![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/40\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-08-31-at-12.16.39-PM.png\")
<\/a>Andrew Bartlett, in his new book\u00a0Men and Women in Christ<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(MWiC), asks if marriages depict Christ.<\/p>\nThis was the only driving theme of a book by John Piper, who has influenced this conversation as much as Grudem, but for some reason Bartlett never takes up interaction with Piper.<\/p>\n
Anyway, here are Bartlett\u2019s conclusions, some of which lean a little more complementarian and others a little more egalitarian:<\/p>\n
1. The only marriage at the completion of the new creation will be the union between Christ and his people. In Ephesians 5 Paul teaches that marriage in the present age is to be seen as a pointer to that reality. The way that husbands and wives relate to each other is to be understood as part of the outcome of being filled by the Holy Spirit so as to live a Christlike way of life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This next point is quite significant though Bartlett doesn\u2019t dramatize it. What does \u201chead\u201d evoke in its metaphor? Commonly for complementarians, it is \u201clordship.\u201d Bartlett says No.<\/p>\n
2. Paul uses a \u2018head\u2019 metaphor to describe both Christ\u2019s relation to the church and the husband\u2019s calling in marriage. In Greek this was not a standardized metaphor with a single meaning, so its meaning has to be determined from the context. In Ephesians 1:21-23 the focus is probably on Christ\u2019s lordship and in 4:13\u201416 it is on Christ\u2019s saviourhood. Four features show that it is the latter meaning which Paul applies to the husband. These are (a) Paul\u2019s apposition of \u2018head of the church\u2019 and \u2018himself saviour of the body\u2019 in 5:23; (b) Paul\u2019s theme of saviourhood in 5:25\u201433; (c) his use of Genesis in 5:31\u201432; and (d) the first word of 5:24 {alia, \u2018but\u2019), which can only be explained in a way that fits the context if Paul is comparing the husband with Christ as saviour rather than as lord.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I consider this point crucial to comprehending Paul\u2019s teachig.<\/p>\n
3. The meaning of the husband\u2019s headship, as shown by the head-body metaphor and the Christ-church comparison, is that he has a particular obligation of loving self-sacrifice for the benefit of his wife. If the husband has any crown, it is a crown of thorns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I question using the following language, which is all but turned around by the end of the paragraph.<\/p>\n
4. Wives are to behave as if their husbands were their masters. This does not mean that husbands are masters of their wives. The reasons given by Paul for the wife\u2019s submission are the example of and reverence for Christ (w. 1-2, 21-22) and the husband\u2019s responsibility of self-sacrificial service (w. 22-23). He does not give a reason based on a God-given unilateral authority of the husband.<\/p>\n
5. The submission which Paul instructs in verse 21 is a voluntary, mutual submission of believers to one another. Husbands are not exempted from this as regards their wives.<\/p>\n
6. In the limited and particular sense explained above, Paul makes a differentiation in the responsibilities of husbands and wives. The egalitarian view which denies any definite differentiation of responsibilities is not consistent with Paul\u2019s use of the head\u2014body metaphor and the Christ\u2014church comparison.<\/p>\n
7. Marriages lived according to the model of Ephesians 5 are capable of being a wonderful demonstration of the humility of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial love for his church.<\/p>\n
8. Paul appears to envisage joint leadership of the household and is not prescriptive about the balance of men\u2019s and women\u2019s responsibilities for the family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andrew Bartlett, in his new book\u00a0Men and Women in Christ\u00a0(MWiC), asks if marriages depict Christ. This was the only driving theme of a book by John Piper, who has influenced this conversation as much as Grudem, but for some reason Bartlett never takes up interaction with Piper. Anyway, here are Bartlett\u2019s conclusions, some of which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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