Okay this one is a toughie girls! I am asking for your interpretation of 2 words. 1) Submissive and 2) Weaker (sex)
I had my Women's Bible Study tonight and to make a long story short I walked away feeling like there was a huge misunderstanding of the verse on the part of the leader. I was very concerned seeing as there are brand new Christians in our group. So, I wanted to ask you guys what you though. I know it's a touchy subject and a touchy verse but I am trying to "hear the teaching, weigh it for truth, and decide upon it." So, take as much time, effort and room to do it! If you don't feel comfortable posting here, please e-mail me your personal thoughts. I truly appreciate this!
P.s. I know I titled this "calling the Girls" but if any guys are brave enough to add their two cents, I am really really appreciative!
6 comments:
Remember that the Bible is "God-inspired," which should never decrease its meaning and truth, but there are still a lot of cultural and period influences to it. The Bible does command women to submit to their husbands, but it also talks about husbands loving their wives. One cannot exist without the other. If my husband loves me, he is not going to abuse the submissive part and he will care what my opinion is every situation; therefore, I'm more likely to "submit" if I know he loves me and I trust him with the final decisions concerning our family. As far as the "weaker sex" part, clearly the writer has never witnessed the birth of a child or seen what heroics a woman can do to protect her family; I think that is just a cultural/male-ego thing.
Good question! I agree with what has already been said about submission. Submission goes hand in hand with husbands loving their wives. I just did a quick search of the verses I can remember about submission and it is always paired with a charge for men to love their wives. We are called to submit to our husbands as the church submits to Christ and our husbands are to love us as Christ loves the church. I can be confident in allowing my husband to be the decision maker in my home knowing that he is going to take my feelings and best interest to heart. Scripture also tells us that men will be held accountable for those decisions they make for their families, so I know that he won't take his role lightly or abuse it. As far as women being weaker, I don't necessarily think this is a "culturally limited" statement. We can't take weaker to mean less than men because that would contradict the rest of the passage. Clearly, Peter is stating that women are to be honored and respected which wouldn't be consistent with women being less than men. The idea that women are to submit to husbands is not to oppress women, but to protect them. I think it is mainly referring to physical weakness. Like it or not, we are physically weaker than men. The ESV (which I like because it seems to be one of the more literal translations) translates it as the "weaker vessel" which gives it a very different tone. Think of a clay vessel vs. a china vessel. The clay vessel is stronger and can do more work. The china vessel is weak and fragile, but it is honored and respected for its beauty. Peter just got finished talking about women finding inner beauty and here he talks about how men should treat women out of respect for that beauty. He is saying that women are beautiful, but also fragile. Men must make efforts to care for us and protect us because we are valuable. They can show us honor and respect by cherishing us as the "weaker vessel". A fragile dish (like a piece of china) may be weaker than clay, but it is far more valuable. I'm sorry that this is long. This is the kind of question that is easier to answer in conversation! Feel free to email me if you need me to clarify my thoughts. :) I'm curious to know what was said in your Bible Study. If you have time, email me. :)
I agree with you guys completely. I will e-mail you the entire convo. . .anyone interested. . .I was truly hurt and angry when I walked out of the room last night. It was hard and I just wanted to search scripture, find out more information, etc. before I take action. Okay, so I am off to e-mail you.
I'd love to have you email me your conversation. I had a similar conversation about this with a lady at work a few years back. She was adamant that she would never "submit" to her husband. She hated the word and all the connotations associated with it. We unfortunately didn't have much time for a deep conversation, but I did tell her that in my opinion, if the husband is taking his role as the head of the household seriously, and doing it as the Bible directs him to, then it is natural...dare I say easy...for his wife to submit to him. Our problem with submission comes through all of our sins and attitudes that are not Christ-like. True, Christ-like love will put husbands and wives in roles where they will work to honor each other. Is all of this easy? NO WAY! Is it fun? No! Does that make us all human? Yes. "We all fall short of the glory of God".
Jason looked up the verse in the New Living Translation and verse 7 is written as "In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, bust she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard." I thought it was an interesting translation.
I don't have much more to add to this, mainly because I think that Kathryn (assuming Kathryn of "Keith and Kathryn" wrote it) put it very eloquently. I especially appreciate the analogy of the clay pot and the china pot, and how the translation that she has reads "lesser vessel". What a great analogy.
Hmmm...some good stuff to think about...also produced an interesting conversation with my husband. Thanks. :)
I've been thinking about this too and have had discussions about it w/ people as well. Last year at my Mom's Group a pastor's wife spoke on the subject. She suggested that the word "submission" could be translated as respect. Husbands love your wives; wives respect your husbands. She said that this command shows our human nature and God's provision. Woman have the need to feel loved, romanced, emotionally close to their spouse, so that is what God has commanded men to do. Men on the other hand don't have such a strong desire for the romance of love and would rather be shown love through respect. That was her interpretation. Because my husband loves me, he will consider my opinion. Because I respect my husband I will respect his decisions. That however does not mean I always have to agree with him. I should have an opinion, we should discuss things, and we can disagree. That's part of marriage. That said, I think that a decision should not be made unless both parties are in some sort of an agreement. A husband should not just say, well that's the way it's going to be. In that case there needs to be a compromise--which is what the other ladies who have written have basically said. I also like what Kathryn said about the weaker sex. What a great analogy, I have never thought of it that way.
Thanks for the food for thought!
I think to submit is to have complete trust in him and his decision. Whether I agree with it or not, if I don't have biblical backing, I have to zip my lip (which we all know is hard to do) and stand beside him.
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