Putrid pastoral patriarchy

THE EDITOR, Sir:

God made everything in Genesis 1-2 on a plan. He made everything for humans, then made humans after. The most important was left for last. Was Adam made for the animals that preceded him, or vice versa?

Sin messed up the divine order. One author wrote that, after sin, previously united man and woman, now with a selfish nature, could not continue to coexist peacefully without the 'curse' in Genesis 3:16 that one be subject to the other. She added that, had man treated woman as he should, it would have benefited both man and woman, just as the 'curse' of harder work in that same chapter is a blessing.

1 Peter 3:7 specifically says men/husbands should honour women/their wives to prevent their prayers being hindered, but both chauvinistic men who want to treat women badly and ungodly men who want to discredit the Bible only see the verses before. Similarly, Ephesians 5:21 admonishes submission to one another, but nobody reads this, just from verse 22 that wives submit to husbands, and again chauvinistic men use it to abuse and bully and ungodly men use it to discredit the Bible. Reading further down, continuing to the end of the chapter, husbands are commanded to love their wives 'not to make them submit', but to 'love' them.

You can't love a woman enough to die for her and still bully and abuse her - total contradiction.

A.L. Thomas