< STRONG Yes they were created equally, though each have differing roles.
At creation God assigned differing roles to man and woman. Man was created to work and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15). Woman was designed to help man in his tasks (Genesis 2:18). They each had two very distinct and differing roles. However, they were both created in God’s image [Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them"], and therefore, their roles were equal in value, but differing in function.
At creation, everything was good. These roles were assigned before the fall. After the fall, Adam continued to provide for his family (Genesis 3:17), and Eve would be the bearer and nurturer of the children (Genesis 3:16, 20). The punishments because of the fall did not dictate their roles; it simply complicated the already existing roles...The pattern of biblical roles within marriage continued throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the roles did not change, but were given a special emphasis that male and female were still equal in the eyes of God [Gal 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus"] although they function differently within the home and church.
In the New Testament, the roles of husband and wife are symbolic of Christ and His church. Christian men are to lovingly lay down their lives for their wives (Ephesians 5:25). They still maintain leadership, but this must be servant leadership. Husbands are not to demand obedience, but by their humility, guide. They are to honor their wives (1 Peter 3:7). It is clear that biblically, women are not seen as second class citizens, but equal with their husbands and as “heirs with [men] in the grace of life” (1 Peter 3:7). The biblical roles for men continue through the Old Testament and into the New Testament: man is meant to lead and lovingly serve his wife.
The bible exalts womanhood in the home, and places great value on it (Titus 2, Proverbs 31). Woman’s role from creation has not changed. In Titus 2, Paul commends women to love their husbands and children (Titus 2:4). The older women were to teach the younger women in the church how to better take care of their families, including taking care of the home (v.5). Women are to follow their husband’s leadership with respect, choosing to submit to that leadership (Titus 2:5, 1 Peter 5:23). 1 Peter states that when wives submit to their husband’s leadership, they are doing it as service to God (5:22). A woman can be a great blessing and help to her husband, just as Eve was to Adam at the beginning of creation. Scripture does not forbid a woman working outside of the home. Some women did appear to have businesses (Proverbs 31), but a woman’s first priority is to her husband, family, and home life.
Men and women were created with distinct abilities to fulfill these biblical roles, and when husbands and wives follow the biblical pattern within the home, they bring glory to God as a picture of Christ and His church.
- http://carm.org/apologetics/womens-issues/responsibilities-husband-and-wife
< WEAK No, women are inferior to men.
"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp the authority over the man, but to be in silence." 1 Tim 2:11-12
"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman [is] the man; and the head of Christ [is] God." 1 Cor 11:3
< That's in regard to spiritual hierarchy.
< STRONG Submitting to someone doesn't make you inferior.
< STRONG Though man is the head of his wife, she isn't considered inferior.
< STRONG Woman was made for man, to be his helper. Man is the head of woman.
- Gen 2:18,23 "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him... And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
- 1 Cor 11:7-9 "But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." (1 Cor 11:7-9)
Genesis 2:18 declares God’s intention in creating Eve: I will make him a helper comparable to him. Eve was created to be a helper to Adam, meaning that Adam was “head” over Eve, and she was called to share and help his vision and agenda. ["When Adam and Eve hid in the garden, Adam was called upon first by God, even though Eve had committed the sin first (Genesis 3:9). Clearly God placed Adam as the leader, but Adam chose to be passive." -CARM]. Genesis 2:22 says, He brought her to the man. Adam was not brought to Eve, Eve was brought to Adam – her head. It is an idea offensive to the spirit of our age, but the Bible in this passage clearly teaches that (in the church and in the home) man was not made for the benefit of woman, but woman for the benefit of man.
God has established a clear chain of authority in both the home and in the church, and in those spheres, God has ordained that men are the “head” - that is, that they have the place of authority and responsibility...There is no general submission of women unto men commanded in society; only in the spheres of the home and in the church. God has not commanded in His word that men have exclusive authority in the areas of politics, business, education, and so on...It also does not mean that every woman in the church is under the authority of every man - ridiculous! Instead it means that those who lead the church - pastors and ruling elders - must be men, and women must respect their authority.
-David Guzik commentary on 1 Cor 11
-CARM http://carm.org/apologetics/womens-issues/responsibilities-husband-and-wife)]
< OK But man and woman are still dependent on one another. Man comes from woman, and woman from man.
"In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman [is] of the man, even so [is] the man also by the woman; but all things of God." (1 Cor 11:11,12)
Though Paul has recognized the order of creation, and related it to the principle of male headship in the church, he is also careful to remember even so man also comes through woman. There is a critical interdependence which must be recognized, within the framework of male headship in the church and in the home.
“But on the other side, since the creation of the first man, all men are by the woman, who conceives them in her womb, suckles them at her breasts, is concerned in their education while children, and dandled upon her knees; the man therefore hath no reason to despise and too much to trample upon the woman.” (Poole)
Therefore, the man, or men, who rule in the church or in the home without love, without recognizing the important and vital place God has given women, is not doing God’s will.
-David Guzik, commentary on 1 Cor 11
< STRONG Though man is the head of his wife, she isn't considered inferior.
When a man and woman marry, they are to be united as "one flesh" (Gen 2:24). Further, men are instructed to love their wives:
- Eph 5:28 "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."
- Eph 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it."
Love is patient, kind, it doesn't boast, it isn't proud, and so on. Love is thus a form of submission because when you act out of love, you aren't exalting yourself or being arrogant. Being the head of someone doesn't mean you can be ruthless or insensitive. On the contrary, men are instructed to love their wives and treat them as "their own bodies" and even as themselves (Eph 5:33).
The husband and wife are considered equal under Christ (Gal 3:28), and are subject to one another: "The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." (1 Cor 7:4,5)
Note how the wife's body belongs to her husband, yet in the same way, the husband's body belongs to his wife!! She shouldn't deny him, just as he shouldn't deny her! She isn't inferior, they are in fact subject to one another.
Some feel that because men are the head, "that it means 'I have to say that I’m inferior, I’m nothing, and I have to recognize this other person as being superior.' Not at all! Inferiority or superiority has nothing to do with it! Remember the relationship between God the Father and God the Son - they are completely equal in their being, but have different roles when it comes to authority." -David Guzik commentary on 1 Cor 11.
-JM
>> Then what does it mean for a woman to submit to her husband?
< STRONG The wife is under the husband's leadership, and the husband is under the leadership of God.
The Greek word for submission is hupotasso, “to subordinate…put under…” God exhorts women to voluntarily follow their husband’s leadership (Ephesians 5:22, 1 Peter 3:1). A woman is actively doing this-- choosing to put herself under leadership, choosing to be subordinate in a circumstance or relationship. This is not forced upon her by the recipient.
A wife shows submission unto her husband when she allows him to take leadership in the relationship...Abraham’s wife, Sarah, is an example of a woman following her husband’s lead (1 Peter 3:6)... When a woman submits unto her husband, she is actually submitting unto God (Ephesians 5:22). A woman therefore does not submit because her husband deserves it in his own merit- she submits because she knows it is pleasing to her Lord.
A submissive wife is not relegated to idly sitting by while her husband makes all the family decisions. In a healthy marriage, husband and wife work as a team. When a decision cannot be jointly agreed upon, the leader makes it, knowing he is responsible foremost unto God for that decision. In these circumstances or in a decision that the husband must make alone, a submissive wife is not overstepping her boundaries by offering counsel. She must learn to do it in a way that shows respect for his God-given position as head of the family. A submissive woman also offers abundant encouragement, understanding that making decisions is a heavy responsibility on a man’s shoulders.
There will be times when a woman needs to submit, and her husband does not deserve it from a human perspective. But by divine right, God set the man as leader and a woman can trust that God is good. She can also know that nothing escapes God’s notice, and a wicked man will be held accountable for his actions.
See the argument "Yes they were created equally, though each have differing roles" at the top of the page for more.
[emphasis added]
- http://carm.org/apologetics/womens-issues/what-does-it-mean-wife-submit-her-husband
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