Lots of debate about this with lots of suppressed women.
Open honest scriptural debate please. |
Hi Guest,
I would like to have a go at this subject, although Ian's reply was so good at presenting a different way of looking into these scriptures that I have printed it out for future reference. I particularly liked "Household Codes."
Firstly, I am not a suppressed woman. Hope I can give both an objective and a subjective female viewpoint using Ephesians 5:21 - 6:24, so here goes:-
Submission is God's standard for all believers. Ephesians 5:21 - Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ. NLT
In Ephesians 5:22 wives are to submit to their OWN husbands (as in most versions) AS UNTO THE LORD. How do I submit to the Lord? Love, trust, faithfulness, obediance etc. To submit has not the gastly connotation of repression and loss of identity, because that is not how we submit to the Lord.
In verse 25 Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Paul instructs husbands to imitate Christ and his church. There was no domination in Jesus love for his church/his people. He could have commanded absolute submission from all, but he led by example and became a serving leader - washing the feet of him disciples (John 13:12-16) and dying for all of us.
Ephesians Chapters 5:21 - 6:24 presents the proper response expected towards each other at different levels - husbands, wives, parents, children, workers etc - mutual submission.
There is, however in paternalistic, fundamentalist churches a danger of a strict literal interpretation of Ephesians 5:22
on submission, which poses a two way problem. Male domination and control, or females developing a skillful, crafty and deceptive art, whereby their husbands think they have the headship/submission under control, but in fact it could actually be the reverse. Not nice either way. It pays to study your scriptures well.
God Bless
Epi
