gengwall

Mark – as to question 1, yes, Adam and Eve were equal in Genesis 2. But, the fall did not make them unequal in reality, even if males would view them as unequal. The idea of a hierarchical authority structure as God’s design is completely man made. (Actually, it is Satan made). It did not exist in Genesis 2 and God changed nothing about the design of marriage in Genesis 3. It was sin that changed the marital relationship! Humans, in their fallen state, have perpetuated that unholy view of marriage by creating a hierarchy, just as God said they would do. But in God’s eyes, men and women have never stopped being equal.

My belief is that Paul is addressing marriage in such detail here to point married couples back to the Genesis 2 relationship. In order to do that, he needs to instruct each gender about each gender’s weakness caused by the fall. That is why he address submission to wives and love to husbands – because in relation to their spouse, and as a result of the fall, that is the particular area they are weak in. Nothing in Paul’s teaching suggests a hierarchy or one spouses authority over the other. Quite the contrary – Paul is intentionally stepping in to break down the man made authority and hierarchy that the fall produced.