Well, if you know me, you know I am not married, nor do I have any real intent of getting married any time soon/ever.
Our professor gave us two passages to read as it relates to marital roles and responsibilities: Proverbs 31:10-31 & Ephesians 5:21-33 (listed below in NIV because that's what the discussion is going off of):
Proverbs 31:10-31
10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Ephesians 5:21-33
21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
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Things that frustrate me about a discussion of the wife's/husband's roles & responsibilities within the context of religion:
1. It is hardly ever presented as equal (except in 1 Cor. 7:1-7, which is presents marriage as an equal partnership). And, honestly, the argument of equality in a marriage but different roles just doesn't fly either. It reminds me of loosely of the segregation in the South in 1960s. The idea of separate but equal was not anything close to being equal. One person is ultimately going to have a more important/different role in this context. The idea that the husband is "the head of the wife" is just one example. I think this can be done right, but all too often this position brings power and authority. Note: This argument is certainly not fleshed out well enough here.
2. There is so much potential to misinterpret or to abuse the passage's true meaning. Honestly, people will interpret things as they may, and within the religious context, the justification of spousal abuse happens from the passage that calls for a wife to submit to her husband (because they neglect verse 21, which states that submission to each other is done as an act of worship and honors the marital covenant).
3. The "noble wife" passage sets up the fallacy that wives are supposed to be perfect.
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I don't know...I was just really frustrated reading these two passages today and doing the subsequent homework. I am sure it doesn't help that I am feeling pretty anti-establishment lately.
yac
