molly

Wow. This was an excellent post. I resonate with so much here, especially the “no one stepping in to rescue” the wife for fear of treading on sacred ground (the husband’s authority). I experienced this very phenomenon the first time I “told all” about what was going on in my home (very abusive and strange behaviors). The dear older (Piper loving) Christian couple that we first went to for counseling was unable to offer much of anything, other than to suggest things such as how marriage was for holiness, not happiness (ie, I needed to stop expecting to be treated kindly or respectfully)….. They were unable to say much or do much, because, I believe, of the very phenomenon you describe. It’s not that they didn’t want to help. It’s just that the doctrine of husbandly authority/kingship seems to have a “blinding” affect on recognizing and confronting abusive behavior in men. I have since heard many similar stories.

This is awesome!  I am so looking forward to watching this, Cheryl!

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO! 
I can’t wait to see this!

That was an awesome series, Cheryl! I feel like I might just finally understand that confusing passage for the first time in my whole Christian life!

Great stuff, as usual, Cheryl. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Oooooh, charts… 🙂

Wow…

Preach it, girl.

This is SO well supported through a quick look through history—it is RARE for women to revolt, even against the most horrific forms of domination (female circumcision, burqa wearing, etc). It is, however, NORMATIVE for women to continue to desire a relationship with men, even when it comes with a burqa or mutilation.

(This is not, of course, to say that *all* men secretly want all women in burqas, or to come across as man-hating in any way, becuase the male gender certainly got his share of the sad consequences of the Fall, and *both* genders are certainly in need of a New Creation)…

Yes, there is that unfortunate element, but there are many others who are not like that. It’s one of those things where the movement is so diverse that it’s difficult to say you love it or you hate it–lol–(maybe a both/and is in order). 🙂

But, anyways, I recall the pamphlet I’d recieved saying something to the effect of the emerging movement being dangerous, though maybe I read it wrong or something… Anyways, I just wanted to take the opportunity to encourage you to explore it further, because there are *many* voices within it, many of whom hold tightly to orthodox doctrine (Apostles Creed, etc) but simply feel called to reach a postmodern culture as opposed to a modern and are seeking God on what that might look like. Again, they NOT leaving doctrinal foundations, but simply wondering what the church might look like in a postmodern culture.

http://www.friendofmissional.org/ This is a great example of what I’m talking about.

Warmly,
Molly by Golly

Boy, that sounds interesting! I say, two thumbs up, for whatever that’s worth–lol…

Cheryl, I just found your comment on my blog (my spammer had nabbed it–more than one link and it nabs comments automatically). Anwyays, great to see your blog over here!

You are so right on with this post. One of the HUGEST things we have to grapple with is the fact that setting up the Husband As Priest means we are setting up a mediatorship. Men don’t need one, but women do. Patriarchists/complimentarians are essentially saying that women need a mediator between them and God–first, daughters under their fathers and then wives under their husbands.

But this idea that a mediator is required is completely unsupported when we look at the Gospel…therefore is something we really need to stop and consider before we teach it.