PulsingPurple:
[b]Did God Actually Give Man Dominion Over Woman?
Did God Tell Males To Dominate The Females?
Are Men Overdoing Themselves And Exerting Unnecessary Authority Over Women?[/b]Please air your opinions based on your understanding and knowledge of God, backed by supporting Scriptures.
I as OP will contribute too and we'll all deliberate.

Blakjewelry:
Men gave dominion men dominion over women because men wrote the rules including the Bible.

PulsingPurple:
My honest opinion. Might contain some elements of truth, and falses as well...
Scriptures are quoted from BSB.

Trailing all the way back to The Beginning, as seen in the Book of Genesis:
“So God created mankind in His own image [likeness], in the image [likeness] of God He created them; male and female He created them.”

It is established that God made both man and woman in His own likeness, irrespective of the fact that woman was created later on as a product of man.

So, in terms of dominion and authority given to both genders, we can see that:
“God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the Earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” ”

We can say that man wasn't given dominion over woman (yet). Instead, both man and woman were given dominion over the Earth and the things of nature.

We move forward and of course, as you would expect, we meet the folly that led both man and woman to be given a punishment by God, a punishment due to disobedience.
The punishment to man:
“And to Adam He [God] said:
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree
of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken.
For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” “

It is here that we see an introduction to huge changes that shifts the Dominion Balance.
The man and woman still have dominion over Earth, but the Earth has been commanded to struggle with the man in particular, the Earth has been ordered to stress him up before feeding him.

This perspective gives you new depth and understanding as to why men are naturally inclined to do things on the Earth that calls for massive use of energy and dedication, enough to bring out sweat.
You'll notice that to a large extent, the gender that engages in heavy duty tasks: plowers in those days, farmers, miners, you name it; are the males. Not like women can't train and be used to it, but it became an obligation to men right from the beginning. They were bound to hard work on the Earth and generations copied from generations and continued the practice to this day.


More incoming.

Gift96:



The animal kingdom which the humans are a part of is centered on physical strength. That's exactly what is used to assert dominance and that's what the female lacks.

It's not just because the Bible has apportioned dominance, it's because nature has deem it fit that way. Feminism is against NATURE

PulsingPurple:


So:

1. What happened? Why do men try to exercise dominion over every single lady ?

My opinion is drawn from conclusions based on real life situations.
Take a group of male and female infants and put them in a closed environment, exposing them to no external influence.
You'll observe that none of them rises up to dominate over the other, they know nothing.
Keep them together in that system till they grow to teenagers, no external influence, there'll be same results.
If the system is tightly checked to ensure that there's no event that calls for hard work through which the man may learn his strengths, then the children inside will only exhibit random human traits, like happiness, anger, hate etc. towards each other. And whenever decisions are made collectively, they'll follow the most logical decision irrespective of the gender of the decision-maker.
In essence, there'll be no preferential or inferior treatment given to any child solely based on his/her gender.

The problem comes in a system like ours where we inadvertently learn from our surroundings, our parents and other leader figures.
A female child constantly watching her mother display humility before her father will inadvertently learn that women are to appear timid before men, and will easily replicate the same behaviour if she's not influenced in other ways.
A male child watching his father get special respect and treatment from his mom will inadvertently learn that men are to get respect from women, and will demand respect wherever he finds women, without fully grasping the concept.
This is the most basic way men get inspired to dominate women— by watching a proper father and mother behavior. That's why it's good to train your children all round, and not just academically.

It gets worse when children learn from abusive parents.

All this goes up to another level when you consider the fact that the average man is already more physically built than the woman, and hence without proper training, will see them as inferior— just as he'll see every weaker male as inferior too. (You should hear of the categorization of men into Alpha males and God-knows-what. SMH!)
Peer influence perhaps is the strongest motivation for this poor habit.
A man will treat a woman the way his group of friends do.

PulsingPurple:



So after trying to establish my opinion that men weren't given dominion over women as a whole, except in a husband and wife situation, and after trying to look at some of the reasons why a poorly guided male will strive to dominate the female...

2. What kind of dominion should the husband practice over his wife?


I'm not sure of an exact answer, but:
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”


The husband and his wife are meant to be united, they are meant to be Unity. Unity means One.

Also, here's something Paul said in a letter, regarding an Overseer (one who is given dominion over something):
“This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task.
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, a temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.
An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity.
For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for the church of God?”

This message from Paul implies that a man is meant to master/learn how to dominate or rule over; how to understand his house (wife included).
But Paul also goes on to list the kind of qualities that this man needs to develop in order to dominate. It's not an aggressive type of dominance, its more of... should I say an Affectionate Dominance?

“Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

All those characteristics of a husband that we looked at above, it's meant to help the wife submit to the husband.

All these information point to the understanding that a husband should learn how to yield the best results from his wife, learn how to be unity with her and give her reason to appreciate being with him and following his rule. As opposed to the master-slave relationship some men expect from women.
It is here that both parties can properly deliver their obligations in their union.

PulsingPurple:



3. What are the limitations of these punishments?

Since it's evident that this whole restructuring of things is as a result of sin, if there was no sin, these punishments wouldn't have been introduced.
Therefore in a world where there's no sin... in the Age To Come, there'll be no more punishment for sin.

We humans are Body, Soul and Spirit.
The scriptures refer to the Body as a Vessel (which houses the soul and spirit)

Paul also noted that women are the weaker Vessels (have a weaker body)

Jesus also noted that our souls have no gender and that there's no marriage there (in His response to the Sadducees)

And of course, our spirit is just a breath of God's, no gender too.

So in the absence of a Body, there'll be no difference between a man and a woman.
Hence, no preferential treatment based on gender and no domination of man over woman in any way.

Last point.
Someone will ask: But if men are not supposed to dominate women in church positions, then why is the list of the prominent people in the Bible made up of men mostly? The Disciples, Apostles, Prophets, etc. etc.

My reply:
First and foremost, it's established that men and women have different physical and emotional/mental characteristics.

Therefore men are supposed to dominate women in positions that require manly characteristics.
If a woman has the kind of characteristics needed in a certain position, then let no man stop her because of her gender.

Always keep this little quacky definition with you:
Man = Physically Built and Daring
Woman = Emotionally Built and Caring.

When you look at the disciples for instance, it looks all biased when Jesus was picking men, till you realize that those disciples were to pass through very tough times later on and it will demand the kind of vessel (body) that can endure so much without breaking down emotionally.
Same thing applies to other prominent men in the Bible.
And even then, you'll see that some exceptional women that were better for the job got their rightful positions, like Deborah the Judge (Ruler) of Israel, Esther the Liberator, Mary Magdalene the Disciple, Deborah the Prophetess, Junia the Apostle etc. etc.
And hold into account that more unrecorded stories exist.

Women have always stood as the device that make things work.
There'd have been no Jesus without a Mary. In essence, no man without a woman.

In the Jewish culture back then. It was an honour for a woman not to be seen as a loud and orative figure... Paul noted that it was wise for a woman to keep quiet in church.
Also because men were given more education than women, and a woman would generally not have to capacity to flow in a discussion with men who had far more advantage in knowledge over her.
This is why most preachers were males.
You also see the Bible record instances where a woman learned enough to the the point where she preached as well.

So, if there's a position in the church preacher or cleaner, anyone with the right characteristics can handle it, male or female.

In summary, the person fit for a position isn't to be rejected based on gender.

Thanks for caring/daring to read.

Blakjewelry:
Men gave dominion men dominion over women because men wrote the rules including the Bible.

WhatsDifficult:
Ehh let’s get opinion na

Mynd44
Nlfpmod

Kobojunkie:
The doctrines and traditions practiced by those of even the Religion of Christianity are removed from that in fact declared by the God of Israel and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is famously known for declaring that males and females are equals in His Kingdom of God with Him alone as the one and only Head/Master, Teacher, Prophet, Counselor, Shepherd to them all. However, Religion, particularly Religion of Christianity tends not to agree with Jesus Christ on all matters including that.

Gift96:



The animal kingdom which the humans are a part of is centered on physical strength. That's exactly what is used to assert dominance and that's what the female lacks.

It's not just because the Bible has apportioned dominance, it's because nature has deem it fit that way. Feminism is against NATURE

Feminism is against NATURE

illicit:
Man was given a pole

Woman was given a hole

😑

Blakjewelry:

Lol maybe you are not a good student in the nature of animal science. In the animal kingdom it is male who fight for his role to mate, it even risk it life many times to achieve that.

PulsingPurple:
∆ Hard one to agree with bro

The Bible doesn't imply men to dominate women

Roboto11:
Simps want to change the world.

When man had to fight against the elements to make the earth a veritable place for living, women were hiding in caves.

After man has fought creatures and mastered his environments, he and the feminine folk suddenly become equals.

Kobojunkie:
The problem was not created in the Bible at all but rather from the numerous all-too-convenient interpretations men, particular the religious leaning crowds, have chosen over that in fact written as instructions from God of Israel whose words are recorded in Scripture.

PulsingPurple:
Hello Nairaland,
Let's deliberate on this.
We live in an era where there's a rise in The Feminist movement, resulting from decades of gender inequality across different fields, and from gender abuse — amongst other things.
Strong arguments have been made regarding gender abuse, that it is indeed bad and should stop, and that some forms of gender inequality should also end, but that in general, men can never be equal to women.
Medical opinions have shown that the bone of an average woman is more porous than that of an average man, and hence, less dense, lighter and weaker than that of the average man.
Researches have also concluded that on average, a woman's brain is more efficient than that of a man, even though it is smaller in size. That is to say, women are generally smarter than men on average.
And the arguments on the differences b/w men and women keep on going on and on...

But there's also much gender bias in Churchy matters — where a very little amount of women rise to become Dignitaries in most Church Assemblies.
This is why we want to deliberate on this.

Did God Actually Give Man Dominion Over Woman?
Did God Tell Males To Dominate The Females?
Are Men Overdoing Themselves And Exerting Unnecessary Authority Over Women?

Please air your opinions based on your understanding and knowledge of God, backed by supporting Scriptures.

I as OP will contribute too and we'll all deliberate.

PulsingPurple:



Last point.
Someone will ask: But if men are not supposed to dominate women in church positions, then why is the list of the prominent people in the Bible made up of men mostly? The Disciples, Apostles, Prophets, etc. etc.

My reply:
First and foremost, it's established that men and women have different physical and emotional/mental characteristics.

Therefore men are supposed to dominate women in positions that require manly characteristics.
If a woman has the kind of characteristics needed in a certain position, then let no man stop her because of her gender.

Always keep this little quacky definition with you:
Man = Physically Built and Daring
Woman = Emotionally Built and Caring.

When you look at the disciples for instance, it looks all biased when Jesus was picking men, till you realize that those disciples were to pass through very tough times later on and it will demand the kind of vessel (body) that can endure so much without breaking down emotionally.
Same thing applies to other prominent men in the Bible.
And even then, you'll see that some exceptional women that were better for the job got their rightful positions, like Deborah the Judge (Ruler) of Israel, Esther the Liberator, Mary Magdalene the Disciple, Deborah the Prophetess, Junia the Apostle etc. etc.
And hold into account that more unrecorded stories exist.

Women have always stood as the device that make things work.
There'd have been no Jesus without a Mary. In essence, no man without a woman.

In the Jewish culture back then. It was an honour for a woman not to be seen as a loud and orative figure... Paul noted that it was wise for a woman to keep quiet in church.
Also because men were given more education than women, and a woman would generally not have to capacity to flow in a discussion with men who had far more advantage in knowledge over her.
This is why most preachers were males.
You also see the Bible record instances where a woman learned enough to the the point where she preached as well.

So, if there's a position in the church preacher or cleaner, anyone with the right characteristics can handle it, male or female.

In summary, the person fit for a position isn't to be rejected based on gender.

Thanks for caring/daring to read.

Gift96:



Rest Abeg