Who's the Boss?

You give your heart to the Lord. You submit to your husband in the same manner. Plus, that was written by men, through imperfect men's eyes -merely interpreting God's word.

But I'm not religious so that's my interpretation. My morals and values come from what feels right. Being treated as a slave doesn't feel right to me.

 

In addition, everyone's relationship is different. One partner might be better with finances or more level headed about big decisions. One partner might not want to make the decisions. It's a partnership between two people, not just man or woman, wife and husband. Rendering a person's psyche and roles in life useless to who they are as a person- and assuming a person's worth and talents is based upon their genitals- is ridiculous. It's damaging to both men and women.

 

I find that in my own relationship there is not really a boss.. just roles you take on. In some situations I take the lead and in some situations she takes the lead. I think it is very important that you know of each other which role/part/talents you can bring into the relationship and respect each others part. Also some men are not really the ''leadership'' type, if you are going to force this role on them things go wrong. If you have a wife/girlfriend who is the ''leadership'', she should take that responsibillity, as you should take yours on your strenghts

 

Boss is someone who follows no pmo

 

Username checks out.

 

yep!!!

 

The man.

The reality is there is a Great Chain of Being. For harmony to flow, the man must submit to God, and the woman to man. Peace and order! This is only in the area of the Will [rational desire]. There are other dynamics of relationships beyond that.

 

Do you feel this way because of your interpretation of the Bible?

 

No, not really. It comes more from an admiration for classical philosophy and medieval religion [though of course the Bible had the greater contribution to these traditions]. The emphasis there was on practical order, not the abstractions of freedom and equality.

 

Why is it practical? Why is freedom and equality an abstract idea?

 

We can be free and equal before God in the moral sphere. All fine and dandy.

The problem arises when that sphere is lost, and those ideas are politicized/ secularized. Life is 'flattened'. So now we are all to be free and equal politically and economically. This is fine for a market-driven economy, but culturally it is disastrous for every culture is based on order and unity NOT freedom and competition. This is why ideology [driven by freedom and equality] is eating up our traditional culture. But what happens when the market fails? Enter the authoritarian state. The irony is that traditional culture is what gave us our concrete freedoms, and respect for our freedoms - it's the only thing standing between ourselves and despotism/ pure power.

Disclaimer: like science, all my thought is experimental.

 

Have you tried reversing the roles and seeing the outcome? Why must it be gender specific, scientifically?

 

I think the key to reading this passage (5:22-5:33) is to know the context it is in and to understand what moral instructions mean to Christians. Paul is in the midst of writing out behavioral instructions for those who have been called to be followers of Christ. When Paul describes the gender roles in marriage, he is assuming that the man is a Christian, has understood what it means to be a Christian and is making every effort to live a life worthy of that calling.

In this passage Paul instructs men is to love their wives. Men are to love women as they love themselves, and as Christ loves the church. When you think about Christ's character and what he did for the church, it is truly a tall order. People in our society tend to think this passage is a burden on women, but really, understood properly, it is a tremendous challenge to men. Not only ready to die for our wives, but ready to give up the things we enjoy and put her interests and benefit above our own.

5:22 isn't something a Christian man can invoke whenever he wants a sandwich made - in my opinion it is reserved for decisions which he truly feels, after prayer and consideration, affect the spiritual well being of the family. Also - you'll notice the instructions are pretty general - they are meant to be functional in all cultures/societies. It doesn't say that men are supposed to work and women have to stay home and cook and change diapers.

My wife is a reasonable woman in most matters, so we've only had to sit down and discuss matters to resolve conflicts or make decisions.

 

I like this explanation, but do you think some men might misinterpret the verse to mean that women are incapable of making proper decisions on their own or for their relationship?

 

Well, I don't follow the scientific method in so far as testing out a theory empirically for its truth.

But then maybe I do in so far as I accept something that works pragmatically.

 

So would you say it's less empirical and more in line with assumption of the truth?

 

Sure. No doubt people have misused this scripture both to say that women are inferior to men and that a man should be able to rule over his wife like some petty tyrant. Verse 21 is key - all Christians should submit to one another. It is within an overarching context of humility that Paul give's his instructions about family life.

 

I think its in line with the truth of human nature. It's a cultural truth.

The reference to science was tongue in cheek.