Susanna Krizo

Mark and NN:
Humans were told to rule over the created world in Gen 1, but where do you find the word “rule” in Gen 2 when the man’s relation to the woman is concerned? It appears first in Gen 3, as a result of sin. You must go to 1 Tim 2 to find that the man’s prior creation (assumingly) gives the man authority over the woman, which you then transfer to Gen 2. I.e. the only reason you have for the man’s authority is his prior creation and the woman’s deception. Of course, the early church denied that the man had authority over the woman from creation, saying neither God or man said anything about subjetion, finding the rule first in Gen 3 due the sole guilt of Eve, which was a very logical conclusion considering the changes in theology which appeared in the second to fourth century. They did say the man had “pre-eminence” but in the way the emperor was the “first among equals,” not as a authority figure over a subject. (The emperor was careful not to say the freeborn Romans were his subjects for the Romans detested kings and would not have one). The church concluded also that authority between men was caused by sin, and accidental in nature, wherefore your argument that authority belongs to the created order and is intrinsic to it is a modern conclusion, caused by the confusion of changes in theology, mostly the most recent one of 1980’s when Gen 3.16 was relegated back to its original position as a consequence of sin instead of a mandate.

I.e. you must explain where the Bible says the man has authority over the woman and why God gave it to him.