[Full Court]

Me:God the woman was created for the man, not the other way around.

You:Really -- isn't it what you want to read into it?

No, it's what God says.

1 Corinthians 11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

[Jaded]

Since you posted your snippet to show how women are owned by men.... try the ENTIRE Pararaph. Perhaps the next one.

1 Corinthians 11
1Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Propriety in Worship
2I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,[a] just as I passed them on to you.
3Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. 6If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. 7A man ought not to cover his head,[b] since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.

11In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 13Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. 16If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.

[OLD REGGIE]

No, it's what God says.

1 Corinthians 11:9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

Correction; it's what Paul says. Read further in this chapter and you'll find Paul teaching what Jesus said.

Paul says - Jesus says --- big difference.

[InterestedQuestioner]

Full Court,

You made an interesting quote from Scripture:

1 Corinthians 11:9 "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man."

My translation actually reads a little differently. "Neither was the man created from the woman; but the woman from the man." This being, of course, a reference to Adam and Eve and reflecting that man and woman are created in such a way that the they are made to become, "one flesh," which God joins and man may not split assunder.

There are a lot of ideologies that would argue today that there is nothing essential about gender. Rather it is simply seen as an accident of chromosome shuffling during conception--an individual could have easily received the father's X as his Y. Gender is seen as a mere coin toss, and gender differences are seen as something that are created by society, and not something intrinsic to the individual. It follows directly from this view, that because gender is nonessential to the individual, we should be able to mix and match genders in "marriage."

In your post, you underscore a much more complex, and I think richer view of the relationship between women and men. God did not have to create gender, we could all have been hermaphrodites. but God instead choose to create us in His image--male and female. God made men and women for each other. Your view underscores that.

Where we must be careful, however, is that we are going to far if we claim that women are made for men, and not men made for women. Women and men are created for God, to share in His own blessed life. We cannot accept any view, however, which asserts that women are not equal to men in dignity (and I'm sure you didn't imply this was not the case,), nor can we somehow claim that men's experiences are normative for humans, with women being in some sense an appendage. Both men and women are created in the image of God.


"For just as woman came from man, so man is born of woman; but all things are from God." (1 Cor: 12)