Mark

Ok just saw this thread and will offer a few comments, although i can’t commit to hanging around becasue i am busy for the next few weeks.

First, we are all under authority. I don’t know how important we must stress this point.

Second, why is a wife under her husbands authority? I’m surprised at this really. The best answer is to look at the Bible. Ephesians 5 teaches us that the wife must submit to her husband as the church does to Christ. Now from the threaded comments, most assume this means that a wife has no choices or options- that she is just ‘property’ i saw someone write. But is this the way we view our selves as Christ’s bride? Surely not! I think the answer you look for is bound up in the comparison Paul draws. The church is cherished, loved, sacrificed for. She is free to accept and follow Christ as her head or she is free to reject Him. Likewise a wife is free to follow her head or reject him. She is not just property, but someone cherished, loved and sacrificed for. If egalitarians stop slandering the comp position as much as you criicise them doing it to you that would help.

Finally, the single woman issue is an important one and i’m not sure i can offer an appropriate pastoral perspective. All i can say is that marriage and family are important. God created this world in order that we might multiply and subdue it. God ordained marriage as a reflection of the covenant relationship of Christ and the Church. Marriage is extremly important and beautiful. Anyone blessed enough to be married ought to cherish it and understand how this ‘one flesh’ union reflects the beauty of us as Christ’s bride.

I guess the obvious point is that singleness in women was not an issue in the New Tetament era, so it’s hardly surprising that no instruction is given on the issue. That is why we must do our best to try and grasp and understanding from other areas in the Bible and apply them today. Again it is not helpful to criticise pastors or churches who attempt to give some instruction on this issue. We must not import our 21st century society back into the Bible and demand answers as we wish. It is not a flaw in the comp position, in as much as it is not a flaw in the egal pos. Neither can offer direct biblical teaching on the issue.

Cheryl,

as to your 3 examples in your thread, be careful not to confuse submit with service. Again here are the two definitions.

Serve- “perform duties or services for”

Submit-“accept or yield to a superior force or stronger person”

So when a husband goes and buys milk, is he serving or submitting? This is the fundamental difference, and egalitarians should stop confusing the two (or combining the two). When a father reads his child a sory after being asked is he submitting or serving? If you wish to keep using the term submit, you need to give a definition as to why you reject dictionary entries for this word and remove authority from it. This is an important point since egalitarians wish to continue to emphasise that a husband must submit to his wife, yet they are ignoring the very definition for submit. This became clear for me with Dave’s comments- since the whole egal system is built on mutual submitting, but the verb submit is rdefined from it’s biblical use and it’s modern english meaning.

Cheerio