Ok so given historic Exegese and put it in the context of when it was written , I can conclude that the 'Men must Lead' to be nonsense in this day and age when women commonly have better careers than their husband or may well simply be a better leader. This is what your getting at? I do get that because many christians eat pork, wear clothing of mixed thread and a whole host of other things the bible says that we choose to ignore today. We dont go stoning anyone and we dont go blaming rape victims for the crime. I feel better with the concept you mention and can simply ignore those elements of the bible which either simply dont apply to todays world, or border on offensive (the passage where a rape victim is forced to marry her rapist is one that especially gets to me... I had that one explained to me the same way you did - it worked for reasons back then but we wouldnt do it now)
Zoii, the Bible in a way has two religions. The old testament vastly ignored now by Christians because the old testament is no longer the way to God. Christianity basically started after Jesus died and resurrected on the cross... aka the new testament. That being said, the new testament clearly supports the idea of husbands leading the family still. Here's some instructions as to what the relationship between husband and wife should look like...
Ephesians 5:21-33
[SUP]21 [/SUP]Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
[SUP]22 [/SUP]Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. [SUP]23 [/SUP]For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. [SUP]24 [/SUP]Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
[SUP]25 [/SUP]
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her [SUP]26 [/SUP]to make her holy, cleansing[SUP][
b][/SUP] her by the washing with water through the word, [SUP]27 [/SUP]and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. [SUP]28 [/SUP]In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [SUP]29 [/SUP]After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— [SUP]30 [/SUP]for we are members of his body. [SUP]31 [/SUP]“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[SUP][
c][/SUP] [SUP]32 [/SUP]This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. [SUP]33 [/SUP]However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
^^^ I highlighted verse 25 to show you that... while Christians wives are to be under authority of their Christian husbands... Christian wives are to be treated extremely well. Jesus Christ was willing to suffer torture and death for the Church... that's how a Christian husband should be love his wife. Personally, I think it's daunting to be married and to be expected to full-fill these requirements.
Also, many women ask... Why is it like this.. Here's the answer...
1 Timothy 2:12-14
[SUP]12 [/SUP]I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[SUP][
a][/SUP] she must be quiet. [SUP]13 [/SUP]For Adam was formed first, then Eve. [SUP]14 [/SUP]And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
^^^ Adam was formed first and Eve fell to sin by eating the forbidden fruit. In genesis, one of the curses that God gave was that husband shall rule over wife.
Genesis 3:16-17
[SUP]16 [/SUP]To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
[SUP]17 [/SUP]To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
I also want to point out that Jesus Christ is in submission to God.... and Christians believe that both Jesus Christ and God are equal. I'd argue that if that's the case... we shouldn't view a wife who submits to her husband as lesser... since Jesus Christ also submits as-well.
Jesus Christ submits to God.... both are equal and one God
Wife submits to husband... both are equal and one flesh
^^^ This is analogy that is noticed by theologians and is highlighted in the Bible as-well... the relationship of husband wife is that of a picture of God actually. Here's the scripture that shows that....
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the
head of Christ is God.
P.S. - As for the rape victim thing...
1. It wasn't forced but was an optional decision which the father made.
Exodus 22:16-17 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife.
If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins."
2. It was so the rapist takes responsibility for his actions. In those times, (today as-well to some extent) men would not marry a woman who was raped. She would likely never get married.
"Note that throughout the Old Testament no rape victim is ever recorded as being forced to marry a rapist. However it is plausible that there could be circumstances in which a father would choose to have his daughter marry a rapist. In
2 Samuel 13, Amnon, a son of David, rapes his half-sister, Tamar. Tamar was not forced to marry Amnon. Interestingly, though, Tamar seemed to have wanted to marry Amnon after the rape (
2 Samuel 13:13-16). Why would she desire such a thing? In that culture, virginity was highly prized. It would have been very difficult for a woman who was not a virgin, and especially a woman who had been raped, to find a man to marry her. It seems that Tamar would have rather married Amnon than live desolate and single the rest of her life, which is what happened to her (
2 Samuel 13:20). So
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 could be viewed as merciful to the woman, who, because of the rape, would be considered unmarriageable. In that culture, a woman without a husband would have a very difficult time providing for herself. Unmarried women often had no choice but to sell themselves into slavery or prostitution just to survive. This is why the passage leaves marriage to the discretion of the father, because every situation is different, and it is better to be flexible than have a blanket rule." - from gotquestions.org
^^^
Does Deuteronomy 22:28-29 command a rape victim to marry her rapist?
Best wishes to ya Zoii
I still feel like a kid sometimes so yeah haha
