the writings of Tertullian, Augustine, Cyprian, Aquinas, John Calvin, Spurgeon, and their modern contemporaries, most people have formulated their perspective into who this woman was, her story, her apparent sin, and her sexuality. 

But what if the story goes deeper? What if this woman is a world-altering biblical figure that sheds light on abuse, objectification, sexualization, and sexism?

“The reductive sexualization of women in the Bible teaches a message about women in the church: They are interesting or worthy of attention only with respect to sexuality,” said Caryn A. Reeder on the CBF Podcast Conversation. 

Dr. Reeder is the author of “The Samaritan Woman’s Story: Reconsidering John 4 After #ChurchToo,” along with being the professor of New Testament and co-coordinator of gender studies at Westmont College. 

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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.