Contact DisComforting Ignorance

Have thoughts, comments, criticisms, requests, or proselytization? Email disco.igno@gmail.com

No prayers. (Why not?)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today's Theist Memory Verse, VI

"The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of woman's emancipation." -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Setup

I decided to go with something from the New Testament on women.


The Passage
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (Ephesians 5:22-24)

The "Moral" of the Passage

The Bible makes it clear, as does the Qur'an, that men are superior to women. In the Old Testament, it was quite explicit, as it is in the New Testament. Here women are told to submit to their husbands "in every thing" as though the husbands were Christ. Why? Because the husband is the "head of the wife." Later in this chapter it also says that women must revere their husbands.

The Christians who refused women equal rights had the moral high ground in terms of Scripture.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You must not have read this scripture before...


Love your wife as Christ loved the church. Give yourself up for your wife. [Ephesians 5:25]

or this one...

Love your wife in the same way you love your body and yourself. [Ephesians 5:28]

In Christian Love,
Brittany

DisComforting Ignorance said...

No, I'm aware of them (especially since they were right after them). The point wasn't that it is that the women are slaves to them (though, that's generally the feeling you get from the Old Testament), this passage goes to the equality of men/women. I wanted to tie today's verse into the opening quote from great feminist and activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

This reminds me of, if I were to quote the Bible verses on slavery (in both New and Old Testament), someone were to reply: you must have not read Colossians 4:1 or 1 Corinthians 12:13 before.

Benjamin - The Sower said...

disco wrote:

this passage goes to the equality of men/women.

to which I will reply:

so does what God wrote... Love your wife in the same way you love your body and yourself.

That passage pronounces the equality of men and women... And when you ignore / reject verses that help to clarify what you might not understand when you choose to extract your own meaning from what has been clearly written, you rob yourself of the opportunity to understand what it is that God is trying to get across to you.

You've been told the truth, therefore you have no excuse... Are you simply going to plead your case that you couldn't believe what you were told because what you read didn't seem fair???

That doesn't seem very smart for a person who professes to be as intelligent as you do...

Chris mankey said...

"Love your wife in the same way you love your body and yourself."

In other words, love your inferior wife in the same way the superior god loves you! No equality there!

"You've been told the truth, therefore you have no excuse... "

YOU"VE beem told the truth and have NO EXCUSE. THe bible DOESN'T preach the equality of men and women. Just because it say you should love your wife it say nothing about treating her as an equal. It also says god love men, are men "equal" to god?