.
● Eph 5:22 . .Wives, submit to your husbands as to The Lord.
In other words: it's not the husband himself who merits his wife's best
behavior, rather, it's his position in the sphere of human life. For example:
"To the woman he said: Your husband . . he will rule over you." (Gen 3:16)
Adam is ranked superior to Eve not because of his gender, rather, because
he's the senior of the two, i.e. Adam was created first, and afterwards the
woman was constructed with material taken from his body; thus all men,
including Christ, are entitled to seniority relative to women simply by virtue
of the fact that Adam is the paterfamilias of all women, beginning with Eve,
regardless of age race, color, culture, and/or religious preference.
The Greek word for "submit" shouldn't be taken to mean wives are supposed
to take orders from their husbands as if marriage were an arrangement
similar to a monarch and a commoner. What we're talking about here is
deference rather than obedience. An attitude of deference is mandatory for
Christians on both sides of the gender aisle-- both men and women.
Deference is agreeable, approachable, tactful, and diplomatic. Deference
isn't confrontational, demanding, assertive, militant, dominating, nor always
clamoring: I am woman! Hear me roar!
In a nutshell: deference is just the opposite of defiance. Christian wives
striving for equality with their men have not yet learned what it means to
associate with a husband as they would Christ.
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