Full Text - Analele Universitatii din Craiova. Istorie

Analele Universităţii din Craiova, Seria Istorie, Anul XV, Nr. 2(18)/2010
tries to answer them accordingly. According to Christian family ethics, the
main responsibility for the family goes to the man, as he symbolizes the head of
the household. Being the head, he is bound to fulfill all its needs in the light of
Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ fulfilled the need of the sinful mankind, so does
the husband fulfills the needs of his wife and his family. “No institution on
earth is more sacred than that of the family. None is more basic. As is the moral
and religious atmosphere in the family, so will it be in the church, the nation,
and society in general. Hence, he placed ultimate responsibility with respect to
the household upon the shoulders of her husband, in keeping with the latter’s
creational endowment. So here, through his servant, the apostle Paul, the Lord
assigns to the wife the duty of obeying her husband” 1 . For Paul, the wife is to
subject to her husband as to the Lord. This does not mean however that it must
be done in the same degree as she does to the Lord, because it may happen that
her husband asks her to disobey God. The wife serves God by having a
submissive heart toward her husband and by obeying him as long as he doesn’t
force her to disobey God 2 .
Even though there is authority and submission in the Christian
relationship, there is also beautiful mutuality. Mutuality does not negate the
leadership responsibility, but it recognizes the mutual submissiveness that must
occur in a marriage and a family at a certain point. The essence, the spiritual
quality, and the position before God of both husband and wife are the same; but
in the family, for the sake of function, the woman is to take the place of
submission to the leadership of man. God has made the man stronger, capable
of harder physical labor, and has given him the responsibility of taking the
brunt of difficult circumstances. The wife’s tenderness and gentleness, then, are
to support and balance the husband’s strength. The point is that there is mutual
submission in marriage, but it doesn’t negate the principle of authority and
submission 3 . Saint Paul instructs the husbands to love their wives so completely
and righteously, that the wife need never fear or suffer by submitting to him.
1 W. Hendriksen & S.J. Kistemaker, vol. 7, New Testament commentary: Exposition of
Ephesians. New Testament Commentary, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953-2001, p. 248.
2 “As the church is to be subject to Christ, so the wife is to be subject to her husband. This
subjection does not mean inferiority. It is clear that male and female are both created in the
image of God (Gen. 1:27) and that in Christ, where personal worth is concerned, there is
“neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
(Gal. 3, 28). However, in the overall scheme of things, God has placed all of us in differing
positions of authority and submission. The man may be in authority at home but submissive at
work. The woman may be in submission at home and in authority at work. The point is, all
social order depends on people’s willingness to work together and ability to determine who is
the head of certain endeavors. God’s intention is that the husband be the head of the relationship
with his wife”. M. Anders, vol. 8, Galatians-Colossians. Holman New Testament Commentary,
Holman Reference, Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999, p. 173.
3 J. MacArthur, The fulfilled family, Chicago: Moody Press, 1997.
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