{"id":15589,"date":"2013-06-01T05:47:06","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T09:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=15589"},"modified":"2013-05-31T20:24:45","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T00:24:45","slug":"vision-forums-scott-brown-doesnt-get-feminists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/06\/vision-forums-scott-brown-doesnt-get-feminists.html","title":{"rendered":"Vision Forum’s Scott Brown Doesn’t Get Feminists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I recently came upon a post called \u201cThe Most Pro-Woman Text in Scripture<\/a>,\u201d by pastor and homeschool leader Scott Brown, who is on Vision Forum\u2019s board (for more on Vision Forum, see Rethinking Vision Forum<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Last weekend, I was glad to participate in another wedding and to have the joy of giving a message. It was the wedding of Jordan Muela and Sarah Mendenhall in Indiana. As I was meditating on Ephesians 5:22-33 before the wedding, it struck me\u00a0again\u00a0that this passage is the most pro-female document ever drafted.<\/p>\n

This text is so powerfully one sided that it is hard to understand why it has been so roundly criticized and rejected by feminist thinkers. On the contrary, I have always thought that the biblical teaching that describes the role of a husband towards his wife is the most pro-female writing ever published.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So let\u2019s look at the Ephesians 5 text, shall we?<\/p>\n

22\u00a0Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands\u00a0as you do to the Lord<\/strong>.\u00a023\u00a0For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,\u00a0his body, of which he is the Savior.24\u00a0Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands\u00a0in everything<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

25\u00a0Husbands, love your wives,\u00a0just as Christ loved the church<\/strong> and gave himself up for her\u00a026\u00a0to make her holy,\u00a0cleansing\u00a0her by the washing\u00a0with water through the word,\u00a027\u00a0and to present her to himself\u00a0as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.\u00a028\u00a0In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives\u00a0as their own bodies.<\/strong> He who loves his wife loves himself.\u00a029\u00a0After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church\u2014\u00a030\u00a0for we are members of his body.31\u00a0\u201cFor this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.\u201d\u00a032\u00a0This is a profound mystery\u2014but I am talking about Christ and the church.\u00a033\u00a0However, each one of you also must love his wife\u00a0as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I guess the pro-female bit is the part where husbands are to love their wives rather than the part where wives are to submit to their husbands in everything? See, there\u2019s nothing here that\u2019s one-sided\u2014each party is given a command, one to submit, and one to love. And if Brown doesn\u2019t know why feminist thinkers would have a problem with a text that commands women to submit, he hasn\u2019t read many feminist thinkers.<\/p>\n

Scripture is unparalleled in tenderness towards women, for it calls a man to first of all give up his life, and then to follow the example of Christ and even die for his bride. God must so very highly value his daughters, because he calls their husbands to such a high standard \u2013 the sacrificial love of Christ. If you searched the libraries of the world, I doubt that you would find any that would contain writings which call men to such heights of passion and devotion and self sacrifice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In articles like this, an emphasis on the sacrificial love of Christ is used to cover up the fact that women are commanded to submit to their husbands in everything.<\/em> That\u2019s not okay. Ever. No one should have to submit to anyone<\/em> in everything.\u00a0So husbands are supposed to love their wives? That sounds a bit like being a beloved slave. The love thing is nice, the whole slavery thing is not<\/em>. I don\u2019t want to be anyone\u2019s beloved possession<\/em>. I want to be their beloved equal<\/em>. I don\u2019t care<\/em> how tender and sweet and lovey someone is to me if they expect me to submit and keep quiet and follow without question.<\/p>\n

Also, is it even possible to require person to love someone? If a man\u2019s wife turns out to be a horrible terrible toxic person, isn\u2019t it possible that his love for her might disappear\u2014and for good reason? I don\u2019t see love as unconditional, to be honest. You can\u2019t be forced to or required to love someone.<\/p>\n

The teaching here highlights the importance of order and authority in all relationships, and particularly the way that love works through God\u2019s human authority structure in the family. But there is nothing more prominent in this text than the high bar God that husbands are to clear in their love for their wives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know, I think the whole women have to submit to their husbands in everything part is pretty prominent too. But as for the rest of this paragraph, it just sounds like words to me. \u201cHighlights the importance of order and authority in all relationships\u201d? How? \u201cParticularly the way that love works through God\u2019s human authority structure in the family\u201d? That may sound all pretty, but what does that actually mean? Does Brown honestly think it\u2019s not possible to love an equal partner? Does he honestly think that authority and love go one way? Does he really think that order and authority is necessary for family formation? I\u2019m guessing Brown\u2019s answer to at least some of that is probably \u201cyes.\u201d But what I\u2019m struck by is how very out of touch he is with how people like me view things like love and family. As well as, of course, his apparent complete lack of understanding of the very foundation of feminism.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In articles like this, an emphasis on the sacrificial love of Christ is used to cover up the fact that women are commanded to submit to their husbands in everything. That’s not okay. Ever. No one should have to submit to anyone in everything. So husbands are supposed to love their wives? That sounds a bit like being a beloved slave. The love thing is nice, the whole slavery thing is not. I don’t want to be anyone’s beloved possession. I’d much rather be their beloved equal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,6,25],"tags":[305,106,129,63],"class_list":["post-15589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","category-feminism","category-christian-patriarchy","tag-love","tag-marriage-2","tag-relationships","tag-vision-forum"],"yoast_head":"\nVision Forum's Scott Brown Doesn't Get Feminists<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In articles like this, an emphasis on the sacrificial love of Christ is used to cover up the fact that women are commanded to submit to their husbands in everything. That's not okay. Ever. No one should have to submit to anyone in everything. So husbands are supposed to love their wives? That sounds a bit like being a beloved slave. 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