Here we are at their Affirmation #5 and it has to be one of their most ridiculous. Well, truthfully all 10 of them qualify for most ridiculous, but this one does take the cake. It is all about visible genitalia, of course. Men have it, women don’t. Thus, men are by anatomy given the role of leadership, headship, patriarchy, whatever name you want to call it. You might even call it a scam.
Their Affirmation #5 puts lipstick on a pig. According to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s signature document “The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood,” where they claim “BOTH the Old Testament and the New Testament attest to the fact that even though both males and females have equal value,” it is the MALES that God chose as his earthly god to handle family and church. And, they even give texts for it!
My response to their Affirmation. Well, of course that is one big distortion of all those texts, starting with Genesis and ending with Timothy. Adam was created first, and that is the only thing he had going for him. Is that enough? He demonstrated no loving, humble leadership, no bravery, no protection or support of Eve. Nothing—only that he got here first. There is not one example of headship in any of those verses they quote.
Colossians 3:18-25; 4:1 is a reminder for families to live in peace with one another: wives, husbands, children, slaves and masters (Colossians 3:15). The oft quoted Ephesians passage finds Paul having to tell the men to love their wives. Women have been told for centuries that they are the ones who must be pure and without stain (sexual sin) or wrinkle or any other blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
These men had to be commanded to simply love their wives as they would their own bodies, which meant they had not been doing a good job of loving their wives.
There is nothing about roles in those scriptures. Role is a word meaning to act a part in a particular situation. Roles can and do change. God did not assign roles. Man assigns roles depending upon what outcome is desired at the time.
According to the complementarian interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-12, men are not required to have any leadership qualification whatsoever; what a leader must have is male genitalia. That is not very flattering, and not what Christianity should be centered around.
Next Blog: Affirmation #6. Redemption in Christ
Shirley Taylor Books (available on Amazon in print and on Kindle)
The Biblical Marriage Myth: The Devil Comes Calling
The Power of a Book: The Street Evangelist
Raising the Hood: A Christian Look at Manhood and Womanhood
Women Equal – No Buts: Powered by the Same Source
Dethroning Male Headship: 2nd Edition
From Wife to Widow: What I Know Now
