Carmen J. Bryant, August, 2002
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this one statement. The concept is so much a part of Christian culture that few stop to ask:
"If this is a command for Adam, why is God giving it to Eve?" The idea that God would
give instructions to a man through a woman is normally unacceptable to total
submissionists.
What they fail to understand is that God is simply stating the way things are going
to be, not giving commands. In other words, "You have disobeyed; now here are the
consequences." Both the context of Gen. 3:16 and the Hebrew words point toward issues
of control. The woman's sinful desire to conquer her husband and the husband's sinful
domination of his wife are indicators of relational changes that destroyed the divinely
designed headship and submission of the previously perfect couple. Neither aspect of this
curse is intended for God's redeemed.
War between the sexes
Even though we still live in a cursed world, the Christian's responsibility is to live
out the freedom that redemption paid for. However, instead of seeking the peaceful
relationships of Paradise, some Christians prefer to maintain the battlefield that began in
Eden. They make marriage analogous to a military hierarchy. Submission [u&potavssw] in
Eph. 5, it is said, demands complete obedience. Even as a soldier must submit to the
authority of his commanding officer, so the wife must submit to the authority of her
husband in everything. An enlisted man is not allowed to question authority or deviate
from his orders. In the same way, the wife is not to question her husband's right to rule
her or the wisdom of his decisions since his right to command her has come from God.
This argument is spurious, however. The use of u&potavssw to portray military
relationships is irrelevant. A word's ultimate meaning is determined by its context, and